PKEEACE. 


THE  late  Civil  War  marks  an  epoch  in  the  world's  history.  It  constitutes  a 
landmark  in  the  onward  and  upward  march  of  human  freedom  and  enlightened 
civilization.  Every  war  has  its  dark  side  as  well  as  its  bright.  Happily,  how 
ever,  the  dark  side  is  now  but  little  contemplated  ;  it  is  the  bright  side  which 
commands  attention.  Begotten  of  conflicting  violent  and  irreconcilable  causes, 
most  of  them  human  in  their  origin,  but  few  of  them  under  human  control,  the 
war  was  perhaps  inevitable  ;  but  if  it  brought  sorrow  in  its  train,  it  was  yet  so 
overruled  and  guided  by  an  all-wise  Providence  that  it  resulted  in  good,  not  to 
the  slave  alone,  who  was  immediately  benefitted,  not  to  the  United  States  alone, 
which  by  means  of  it  were  placed  in  the  front  rank  of  the  nations,  but  to  all 
nations  and  to  all  men.  It  has  been  the  aim  of  the  authors  to  make  this  history 
full,  fair,  and  impartial — a  history  to  be  read  and  appreciated  equally  by  the 
men  of  the  South  and  the  men  of  the  North  ;  and  they  feel  confident  that  the 
unprejudiced  reader  will  award  them  the  praise  of  having  carried  out  their  pur 
pose,  if  not  with  absolute  satisfaction  to  all,  at  least  in  such  a  manner  as  to  show 
that,  while  in  quest  of  truth,  they  Avere  not  unduly  biased  to  the  one  side  or  the 
other. 

It  is  not  pretended  that  the  work  is  free  from  some  of  the  defects  which  are 
inseparable  from  all  contemporary  history.  Many  years  must  elapse,  and  per 
haps  all  the  participants  in  the  great  National  struggle  will  have  passed  from 
the  scene,  before  a  perfect  history  of  the  Great  Civil  War  will  be  given  to  the 
world,  or  before  even  the  truth  will  be  ascertained  with  regard  to  laany  import 
ant  facts,  and  the  springs  of  action  of  many  of  the  in  :st  distinguished  actors  on 


PREFACE. 


either  side.  A  perfect  history  was  probably  never  written.  The  greatest  of 
English  historians,  Macaulay,  said :  "  There  are  poems  which  we  should  be  inclined 
to  designate  as  faultless,  or  as  disfigured  only  by  blemishes  which  pass  unnoticed 
in  the  general  blaze  of  excellence.  There  are  speeches,  some  speeches  of  Demos 
thenes  particularly,  in  which  it  would  be  impossible  to  alter  a  word  without 
altering  it  for  the  worse.  But  we  are  acquainted  with  no  history  which  ap 
proaches  to  our  notion  of  what  a  history  ought  to  be  ;  with  no  history  which 
does  not  widely  depart,  either  on  the  right  hand  or  on  the  left,  from  the  exact 
line."  If  this  is  true  in  regard  to  history  in  general,  how  great  must  be  the 
difficulty  attendant  on  the  task  of  eliminating  the  truth  from  documents  and 
reports,  the  authors  of  which,  belonging  to  one  or  the  other  party,  are  almost 
certain  to  be  interested  in  concealing  one  set  of  facts  arid  giving  excessive  promi 
nence  to  another !  In  one  respect  this  history  is  without  a  rival.  Space  has  been 
found  for  important  official  documents,  and  the  result  is  that  while  the  reader 
can  always  appeal  to  authority,  a  storehouse  has  been  preserved  for  the  benefit 
of  the  future  historian. 

In  conclusion,  let  the  hope  be  expressed  that,  dreadful  as  was  the  contest, 
it  will  not  be  the  task  of  posterity  to  record  that  it  was  without  beneficial 
results,  but  rather  that  as  it  was  like  a  destructive  tropical  tempest  in  its  ap 
proach  and  during  its  continuance,  the  times  which  succeeded  it  resembled  the 
calm  which  settles  upon  the  face  of  nature  when  the  storm  has  passed,  and  that 
the  subsequent  career  of  the  Great  Republic  was  one  of  uninterrupted  pros 
perity  and  peaceful  progress. 

THE  PUBLISHER. 


TABLE   OF  STEEL   ENGRAVINGS. 


VOLUME    I. 


PACK 

PORTRAIT  OF  GENERAL  WINFIELD  SCOTT  •  Frontispiece. 

FORT    SUMTER     •    •    •  Wg*ette  Title. 

PORTRAIT  OF  JEFFERSON   DAVIS    .  .    .  To  Pace       94 

PORTRAIT  OF  GIDEON  WELLES  .  I27 

PORTRAIT  OF  GENERAL  P.  G.  T.  BEAUREGARD  .  '43 

MASSACHUSETTS  MILITIA  PASSING  THROUGH  BALTIMORE    .  l87 

PORTRAIT  OF  GENERAL  N.   LYON    . 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C,  AND  ITS  VICINITY  . 

PORTRAIT  OF  GENERAL   N.    P.  BANKS    . 

"          ^83 
RICHMOND,  VA.,  AND  ITS  VICINITY  . 

"          426 
PORTRAIT  OF  GENERAL  FRANK    SIGEL 

DESTRUCTION  OF  THE  PRIVATEER  '-PETREL"  BY  THE  "ST.  LAWRENCE" 

PORTRAITS  OF  ADMIRALS  DUPONT,  GOLDSBOROUGH,  DAHLGREN,  STRINGHAM   AND  WINSLOW   .  599 

656 

PORTRAIT  OF  GENERAL  II.  W.  HALLECK 


THE   GEE  AT   CIYIL   WAR: 


A    HISTORY   OF 


CHAPTER    I. 

State  Sovereignty  :  its  Honest  and  Dishonest  Advocates. — Northern  Conciliation. — Southern  Domination.-  Northern 
Independence.  — Increased  Power  of  the  North. — Alarm  at  the  Encroachments  of  the  South.  — The  Kansas  Struggle. — 
Organization  of  the  Republican  Party. — Nomination  of  John  C.  Fremont  for  President. — His  Opinions  on  Slavery. — 
An  exciting  Political  Contest. — Election  of  Buchanan. — Audacious  Expressions  of  Opinion. —  Uneasiness  of  Southern 
Partisans. — Causes  of  their  Anxiety. — An  early  Secession  Speech  of  Jefferson  Davis. — The  Appeals  of  the  Southern 
Press. — Perversion  of  the  Principles  of  the  Republican  Party. — Delusions  of  Commerce. — Re-establishment  of  the 
Slave  Trade. — Alliances  with  the  "  Cotton  Kingdom." — Conspirators  in  high  places.  —  Illegal  use  of  Public  Moneys. 
— Ill  uses  of  Munitions  of  War,  Navy,  etc. — Increased  Strength  of  the  Republican  Party. — South  Carolina  first  to 
move  toward  Disunion. — A  Secession  Resolution. — A  Secession  Commissioner. — An  emphatic  Speech  from  Brooks,  of 
South  Carolina. — Political  Conventions. — Division  of  the  Democrats. — Nominations  for  the  Presidency. — Cliicago 
Convention. — Lincoln  nominated  for  President. — Motives  of  the  South  in  the  division  of  the  Democratic  Party. — 
A  Secession  Message  from  the  Governor  of  South  Carolina. — Suggestions  of  Treason  from  a  Virginian  Governor. — 
Election  of  Lincoln  as  President. 


MANY  of  the  political  leaders  of  the 
extreme  Southern  States  of  the  Ameri 
can  Union  had  long  since  boldly  as 
serted  that  each  individual  State  pos- 
essed  a  sovereignty  paramount  to  that 
of  the  united  commonwealth  of  the  Re 
public  of  the  United  States  of  America. 
Some  of  these  men,  deluded  by  the 
artful  sophistries  of  the  subtle  Calhoun, 
the  apostle  of  the  doctrine  of  "  State 
Rights,"  in  avowing  their  political  her 
esy,  gave  expression,  it  is  believed,  to 
an  honest  conviction.  Others,  however, 
influenced  by  personal  interests,  sought 
only  to  gratify  their  ambition  or  to 
soothe  their  disappointment  by  creating 


a  faction  from  which  they  hoped  to  ob 
tain  favors  they  had  failed  in  extorting 
from  the  country.  In  the  mean  time 
the  people  of  the  Southern  States,  with 
the  exception  perhaps  of  those  of  Soutli 
Carolina,  who  had  been  misled  by  the 
persuasive  plausibilities  of  their  favorite 
Calhoun,  continued  to  cherish  a  patri 
otic  sentiment  of  attachment  to  the 
Union. 

While  the  partisan  leaders  of  the 
South  were  enabled,  through  the  concil 
iatory  concessions  of  Northern  politi 
cians,  to  wield  the  political  power  of  the 
country  to  their  own  purposes  of  per 
sonal  and  sectional  advantage,  they 


:  TERVWAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


shrewdly  disguised  their  selfish  designs 
beneath  a  mask  of  traditional  regard 
for  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States.  When,  however,  the  North 
began  to  grow  restless  under  its  subser 
vience  to  Southern  domination,  and  to 
manifest  a  desire  for  emancipation,  the 
partisan  leaders  of  the  South  became 
anxious  lest  they  should  lose  the  polit 
ical  mastery  by  which  they  had  so  long 
governed  a  nation  in  the  interests  of 
a  faction.  Alarmed  by  these  evidences 
of  Northern  independence,  the  Southern 
leaders  asserted  their  theory  of  State 
sovereignty  with  increased  audacity,  and 
threatened  to  evoke  its  exercise  to  the 
destruction  of  the  Union.  They  thus 
hoped  to  frighten  the  Northern  people, 
who  were  known  to  be  fondly  devoted 
to  the  united  country,  into  renewed 
submission  to  Southern  control. 

The  North  had,  in  the  mean  time,  been 
tapidly  gaining  in  power  through  the 
natural  increase  of  population  and  an 
immense  European  immigration.  The 
South  had  striven  to  balance  this  growing 
ascendancy  by  an  increase  of  slave 
States.  By  artful  party  combinations, 
and  skillful  management  of  Northern 
politicians,  the  partisan  leaders  of  the 
South  for  awhile  succeeded  in  their 
purpose.  Texas  was  annexed  at  the 
expense  of  a  war  with  Mexico,  and 
established  a  slave  State  ;  an  intrigue, 
though  it  proved  abortive,  was  set  on 
foot  to  force  Spain  into  the  sale  of 
servile  Cuba ;  and  finally  the  Missouri 
Compromise  act  was  abrogated,  for  the 
purpose  of  admitting  the  Territories  of 
Nebraska  and  Kansas  as  slaveholding  j 


States.  The  Northern  people  became 
alarmed  at  these  continued  encroach 
ments  of  the  South,  and  resolutely  pre 
pared  to  check  them.  In  spite  of  the 
virtual  abrogation  of  the  Missouri  Com 
promise  act,  by  which  the  new  Territory 
was  thrown  open  to  slavery,  Kansas, 
through  the  efforts  of  the  advocates  of 
free  soil,  was  filled  with  Northern  set 
tlers,  and  became  by  the  votes  of  its  in 
habitants  a  free  State.  This,  however, 
was  not  effected  without  a  struggle.  The 
neighboring  slave  States  had  sent  in 
armed  bands  to  resist  the  Northern 
immigration,  and  a  bloody  strife  en 
sued,  which  greatly  stirred  the  antago 
nistic  interests  and  sentiments  of  the 
Northern  and  Southern  States. 

It  was  in  the  course  of  this  bitter 
contention  that  the  Republican  party 
was  formed,  to  resist  the  further  exten 
sion  of  slavery.  It  soon  gathered  to  its 

«/  o 

standard  such  a  force  as  to  threaten  a 
successful  opposition  to  the  oldest  and 
most  powerful  political  combinations. 

Fully  organized,  the  Republican  party 
met  in  convention  at  Philadel 
phia  on  the  17th  of  June,  and 
nominated  John  C.  Fremont,  the  emi 
nent  explorer,  for  President.  Though 
a  native  of  South  Carolina,  he  was 
known  to  be  strongly  opposed  to  the 
extension  of  slavery,  and  in  favor  of 
free  labor.  He,  however,  objected  to 
any  interference  with  the  rights  of  the 
Southern  States  secured  to  them  by  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States,  as 
he  thus  declared  in  a  letter  addressed 
to  some  leading  members  of  the  Repub 
lican  party :  "  I  heartily  concur,"  he 


185C. 


DISCONTENT  OF  SOUTHERN  LEADERS. 


7 


wrote,  "  in  all  movements  which  have 
for  their  object  to  repair  the  mischiefs 
arising  from  the  violation  of  good  faith 
in  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compro 
mise.  I  am  opposed  to  slavery  in  the 
abstract  and  upon  principle,  sustained 
and  made  habitual  by  long-settled  con 
victions.  While  I  feel  inflexible  in  the 
belief  that  it  ought  not  to  be  interfered 
with  where  it  exists  under  the  shield  of 
State  sovereignty,  I  am  as  inflexibly  op 
posed  to  its  extension  on  this  continent 
beyond  its  present  limits."  This  was 
probably  not  only  a  fair  exposition  of 
his  individual  opinion,  on  the  exciting 
question  of  slavery,  but  of  that  of  the 
great  mass  of  the  Republican  party. 

The  political  contest  for  the  Presi 
dency  which  ensued  upon  the  nomina 
tion  of  Fremont  was  one  of  the  most 
stirring  of  our  periodical  excitements. 
The  result  was  the  triumph  of  the  can 
didate  of  the  Democratic  party,  James 
Buchanan,  for  whom  the  whole  South, 
with  the  exception  of  Maryland,  whose 
choice  was  for  Fillmore,  had  cast  its 
vote.  Fremont,  however,  had  received 
the  large  suffrage  of  one  hundred  and 
fourteen  out  of  the  whole  electoral  vote 
of  three  hundred  and  six.  New  York, 
Ohio,  Michigan,  Iowa,  "Wisconsin,  and 
the  six  New  England  States  were  array 
ed  in  favor  of  the  Republican  candidate. 
By  the  election  of  their  favorite,  Mr. 
Buchanan,  the  Southern  leaders  were 
apparently  soothed,  and  they  settled  into 
a  temporary  political  contentment.  In 
the  course  of  the  electoral  contest,  some 
had  audaciously  declared  that  in  case 
of  the  election  of  the  Republican 


candidate,  the  slave  States  would  ex 
ercise  their  self-asserted  sovereignty, 
and  secede  from  the  Union.  This 
threat,  however,  deemed  but  the  angry 
effusion  of  political  contention,  or  a 
mere  electioneering  ruse,  was  little 
heeded. 

Though  exulting  in  the  triumph  of 
the  election  of  their  favorite,  Buchanan, 
of  whose  sympathy  with  their  political' 
views  they  did  not  seem  to  doubt,  and  by 
whose  elevation  to  power  they  had  appa 
rently  established  the  security  of  their 
own,  the  political  leaders  of  the  South 
soon  began  to  show  evident  symptoms 
of  restless  discontent.  The  already  ac 
quired  and  growing  strength  of  the  Re 
publican  party  darkened  their  prospect 
of  continued  domination  ;  the  issue  of 
the  Kansas  struggle  had  resulted  in  the 
defeat  of  their  hope  of  securing  another 
slave  State  ;  freer  expositions  *  of  the 
evils  of  their  cherished  institution,  and 
the  insurrectionary  attempt  at  Harper's 
Ferry  aroused  their  fears  ;  and  the  auda 
cious  prophecies  of  Republican  leaders, 
who  foretold  an  "  irrepressible  conflict," 
threatened  them  with  a  resolute  oppo 
sition.  They  now  began  to  be  hopeless 
of  future  triumphs,  and  prepared,  some 
by  open  appeals  to  sectional  prejudice, 
and  others  by  secret  means,  to  dis-* 
solve  the  Union.  It  was  during  the 

vear  1858  that   Jefferson   Davis, 
•L  .  1858. 

United  States  senator,  since  .Pres 
ident    of     the     self-styled    Confederate 
States,  boldly  avowed,  in  a  speech   at 
Jackson,  Mississippi,  these  insurrection- 

*  For  example,  the  publication  of  Helper's  "  Impend 
ing  Crisis." 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE'  SOUTH. 


ary  sentiments,  which  prove  that  the 
late  rebellion,  of  which  he  was  the  mas 
ter  spirit,  had  been  with  him  for  a  long 
time  a  "  foregone  conclusion  :"  "  If  an 
abolitionist,"  he  said,  "  be  chosen  Pres 
ident  of  the  United  States,  you  will 
have  presented  to  you  the  question  of 
whether  you  will  permit  the  Govern 
ment  to  pass  into  the  hands  of  your 
avowed  and  implacable  enemies  "?  With 
out  pausing  for  an  answer,  I  will  state 
iny  own  belief  to  be  that  such  a  result 
would  be  a  species  of  revolution  by 
which  the  purposes  of  the  Government 
would  be  destroyed  and  the  observance 
of  its  mere  forms  entitled  to  no  respect. 
In  that  event,  in  such  a  manner  as 
should  be  most  expedient,  I  should 
deem  it  your  duty  to  provide  for  your 
safety  outside  of  the  Union,  with  those 
who  have  already  shown  the  will,  and 
would  have  acquired  the  power,  to  de 
prive  you  of  your  birthright,  and  to 
reduce  you  to  worse  than  the  colonial 
dependence  of  your  fathers." 

The  Southern  press, loo,  began  to  urge 
emphatically  the  right  of  secession,  and 
the  advantage  to  the  States  of  the 
South  of  separation  from  the  Union. 
To  gain  the  sympathy  of  the  people, 
who  had  yet  a  traditional  reverence  for 
the  Government  founded  by  Washing 
ton  and  the  patriots  of  the  Revolution, 
incessant  appeals  were  marie  alternately 
to  their  fears,  their  passions,  and  their 
cupidity.  The  principles  of  the  Repub 
lican  party  and  its  leaders  were  studi 
ously  misstated.  Their  objects  were 
declared  to  be  the  abolition  of  slavery, 
which  they  were  determined  to  accom 


plish,  at  any  hazard  to  the  lives  and 
property  of  the  Southern  people.  The 
inhabitants  of  the  sea-ports  were  de- 
luded  with  the  magnificent  prospects  of 
a  direct  trade  with  Europe,  by  which 
the  dwindling  cities  of  the  South  would 
be  swollen  into  the  importance  of  Tyre 
and  Carthage,  and  enriched  with  the 
wealth  of  the  whole  commercial  world. 

The  cupidity,  too,  and  pride  of  the 
poorer  population,  the  "  mean  whites," 
the  Pariahs  of  the  South,  who,  with 
out  property  and  without  enterprise  to 
acquire  it,  had  nothing  to  fear  from  the 
abolition  of  slavery,  or  to  hope  from  the 
promotion  of  commerce,  were  aroused 
by  the  promise  of  the  re-establishment 
of  the  slave  trade,  by  which  the  Laz 
arus  of  the  pine  barren  would  be 
enabled  to  count  his  negroes  with  the 
Dives  of  the  rice  jungle.  The  hazards, 
moreover,  of  casting  off  the  protection 
of  the  powerful  Government  of  the 
United  States  and  incurring  the  interpo 
sition  of  its  contemned  authority  were 
conjured  away  by  the  confident  assur 
ances  that  Great  Britain  and  Fiance 
would  eagerly  embrace  the  cause  and 
seek  the  alliance  of  the  "  Cotton  king 
dom,"  to  which  European  trade  would 
be  forced  to  do  homage. 

The  people  of  the  South  were  thus 
artfully  being  seduced  from  their  alle- 
o'iance  to  the  Union  while  their  leaders 

^ 

were  conspiring  to  destroy  it.  The 
President,  Buchanan,  bound  in  close  ties 
of  political  sympathy  with  the  promi 
nent  partisans  of  the  Southern  States, 
had  selected  from  among  them  the  chief 
members  of  his  cabinet,  to  whose  guid- 


SOUTH  CAROLINA, DESIRING  TO  SECEDE. 


ance  he  yielded  his  feeble  will,  which 
thev  seemed  to  bend  unresistingly  to 
their  own  purposes.  The  treasury,  the 
army,  the  navy,  and  the  state,  either 
under  the  control  of  Southern  conspira 
tors  directly,  or  indirectly  through  the 
perhaps  unconscious  connivance  of 
Northern  political  allies,  were  adminis 
tered  to  the  advantage  of  a  rebellion 
which  had  been  long  contemplated. 
The  public  moneys  were  illegally  appro 
priated  for  Southern  purposes,  the  ships 
of  war  were  dispatched  to  remote  parts 
of  the  world,  munitions  of  war  were  pro 
fusely  distributed  among  the  States  of 
the  South,  and  the  offices  of  the  Gov 
ernment  both  at  home  and  abroad  were 
filled  by  confederates  of  the  conspirators 
of  the  slave  States. 

In  the  mean  time  the  Republican 
party,  with  increased  strength,  was  pre 
paring  to  join  in  the  struggle  for  polit 
ical  ascendancy  with  renewed  hope. 
Its  undoubted  power  became  so  mani 
fest,  that  the  more  impatient  of  the 
Southern  leaders  lost  all  hope  of  suc 
cessful  opposition  within  the  Union,  and 
began  to  prepare  for  open  resistance. 

South   Carolina,  with    her  loyalty  to 

the  Union  long  since  weakened  by  false 

theories  and  seditious  practices,  was  the 

first  to  move  toward  secession.     On  the 

30th     of    November    a    resolution 

I  W  ^  (ft 

was  offered  in  the  House  of  Rep 
resentatives  of  South  Carolina,  that 
"South  Carolina  is  ready  to  enter, 
together  with  other  slaveholding  States, 
or  such  as  desire  prompt  action,  into  the 
formation  of  a  Southern  confederacy  ;" 
and  the  governor  was  requested  to  for- 
2 


ward    the     resolution     to    the     various 
Southern    States.      To    this    succeeded 
other  action  toward  the  same  object. 
In  the    following  Januarv,  Mr. 

18GO 

Memminger,  a  prominent  politi 
cian  of  the  State,  presented  himself  at 
Richmond,  as  the  commissioner  of  South 
Carolina  to  Virginia,  and  delivered  a 
long  speech,  in  the  course  of  which  he 
argued  that  the  guarantees  of  the  Con 
stitution  of  the  United  States  were 
powerless  to  protect  the  South,  and  that 
it  must  demand  new  guarantees  if  the 
Union  was  to  be  preserved. 

Some  of  the  more  impatient  of  the 
politicians  of  South  Carolina  had  antici 
pated  by  many  years  in  their  rhetorical 
effusions,  this  grave  action  of  their 
State.  In  1856,  Preston  Brooks,  a  mem 
ber  of  the  United  States  Congress  from 
South  Carolina,  whose  emphasis  of  action 
was  made  manifest  by  his  murderous 
attack  upon  Senator  Sumner,  of  Massa 
chusetts,  delivered  these  characteristic 
words  to  some  of  his  fellow-citizens  who 
were  honoring  him  with  a  public  ban 
quet  : 

"  I  tell  you,  fellow-citizens,  from  the 
bottom  of  my  heart,  that  the  only  mode 
which  I  can  think  of  for  meeting  the 
issue  is  just  to  tear  the  Constitution  of 
the  United  States,  trample  it  under 
foot,  and  form  a  Southern  confederacy, 
every  State  of  which  shall  be  a  slave- 
holding  State.  I  believe  it  as  I  stand 
in  the  face  of  my  Maker — I  believe  it 
on  my  responsibility  to  you,  as  your 
honored  representative,  that  the  only 
hope  of  the  South  is  in  the  South,  and 
that  the  onlv  available  means  of  making 


10 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


I860. 


that  hope  effective  is  to  cut  asunder  the 
bonds  that  tie  us  together,  and  take  our 
separate  position  in  the  family  of  na 
tions."  These  sentiments  found  a  ready 
echo  among  the  seditiously  disposed 
people  of  South  Carolina. 

The  period  for  the  electoral  struggle 
for  the  Presidency  was  approaching. 
The  conventions  for  the  nomination  of 
candidates  had  met.  The  Democratic 
National  Convention  assembled  on  the 
25th  of  April,  at  Charleston,  in 
South  Carolina.  Caleb  Gushing, 
of  Massachusetts,  was  elected  president, 
and  a  platform  was  adopted.  This, 
however,  did  not  concede  to  the  South 
all  it  claimed  as  "  necessary  guarantees 
for  the  preservation  of  the  Union,"  and 
the  Southern  delegates  withdrawing, 
organised  a  Southern  convention,  which 
met  on  the  3d  of  May,  but  after  many 
ineffectual  attempts,  failing  to  agree 
upon  a  candidate  for  the  Presidency, 
adjourned  to  meet  at  Richmond.  The 
Democratic  National  Convention  had 
also  adjourned  to  meet  at  Baltimore,  on 
the  13th  of  June.  On  reassembling,  a 
large  number  of  delegates  again  with 
drew.  Those  remaining  nominated  Ste 
phen  A.  Douglas,  of  Illinois,  for  Presi 
dent,  and  Benjamin  Fitzpatrick,  of  Ala 
bama,  for  Vice-President.  The  seceders  '. 
met  and  nominated  John  C.  Breckin- 
ridge,  of  Kentucky,  then  Vice-President 
of  the  United  States,  for  President,  and 
for  Vice-President,  Joseph  Lane,  of  Ore 
gon.  These  nominations  were  after 
ward  confirmed  by  the  convention  at 
Richmond.  In  the  mean  time  a  con 
vention,  styling  itself  the  "  Constitu 


tional  Union,"  met  at  Baltimore  on  the 
9th  of  May,  and  nominated  John  Bell, 
of  Tennessee,  for  President,  and  Edward 
Everett,  of  Massachusetts,  for  Vice- 
President. 

Again,  at  Chicago,  on  the  16th  of 
May,  the  delegates  of  that  now  imposing 
party,  the  National  Republican,  met  in 
convention  and  nominated  Abraham 
Lincoln,  of  Illinois,  for  President,  and 
Hannibal  Hamlin,  of  Maine,  for  Vice- 
President. 

The  leaders  of  the  South  had  evi 
dently  determined  to  forego  the  advan 
tage  of  their  usual  political  combina 
tions  with  their  fellow-partisans  of  the 
North,  by  whose  aid  they  could  alone 
hope  to  secure  their  prescriptive  impor 
tance  in  the  Union.  They  were  willing 
thus  to  weaken  by  division  those  who 
were  still  inclined  to  succor  them  in  an 
unavoidable  struggle  with  a  party  whose 
power  if  established  they  professed  to 
consider  fatal  to  their  rights.  It  would 
seem  that  disunion  with  them  was  a 
predetermined  act,  and  that  they  wished 
the  success  of  the  National  Republicans, 
whom  they  persisted  in  denouncing  as 
abolitionists,  to  justify  their  contemplated 
Southern  rebellion  to  the  people  of  the 
South,  whose  sensitive  anxieties  for  the 
security  of  their  slave  interests  might 
be  readily  excited  to  an  angry  resistance 
to  the  constitutional  authorities  of  the 
United  States.  The  division  of  the 
Democratic  party,  from  which  certainly 
the  Southern  leaders  could  have  no 
fears  of  an  invasion  of  their  constitu 
tional  rights,  threw  the  election  into 
the  power  of  the  Republicans,  whom 


LINCOLN  DENOUNCED  IN  THE  SOUTH. 


11 


they  professed  to  dread  as  the  avowed 
enemies  of  the  institutions  of  the  South. 
The  result,  easily  foreseen,  soon  occur 
red.  As  it  became  evident  that  Lincoln 
would  be  elected,  the  conspirators  of 
the  South,  some  of  whom  were  in  the 
highest  places  of  the  States  and  of 
the  Union,  began,  through  message, 
speech,  and  the  press,  to  denounce 
the  Republican  candidate  as  an  aboli 
tionist,  whose  purpose,  at  the  head  of  a 
powerful  party,  was  to  interfere  with 
Southern  slavery,  and  by  incendiary 
appeals  to  excite  the  people  to  resist 
ance.  In  South  Carolina,  the  conspira 
tors,  confident  of  the  sympathy  of  the 
misguided  people,  did  not  hesitate  to 
declare  their  rebellious  purposes.  On 
the  day  before  the  Presidential  election, 
the  governor  of  South  Carolina  deliv 
ered  a  message  to  the  Legislature,  in 
which  he  boldly  avowed  the  principles 
of  secession,  and  recommended  the  ap 
pointment  of  delegates  to  a  convention 


to  be  assembled  for  the  purpose  of  dis 
solving  all  connection  with  the  United 
States. 

Even  in  Virginia,  Governor  Letcher, 
at  that  early  date,  did  not  fear  to  sug 
gest  treason,  and  declared  in  his  message 
to  the  Legislature  :  "  It  is  useless  to  at 
tempt  to  conceal  the  fact,  that  in  the 
present  temper  of  the  Southern  people, 
it  [alluding  to  the  probable  election  of 
Lincoln]  can  not  and  will  not  be  sub 
mitted  to.  ";:"  '  The  idea  of  permit 
ting  such  a  man  to  have  the  control  and 
direction  of  the, army  and  navy  of  the 
United  States,  and  the  appointment  of 
high  judicial  and  executive  officers,  post 
masters  included,  can  not  be  entertained 
by  the  South  for  a  moment."  On  No- 
j  vember.the  6th  the  election  took  place, 
and  Abraham  Lincoln,  as  was  foreseen, 
was  elected  President  of  the  United 
States.  His  principles  and  character 
will  be  best  illustrated  by  a  cursory 
history  of  his  life  and  political  career. 


12 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


CHAPTER     II. 

Birth  of  Lincoln. — His  Ancestry. — Humble  Parentage. — Early  Education. — Small  Accomplishments  extensively  Util 
ized. — Handling  of  the  Axe. — Death  of  his  Mother. — Study  of  the  Bible. — Second  Marriage  of  his  Father. — Young 
Lincoln's  earliest  Literary  Acquirements. — Later  pursuits  of  Learning. — Bodily  Development  and  Accomplish 
ments.— First  Trip  on  a  Flat  Boat. — A  Migration  to  Illinois. — A  feat  of  "Splitting  Rails." — A  Hand  on  a  Flat 
Boat. — Reward  of  Industry  and  Integrity. — General  Manager  of  a  Shop  and  Mill. — A  Volunteer  in  the  Black 
Hawk  War. — A  sudden  and  unexpected  Promotion. — -Return  to  Civil  Life.— A  Candidate  for  the  Legislature. — -A 
Partnership  in  a  Shop. — Failure. — An  extemporaneous  Surveyor. — Elected  Member  of  the  Legislature.  — Good 
opinion  of  his  Constituents. — Reading  Law. — Admission  to  the  Bar.  —  Professional  Success. — Prominent  among  the 
Politicians. —A  Canvass  of  the  State. — Elected  Whig  Member  of  Congress. —  His  Votes  and  Opinions  on  the  Slave 
Question. — Return  to  practice  as  a  Lawyer. — Member  of  Whig  National  Convention. — A  Champion  of  the  Repub 
lican  Party.- — Nominated  a  United  States  Senator.— Canvass  of  the  State. — Contest  with  Douglas. — A  Victory  and  a 
Defeat. — His  candid  Answers  to  Questions  on  Slavery. — Nominated  for  the  Presidency.- — Enthusiasm  of  his  Party. — 
An  exciting  Canvass. —  Elected  President. — Sudden  Elevation. — "  Honest  Abe." — Character  and  Manners. 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN  was  born  in  Hardin 
County,  Kentucky,  on  the  12th  of  Feb 
ruary,  1809.  From  the  dark  and  con 
fused  traditions  of  an  humble  ancestry, 
a  mole-eyed  investigator  has  traced 
back  the  lineage  of  our  President  to 
some  forefathers  who  emigrated  from 
England  to  America,  and  settled  in 
Berks  County,  Pennsylvania,  where  they 
were  engaged  in  the  tranquil  pursuit  of 
farming,  and  known  as  peaceful  mem 
bers  of  the  "Society  of  Friends."  One 
of  them,  however,  the  great-grandfather 
of  Abraham  Lincoln,  removed  to  Vir 
ginia,  where  his  grandson,  Thomas  Lin 
coln,  the  father  of  the  President,  was 
born.  The  family  soon  migrated  to 
Kentucky.  Here  Thomas,  Abraham's 
father,  being  left  poor  and  uneducated, 
led  the  life  of  an  itinerant  laborer,  ready 
to  put  his  shoulder  to  any  work  that 
promised  a  fair  day's  wages.  He,  how 
ever,  on  marrying  Nancy  Hanks,  in 
1806,  gave  up  his  migratory  habits, 
and  located  himself  in  Hardin  County, 
where  our  President  was  born.  With 


out  property  and  without  education, 
Thomas  Lincoln  found  himself  in  the 
unenviable  position  of  one  of  those 
"  poor  whites  "  who  in  a  society  based 
on  slavery  are  contemned  alike  by  the 
negro  and  his  master.  He  therefore  de 
termined  to  emigrate  to  a  free  State, 
where  personal  labor  was  deemed  no 
humiliation  and  honest  poverty  no  dis 
grace.  He  accordingly  moved,  in  the 
autumn  of  1816,  to  Spencer  County, 
Indiana,  when  his  son  Abraham  had 
reached  the  age  of  eight  years.  The 
youth  had  already,  while  in  Kentucky, 
picked  up  some  stray  scraps  of  learning, 
and  could  not  only  read  and  cipher,  but 
write.  This  rare  accomplishment  of  the 
juvenile  scholar  proved  invaluable  to 
the  Lincoln  family  and  the  illiterate 
neighbors  of  their  forest  home  in  Indi- 

O 

ana.  They  had  left  relatives  and  friends 
in  Kentucky,  and  were  naturally  desir 
ous  of  keeping  up  a  correspondence 
with  them.  Young  Abraham  Lin 
coln's  services  were  accordingly  put  into 
requisition  as  the  secretary,  not  only  of 


PURSUIT  OF  LITERATURE  UNDER  DIFFICULTIES. 


13 


his  father,  who  could  barely  sign  his 
name,  and  of  his  mother,  who,  "  though 
a  ready  reader,  had  not  been  taught  the 
accomplishment  of  writing,"  but  of 
many  of  the  other  rude  settlers  of  the 
wilderness.  He  thus  early  acquired  a 
facility  of  expression  which  proved  of 
good  service  to  him  in  after  years,  and 
aided  his  future  advancement  in  life. 

This,  however,  was  only  the  occupa 
tion  of  his  rare  intervals  of  leisure.  He 
more  frequently  handled  the  axe  than 
the  pen.  A  log-house  was  to  be  built, 
and  his  father's  land  to  be  cleared  of  its 
forest  growth  of  oaks  and  hickories. 
Abraham  was  young,  but  well-grown, 
and  wondrously  strong  for  his  age,  and 
took  to  the  rude  labor  with  instinctive 
readiness.  "  An  axe  was  at  once  placed 
in  his  hands,  and  from  that  time  until 
he  attained  his  twenty-third  year,  when 
not  employed  in  labor  on  the  farm,  he 
was  almost  constantly  wielding  that 
most  useful  instrument."* 

In  1818,  young  Lincoln  lost  his 
mother,  a  pious  woman  of  the  Baptist 
persuasion,  who  had  taken  care  that  no 
Sunday  should  pass  without  having  a 
chapter  of  the  Bible  read  either  by  her 
self  or  one  of  her  children.  Her  son  is 
said  thus  to  have  acquired  a  familiarity 
with  the  words  and  principles  of  the 
Scriptures,  which  made  an  abiding  im 
pression  upon  his  memory  and  conduct. 
His  father,  however,  soon  provided  him 
self  with  another  wife,  by  marrying  a ., 
Mrs.  Sally  Johnston,  of  Kentucky,  who 
proved  a  worthy  substitute  to  her  not- 

*  "  Life  of  Abraham  Lincoln."     New  York,  I860. 


able  predecessor.  Schooling  was  too 
dear,  and  the  necessity  of  hard  work 
too  pressing,  to  allow  of  much  devotion 
to  study,  and  Abraham  was  left  chiefly 
to  his  own  unaided  exertions  for  his 
education.  With  barely  a  year's  in 
struction  in  all,  he  succeeded,  by  dili 
gently  reading  the  few  books  that  fell 
in  his  way,  in  developing  his  naturally 
vigorous  understanding,  and  preparing 
himself  for  the  success  which  has  mark 
ed  his  life.  His  earliest  literary  acqui 
sitions,  after  his  spelling-book  and  the 
Bible,  were  a  stray  copy  of  Esop's 
Fables,  which  he  conned  until  he  learned 
it  by  heart ;  the  Pilgrim's  Progress, 
Franklin's  Autobiography,  Weems'  pic 
turesque  Life  of  Washington,  and  Riley's 
wondrous  narrative  of  travel.  At  the 
age  of  fifteen  he  earned,  by  three  days' 
work,  in  reaping  a  distant  neighbor's 
corn,  Ramsay's  History  of  the  Revolu 
tion,  and  soon  after  crowned  his  ardu 
ous  pursuit  of  literature  with  the  acqui 
sition  of  a  copy  of  Plutarch's  Lives. 
"  He  studied  English  grammar  after  he 
was  twenty-three  years  of  age ;  at 
twenty-five  he  mastered  enough  of 
geometry,  trigonometry,  and  mensura 
tion  to  enable  him  to  take  the  field  as  a 
surveyor ;  and  he  studied  the  six  books 
of  Euclid  after  he  had  served  a  term  in 
Congress,  and  when  he  was  forty  years 
of  age,  amid  the  pressure  of  an  exten 
sive  legal  practice,  and  of  frequent  de 
mands  upon  his  time  by  the  public."* 

In  the  mean  time,  while  young  Lin 
coln   was  striving  against  every   disad- 


*  "  Life  of  Abraham  Lincoln."     New  York,  1860. 


14 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


vantage  for  mental  progress,  he  was  ad 
vancing  rapidly  in  physical  stature  and 
robustness.      His  rough  backwoods  life 
was  hardening  his  muscle  and  knitting  his 
stalwart  frame,  so  that  he  soon  became 
not  only  foremost  in    felling  a  tree   or 
"  splitting  a  rail,"   but  the   most  noted 
among  his  comrades  in  feats  of  wrestling,  , 
leaping,    and   throwing   the    bar.       His  i 
spirit   of    independence    and    adventure  | 
was  displayed  in  a  trip  on  a  flat-boat  to 
New  Orleans,  which  he  made  at  the  age 
of  nineteen,  as  one  of  the  hands. 

The  fame  of  the  broad  prairies  of 
Illinois,  with  their  seductive  promise  of 
cheap  lands  and  natural  richness  of  soil, 
had  reached  the  Lincoln  family,  and 
tempted  them  to  seek  its  "  fresh  fields 
and  pastures  new."  Accordingly,  in  the 
spring  of  1830,  Thomas  Lincoln,  with 
his  wife  and  children,  abandoned  his 
home  in  Indiana  and  journeyed  to  the 
new  land  of  promise.  Ox-carts  loaded 
with  the  women  folk,  the  household 
goods,  the  farming  utensils,  and  provi 
sion  of  c6rn  arid  bacon  for  the  journey, 
and  driven  by  the  patriarch  and  his  son, 
our  future  President,  carried  all  the 
hopes  and  fortunes  of  the  Lincolns  to 
their  new  home.  After  a  slow  and  long- 
journey  through  an  unfrequented  coun 
try,  picturesque  to  the  eye  with  its 
diversified  scenery,  but  trying  to  the 
endurance  of  the  traveler  with  its 
mountain  acclivities,  its  deep  water 
courses,  and  perplexing  forests,  they 
finally  arrived  in  Illinois.  Here  the 
Lincolns  settled  in  Macon  County, 
where  the  strong  arm  and  skilled  labor 
of  Abraham,  now  one-and-twenty  years 


of  age,  were  at  once  put  to  service. 
The  summer  was  mostly  spent  in  build 
ing  the  log-house,  as  a  protection  against 
the  storms  and  frosts  of  the  approaching 
autumn  and  winter.  The  next  step  was 
to  prepare  the  bit  of  prairie  which  had 
fallen  to  the  lot  of  the  Lincolns,  for  a 
crop  of  Indian  corn.  It  was  now  that 
Abraham  accomplished  that  memorable 
feat  of  "  splitting  the  rails"  for  the  ten- 
acre  field,  which  has  subsequently  been 
cultivated  to  such  advantage  by  the 
fertilizing  rhetoric  of  political  orators. 

The  winter  compelling  an  intermission 
of  labor  on  the  farm,  and  the  severity 
of  the  season  restricting  the  means  of 
livelihoood  at  home,  young  Lincoln  was 
induced  to  accept  the  offer  of  a  neighbor 
and  assist  in  taking  a  flat-boat  from 
Beardstown,  on  the  Illinois  Biver,  to  New 
Orleans.  Having  performed  this  service 
greatly  to  the  satisfaction  of  his  em 
ployer,  he  was  rewarded  by  him  with 
the  appointment  of  general  manager  of 
his  shop  and  mill  in  New  Salem.  He 
had  been  thus  occupied  for  several 
months,  when,  on  the  breaking  out  of 
the  Black  Hawk  war  in  1832,  he  joined 
a  company  of  volunteers.  Lincoln  was 
at  once  chosen  the  captain,  an  unex 
pected  elevation,  which  he  declared  gave 
him  more  pleasure  than  any  subsequent 
honor  which  has  fallen  to  his  lot.  The 
war  being  soon  brought  to  a  close,  Lin 
coln  returned  to  civil  life,  after  the  brief 
military  career  of  three  months. 

On  reaching  New  Salem,  he  was  in 
duced  to  offer  himself  as  a  "  Whig"  can 
didate  for  the  Legislature,  but  was  de 
feated  by  his  Democratic  opponent.  He 


MEMBER  OF  CONGRESS. 


15 


now  formed  a  partnership,  and  buying  a 
stock  of  goods  on  credit,  opened  a  coun 
try  store.  He  was  also  appointed  post 
master  at  New  Salem.  The  business, 
however,  not  proving  successful,  nor  the 
office  remunerative,  he  was  soon  in  such 
pecuniary  straits  as  to  be  forced  to  close 
his  doors.  His  next  effort  for  a  liveli 
hood  was  as  an  extemporaneous  assist 
ant  surveyor,  for  which  he  readily  pre 
pared  himself  by  obtaining  a  field  com 
pass,  a  chain,  and  a  treatise  on  surveying. 

In  1834,  Lincoln  was  elected  a  mem 
ber  of  the  Legislature  of  Illinois.  Al 
though  reticent  of  speech,  he  by  the 
faithful  discharge  of  his  duties,  and  his 
personal  and  political  rectitude  of  con 
duct,  won  so  much  of  the  good  opinion 
of  his  constituents  that  they  re-elected 
him  for  three  successive  terms. 

Even  while  practicing  as  a  surveyor, 
Lincoln  had  been  in  the  habit  of  read 
ing  books  on  law.  After  entering  the 

O 

Legislature,  he  began  to  study  them 
with  increased  attention,  and  in  1836 
had  made  such  progress  that  he  was 
admitted  to  the  bar.  In  April  of  the 
following  year  he  became  a  partner  of 
a  Mr.  John  F.  Stuart,  and  removed  to 
Springfield,  where  he  began  the  practice 
of  his  profession.  His  success  as  a 
lawyer  was  immediate,  and  lie  soon  at 
tained  to  such  eminence,  that  he  ranked 
among  the  chief  legal  practitioners  of 
the  neighborhood.  His  forte  was  in  the 
management  of  jury  cases.  Though 
laboriously  occupied  with  his  profession, 
Lincoln  took  a  prominent  lead  in  poli 
tics.  His  sympathies  were  with  the 
Whigs,  and  having  been  chosen  a  candi 


date  for  Presidential  elector  in  1844,  he 
canvassed  the  whole  State  of  Illinois 
and  a  portion  of  Indiana  in  favor  of 
Henry  Clay.  In  1846  he  was  elected 
by  the  Whigs  a  member  of  Congress, 
and  in  December,  1847,  took  his  seat  in 
the  House  of  Representatives.  Though 
opposed  to  the  annexation  of  Texas  and 
the  war  with  Mexico,  which  had  been 
then  brought  to  a  triumphant  close  by 
the  conquest  of  the  Mexican  capital, 
Lincoln  never  failed  to  recognize  the 
good  service  of  our  soldiers,  and  to  join 
in  all  the  congressional  votes  of  ac 
knowledgment  and  reward. 

At  an  early  period  Lincoln  had  mani 
fested  .those  opinions  on  slavery  which 
secured  for  him  the  nomination  of  the 
Republican  party,  and  elevated  him  to 
his  future  high  position.  In  a  protest, 
which  is  recorded  upon  the  journal  of  the 
Illinois  Legislature  on  the  3d  of  March, 
1837,  he  united  with  a  fellow-member 
in  saying  that :  "  They  believe  that  the 
institution  of  slavery  is  founded  on  both 
injustice  and  bad  policy  ;  but  that  the 
promulgation  of  abolition  doctrines  tends 
rather  to  increase  than  abate  its  evils. 

"  They  believe  that  the  Congress  of 
the  United  States  has  no  power,  under 
the  Constitution,  to  interfere  with  the 
institution  of  slavery  in  the  different 
States. 

"  They  believe  that  the  Congress  of 
the  United  States  has  the  power  under 
the  Constitution  to  abolish  slavery  in 
the  District  of  Columbia ;  but  that  the 
power  ought  not  to  be  exercised  unless 
at  the  request  of  the  people  of  said 
District/' 


16 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


His  action  while  in  Congress,  as  after 
his  election  to  the  Presidency,  was  ever 
in  strict  accordance  with  the  scrupulous 
regard  thus  early  expressed  for  all  con 
stitutional  obligations  in  respect  to 
Southern  slavery,  but  he  surely  never 
failed  to  do  his  utmost  to  restrict  within 
its  legal  bounds  an  institution  which  he 
did  not  favor.  He  showed  his  resolute 
opposition  to  its  extension  by  voting, 
while  in  Congress,  no  less  than  forty- 
two  times  for  the  Wilmot  proviso.  His 
action  on  other  questions  was  in  har 
mony  with  his  professed  Whig  principles, 
and  a  protective  tariff,  river  and  harbor 
improvements,  and  the  sale  of  the  pub 
lic  lands  at  a  low  valuation,  received  his 
support  and  vote. 

Lincoln,  having  served  in  Congress 
but  a  single  term,  returned  to  the  prac 
tice  of  his  profession  in  Springfield.  In 
1848,  however,  he  was  a  member  of  the 
Whig  National  Convention,  and  warmly 
concurred  in  the  nomination  of  General 
Zachary  Taylor  for  the  Presidency.  In 
1849  he  was  the  Whig  candidate  for  the 
United  States  Senate,  but  as  the  majority 
of  the  Legislature  of  Illinois  was  Demo 
cratic,  was  beaten  by  his  competitor, 
General  Shields. 

The  repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compro 
mise  aroused  Lincoln  once  more  to 
active  political  effort,  and  he  came  for 
ward  as  a  champion  of  the  new  Repub 
lican  party  organized  to  resist  the  ex 
tension  of  slavery.  In  the  canvass  for 
the  choice  of  a  senator  in  the  place  of 
General  Shields,  he  sustained  Judge 
Trumbull,  and  to  his  spirited  efforts  was 
attributed  the  triumph  of  that  Republi 


can  candidate.  So  prominent  had  he 
now  become  as  a  leader  of  the  new 
party,  that  in  the  Republican  National 
Convention  of  1856,  which  nominated 
John  C.  Fremont  for  President,  Lincoln 
was  pressed  by  the  delegates  from  the 
State  of  Illinois  as  a  nominee  for  the 
Vice-Presidency. 

Being  nominated  on  the  2d  of  June, 
1858,  by  the  Republican  party  of  his 
State,  candidate  for  the  United  States 
Senate,  in  opposition  to  Douglas,  Lin 
coln  canvassed  Illinois  together  with  his 
eminent  competitor.  Having  already,  in 
the  struggle  between  Trumbull  and' 
Shields,  tested  his  powers  with  the 
"  Little  Giant,"  as  the  partisans  of  Doug 
las  fondly  termed  him,  in  allusion  to  his 
combined  loftiness  of  intellect  and 
smallness  of  stature,  Lincoln  did  not 
hesitate  to  challenge  his  doughty  antag 
onist  to  another  encounter.  The  polit 
ical  contest  which  ensued  became  mem 
orable,  and  Lincoln  exhibited,  as  a  free- 
soil  combatant,  such  pluck  and  bottom 
that  he  was  hailed  by  the  Republicans 
of  Illinois  as  their  favorite  champion. 
They  claimed  that  he  had  victoriously 
sustained  their  principles  against  the 
stoutest  leader  of  their  antagonists.  He, 
however,  with  all  his  vigor  of  fight,  did 
not  succeed  in  his  immediate  purpose 
of  gaining  the  prize  of  the  senatorship. 
The  popular  vote,  it  is  true,  proclaimed 
him  victor,  but  his  competitor,  Douglas, 
Deceived  the  suffrage  of  the  State  Sen 
ate  in  consequence  of  the  unequal  ap 
portionment  law  of  Illinois,  which  gave 
the  Democrats  an  undue  share  of  its 
members.  Lincoln,  however,  had  se- 


LINCOLN'S  OPINIONS  ON  SLAVERY. 


17 


cured  for  himself,  among  the  expanding 
Republican  party,  an  importance  which 
obtained  for  him  the  nomination  for  the 
Presidency,  and  finally  his  elevation  to 
that  high  office. 

How  far  his  political  views  upon  the 
question  of  slavery  did  really  justify  a 
defiance  of  the  authority  of  his  gov 
ernment,  as  pretended  by  those  seek 
ing  pretexts  for  rebellion,  his  own  words 
will  prove.  In  the  course  of  his  polit 
ical  contest  for  the  senatorship,  Douglas 
proposed  certain  questions  to  him,  which 
are  here  i>;iven,  with  Lincoln's  answers. 

c?  ' 

which  present  a  candid  exposition  of 
his  opinions. 

"  Question  1.  I  desire  to  know  whether 
Lincoln  to-day  stands  pledged,  as  he  did 
in  1854,  in  favor  of  the  unconditional 
repeal  of  the  Fugitive  Slave  law  ? 

Ansiver.  I  do  not  now,  nor  ever  did, 
stand  pledged  in  favor  of  the  uncondi 
tional  repeal  of  the  Fugitive  Slave  law. 

Q.  2.  I  desire  him  to  answer  whether 
he  stands  pledged  to-day,  as  he  did 
in  1854,  against  the  admission  of  any 
more  slave  States  into  the  Union,  even 
if  the  people  want  them  ? 

A.  I  do  not  now,  nor  ever  did,  stand 
pledged  against  the  admission  of  any 
more  slave  States  into  the  Union. 

Q.  3.  I  want  to  know  whether  he 
stands  pledged  against  the  admission  of 
a  new  State  into  the  Union,  with  such  a 
constitution  as  the  people  of  that  State 
may  see  fit  to  make  '( 

A.  I  do  not  stand  pledged  against  the 
admission  of  a  new  State  into  the  LTnion, 
with  such  a  constitution  as  the  people 
of  that  State  may  see  fit  to  make. 

3 


Q.  4.  I  want  to  know  whether  ho 
stands  to-day  pledged  to  the  abolition 
of  slavery  in  the  District  of  Columbia  ? 

A.  I  do  not  stand  to-day  pledged  to 
the  abolition  of  slavery  in  the  District 
of  Columbia. 

Q.  5.  I  desire  him  to  answer  whether 
he  stands  pledged  to  the  prohibition 
of  the  slave-trade  between  the  different 
States  ? 

A.  I  do  not  stand  pledged  to  the 
prohibition  of  the  slave-trade  between 
the  different  States. 

Q.  6.  I  desire  to  know  whether  lie 
stands  pledged  to  prohibit  slavery  in  all 
the  Territories  of  the  United  States, 
north  as  well  as  south  of  the  Missouri 
Compromise  line  \ 

A.  I  am  impliedly,  if  not  expressly, 
pledged  to  a  belief  in  the  right  and  duty 
of  Congress  to  prohibit  slavery  in  all 
the  United  States'  territories. 

Q.  7.  I  desire  him  to  answer  whether 
he  is  opposed  to  the  acquisition  of  any 
new  territory,  unless  slavery  is  first  pro 
hibited  therein  \ 

A.  I  am  not  generally  opposed  to  hon 
est  acquisition  of  territory  ;  and,  in  any 
given  case,  I  would  or  would  not  oppose 
such  acquisition,  according  as  I  might 
think  such  acquisition  would  or  would 
not  aggravate  the  slavery  question 
among  ourselves. 

Now,  my  friends,  it  will  be  perceived, 
upon  an  examination  of  these  questions 
and  answers,  that  so  far  I  have  only 
answered  that  I  was  not  pledged  to  this, 
that,  or  the  other.  The  Judge  has  not 
framed  his  interrogatories  to  ask  me 
anything  more  than  this,  and  I  have 


18 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


answered  in  strict  accordance  with  the 
interrogatories,  and  have  answered  truly 
that  I  am  not  pledged  at  all  upon  any  of 
the  points  to  which  I  have  answered. 
But  I  am  not  disposed  to  hang  upon  the 
exact  form  of  his  interrogatory.  I  am 
rather  disposed  to  take  up  at  least  some 
of  these  questions,  and  state  what  I 
really  think  upon  them. 

As  to  the  first  one,  in  regard  to  the 
Fugitive  Slave  law,  I  have  never  hesi 
tated  to  say,  and  1  do  not  now  hesitate 
to  say,  that  I  think,  under  the  Consti 
tution  of  the  United  States,  the  people 
of  the  Southern  States  are  entitled  to  a 
Congressional  Fugitive  Slave  law.  Hav 
ing  said  that,  I  have  had  nothing  to  say 
in  regard  to  the  existing  Fugitive  Slave 
law,  further  than  that  I  think  it  should 
have  been  framed  so  as  to  be  free  from 
some  of  the  objections  that  pertain  to  it, 
without  lessening  its  efficiency.  And 
inasmuch  as  we  are  not  now  in  an 
agitation  in  regard  to  an  alteration  or 
modification  of  that  law,  I  would  not  be 
the  man  to  introduce  it  as  a  new  subject 
of  agitation  upon  the  general  question 
of  slavery. 

In  regard  to  the  other  question,  of 
whether  I  am  pledged  to  the  admission 
of  any  more  slave  States  into  the  Union, 
I  state  to  you  very  frankly,  that  I  would 
be  exceedingly  sorry  ever  to  be  put  in 
a  position  of  having  to  pass  upon  that 
question.  I  should  be  exceedingly  glad 
to  know  that  there  would  never  be 
another  slave  State  admitted  into  the 
Union  ;  but  I  must  add  that,  if  slavery 
shall  be  kept  out  of  the  Territories 
during  the  territorial  existence  of  any 


one  given  Territory,  and  then  the 
people  shall,  having  a  fair  chance  and  a 
clear  field,  when  they  come  to  adopt  the 
Constitution,  do  such  an  extraordinary 
thing  as  to  adopt  a  slave  constitution, 
uninfluenced  by  the  actual  presence  of 
the  institution  among  them,  I  see  no 
alternative,  if  we  own  the  country,  but 
to  admit  them  into  the  Union. 

The  third  interrogatory  is  answered 
by  the  answer  to  the  second,  it  being, 
as  I  conceive,  the  same  as  the  second. 

The  fourth  one  is  in  regard  to  the 
abolition  of  slavery  in  the  District  of 
Columbia.  In  relation  to  that,  I  have 
my  mind  very  distinctly  made  up.  I 
should  be  exceedingly  glad  to  see  slavery 
abolished  in  the  District  of  Columbia. 
I  believe  that  Congress  possesses  the 
constitutional  power  to  abolish  it.  Yet, 
as  a  member  of  Congress,  I  should  not, 
with  my  present  views,  be  in  favor  of 
endeavouring  to  abolish  slavery  in  the 
District  of  Columbia,  unless  it  would  be 
upon  these  conditions  :  First,  that  the 
abolition  should  be  gradual.  Second, 
that  it  should  be  on  a  vote  of  the  ma 
jority  of  qualified  voters  in  the  District  ; 
and  third,  that  compensation  should  be 
made  to  unwilling  owners.  With  these 

o 

three  conditions,  I  confess  I  would  be 
exceedingly  glad  to  see  Congress  abolish 
slavery  in  the  District  of  Columbia,  and, 
in  the  language  of  Henry  Clay,  '  sweep 
from  our  capital  that  foul  blot  upon  our 
nation.' 

In  regard  to  the  fifth  interrogatory, 
I  must  say  here,  that  as  to  the  question 
of  the  abolition  of  the  slave-trade  be 
tween  the  different  States,  I  can  truly 


AN  EXCITING  ELECTION. 


answer,  as  I  have,  that  I  am  pledged  to 
nothing   about   it.     It    is    a    subject   to 
which    I   have    not    given    that    mature 
consideration   that  would  make  me  feel 
authorized  to  state  a  position   so  as  to 
hold   myself   entirely  bound  by  it.     In 
other    words,    that    question    has    never 
been  prominently  enough  before   me   to 
induce    me    to    investigate    whether   we 
really  have  the  constitutional  power  to 
do   it.     I   could   investigate  it  if  I   had 
sufficient  time  to  bring  myself  to  a  con 
clusion   upon  that  subject ;   but   I  have 
not  done  so,  and  I  say  so  frankly  to  you 
here,   and  to   Judge    Douglas.     I  must 
say,   however,    that    if   I    should    be    of 
opinion   that  Congress  does  possess  the 
constitutional      power     to     abolish    the 
slave-trade  among  the  different  States,  1 
should  still  not  be  in  favor  of  the  exer 
cise    of    that    power   unless   upon   some 
conservative   principle,  as  I  conceive  it, 
akin  to  what  I  have  said  in  relation  to 
the  abolition  of  slavery  in   the  District 
of  Columbia. 

"My  answer   as   to  whether  I  desire 
that  slavery  should  be  prohibited  in  all 

«/ 

the  Territories  of  the  United  States,  is  full 
and  explicit  within  itself,  and  can  not  be 
made  clearer  by  any  comments  of  mine. 
So  I  suppose  in  regard  to  the  question 
whether  I  am  opposed  to  the  acquisition 
of  any  more  territory  unless  slavery  is 
first  prohibited  therein,  my  answer  is 
such  that  I  could  add  nothing  by  way 
of  illustration,  or  making  myself  better 
understood,  than  the  answer  which  I 
have  placed  in  writing." 

On  the   16th  of  May,  the  Re- 
J°'  publican  National  Convention  met 


at    Chicago.     After   two    ballots,  which 
resulted  in  no  choice,  Lincoln  was  chosen 
on    the   third,    receiving   three    hundred 
and   fifty-four  of   the   whole   four  hun 
dred    and    sixty-five   votes.*     The  elec 
tion   was   then   made  unanimous.     The 
party  responded    enthusiastically  to  the 
choice,    and  began   at   once  to   stir  the 
country  with  an  exciting  canvass.     The 
"Wide    Awakes,"     unarmed    but     uni 
formed  armies  of  voters,  mustered  and 
led   by  bands  of   music,   were    paraded 
through  the   streets   in  marching  order 
by  day,  and  in  torchlight  processions  at 
night.      Illuminated     banners,    gigantic 
flags,  and  posters  made    the   names   of 
Lincoln  and  Hamlin  familiar  to  every  eye 
and  ear.     Republican  orators,  of  whom 
Seward,  himself  the  leading  competitor 
with    Lincoln    for    the    nomination    of 
President,  was   the   chief,    posted   from 
State  to  State,  city  to  city,  and  through 
out  the  rural  districts,   gathering  great 
crowds  and  arousing  them  by  their  fervid 
rhetoric  to  resist  the  encroachments  of 
slavery,  and  rally  to  the  standard  of  the 
party  organized  to  oppose  it. 

The  divided  Democrats  and  the  so- 
called  Unionists  were  not  less  demon 
strative  and  industrious  in  making  ap 
peals  by  means  of  party  emblems,  pro 
cessions,  "monster"  meetings,  and  po 
litical  speeches.  The  country  was  never 
so  agitated  and  party  spirit  so  enven 
omed.  Mutterings,  in  the  mean  time, 


*  The  whole  number  of  votes  was  465,  of  which  233 
were  necessary  to  a  choice.  On  the  first  ballot,  Se-vard  re- 
ceived  173$,  Lincoln  102,  Cameron  50  J,  and  Bates  48  ;  the 
rest  were  scattered.  On  the  second  ballot,  Seward  re 
ceived  184$,  and  Lincoln  181  ;  on  the  third,  Lincoln  had 
354,  Seward  109$,  Dayton  1,  and  McLean  i  a  vote. 


20 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


of  disaffection  came  from  the  South 
anticipating  defeat,  but  were  either  not 
listened  to,  or  scouted  as  the  grumbling 
of  impotent  discontent.  The  clamor  of 
party  drowned  all  but  its  own  voice. 

In  consequence  of  the  dissensions  and 
divisions   of  the   Democratic   party,   the 
Republicans  succeeded  in  electing  their 
candidate.     Abraham  Lincoln  was  elect 
ed  President  of  the  United  States, 

IHttO.    ,  ,      , 

having  received  the  electoral  vote 
of  seventeen  States — California,  Connec 
ticut,  Illinois,  Indiana,  Iowa,  Maine, 
Massachusetts,  Michigan,  Minnesota, 
New  Hampshire,  New  York,  Ohio,  Ore 
gon,  Pennsylvania,  Pihode  Island,  Ver 
mont,  and  Wisconsin — while  the  electoral 
vote  of  eleven  States  was  given  to  Breck- 
inridge,  of  three  to  Bell,  and  of  two  to 
Douglas.  The  whole  popular  vote,  how 
ever,  was  only  1,857,610  for  the  Repub 
lican  candidate,  while  that  for  the  other 
three  combined  amounted  to  2,804,560. 

Lincoln,  by  his  election,  became  at 
once,  from  a  comparatively  obscure  per 
son,  whose  name  before  his  nomination 
was  hardly  known  beyond  the  limits  of 
the  State  of  Illinois,  the  most  prominent 
man  in  the  country.  Though  acknowl 
edged  in  his  own  State  as  an  acute  law 
yer  and  skillful  politician,  he  had  never 
been  recognized  by  the  country  at  large 
as  a  leading  statesman.  He  had,  how 
ever,  acquired  in  Illinois  such  a  repute 
for  political  and  personal  integrity,  that 
the  people  of  the  North,  of  all  parties, 
the  corruption  in 


disgusted  with 


high 


places,  readily  accepted  him  as  a  chief 
magistrate,  upon  whom  they  might  rely 
for  a  strict  adherence  to  his  constitu 
tional  obligations.  The  "  honest  Abe  " 
of  his  partisans  would  prove,  it  was  be 
lieved,  the  worthy  President  of  the  great 
Republic. 

Personally,  Lincoln,  who  in  character 
and  manner  had  the  unreserved  and  pop- 
ular  characteristics  of  the  Western  man, 
had  no  pretensions  to  the  stately  dignity 
we  are  apt  to  associate  with  the  office  of 
President.  Retaining  the  informal  habits 
of  his  early  life,  he  was  easily  accessible, 
yielding  without  reserve  his  ready  social 
sympathy  to  the  first  comer.  A  tall, 
gaunt  man,  with  bending  shoulders  like 
an  overweighted  Atlas,  nearly  six  feet 
and  a  half  in  height,  and  of  great  physical 
vigor,  developed  by  the  rude  labor  of  his 
earlier,  and  strengthened  by  the  simple 
habits  of  his  later  years,  he  was  the  rep 
resentative  of  the  sturdy  democracy  of 
the  country.  With  none  of  the  preten 
tious  refinements  of  a  fastidious  culture, 
he  yet  had  a  naturally  vigorous  under 
standing,  carefully  improved  by  legal  and 
political  study.  A  certain  logical  acu 
men  appeared  characteristic  of  his  mind, 
and  tracing  with  untiring  pertinacity  the 
windings  of  an  argument,  he  succeeded 
in  distinguishing  the  plausible  from  the 
true.  His  mental  like  his  moral  char 
acter  had  generally  a  natural  bias  for 
truth,  and  the  nation,  in  those  days  of 
political  crime,  confidently  trusted  in  his 
honesty. 


EFFECT  OF  LINCOLN'S  ELECTION. 


CHAPTER    III. 

The  Election  of  Lincoln  a  signal  and  pretext  of  Insurrection. — The  news  hailed  with  joy  in  South  Carolina. — Secession 
Meetings. — Sympathy  of  Slave  States. — Offer  of  Aid  from  Virginia. — Secession  Movement  in  New  Orleans. — A  Call 
for  an  Army  in  South  Carolina. — Resignation  of  the  United  States  Senators  from  South  Carolina. — Tendency  to 
Rebellion  in  the  other  Slave  States. — Action  of  the  Legislature  of  Georgia. — Florida  hails  the  "  Gallant  Palmetto 
Flag." — The  Governor  of  Alabama  advises  to  prepare  for  Secession. — Conventions  ordered. — Increase  of  the  Seces 
sion  Mania  in  South  Carolina. — Flying  of  the  Palmetto  Flag,  and  excited  enthusiasm  of  the  People. — An  infectious 
example. — Arming  of  Georgia. — Commissioners  from  Mississippi. — Mutual  Counsel  and  Advice. — Arming  of  the 
Southern  People. — Purchases  of  Arms  from  the  North. — Increased  Barbarity  at  the  South. — Feeling  at  the  North. — 
Trust  in  the  sentiment  of  Union.  —Hope  from  Congress  and  the  President. — Disappointment. — President  Buchanan's 
Message. 


180O. 


THE  election  of  Lincoln  was  made  the 
signal  in  the  South,  as  it  was  the 
pretext,   for  the  open  defiance   of 
the    authority    of   the   Federal    Govern 
ment.     The  intelligence  of  the  fact  was 
received  at   Charleston,   S.  C.,  with  un 
disguised  joy,  and  the  citizens  gave  vent 
to  their  enthusiasm   in   "  long-continued 
cheering    for    a   Southern    confederacy." 
Meetings  were  held,  where  local  orators 
delivered    stirring    speeches,    in    which 
they  declared    that  Southern  independ 
ence   could  only  be   secured  by  the  se 
cession     of    South    Carolina,    and   were 
rapturously    applauded.      The  conspira 
tors  of  the  different  Southern  States  in 
terchanged  expressions  of  sympathy  and 
offers    of   mutual    service.      From    Vir 
ginia,  even  at  that  early  period,  came  a 
proffer  to  South  Carolina  of  a  volunteer 
corps  to  aid  her  in  her  projected  rebellion. 
In  New   Orleans,  placards  were   posted 
on  the  walls  of  the  city  inviting  the  cit 
izens  to  military  organization,  and  soon 
"  minute  men  "  were  mustered  in  every 
cotton  State. 

On  the  10th  of  November  a  bill  was 
introduced  in   the  Legislature  of  South 


Carolina  for  calling  out  and  equipping 
an  army  of  ten  thousand  volunteers,  and 
on  the  same  day  was  ordered  an  election 

for   delegates  to   a  convention  to   take 

~ 

action  on  the  question  of  secession. 
This  was  followed  by  the  resignation  by 
the  South  Carolina  senators  of  their 
seats  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States, 
which  was  accepted  with  enthusiasm. 
Finally,  on  November  13th,  the  Legis 
lature  adjourned  sine  die,  when  its  pre 
paratory  acts  of  secession  were  honored 
by  a  torch-light  procession  in  the  cap 
ital  of  the  State. 

The  other  cotton  States,  though  less 
precipitate  than  South  Carolina  in  legis 
lative  action,  gave  early  indications  of 
their  tendency  to  insurrection.  The 
Legislature  of  Georgia  refused  to  order 
the  election  of  a  senator  to  fill  a  vacancy 
in  the  United  States  Senate.  The  Gov 
ernor  of  Florida  sent  a  telegraphic  greet- 
in<T  to  the  Governor  of  South  Carolina, 
declaring  that  "  Florida  is  with  the  gal 
lant  Palmetto  flag."  The  Governor  of 
Alabama  advised  his  fellow-citizens  to 
prepare  for  secession,  and  gave  notice 
of  his  intention  to  order  an  election  of 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


delegates  to  a  State  convention.  An 
extra  session  of  the  Legislature  of  Vir 
ginia  was  called  to  "  take  into  consid 
eration  the  condition  of  public  affairs." 
At  the  same  time  great  meetings  were 
held  at  New  Orleans,  Augusta,  Mont 
gomery,  Vicksburg,  and  other  Southern 
cities,  in  favor  of  disunion.  Each  day 
brought  witli  it  a  fresh  development  of 
the  secession  mania.  The  citizens  of 
Charleston  gathered  in  crowds  to  "  in 
augurate  the  revolution."  The  palmetto 
flag,  the  symbol  of  the  State,  was  hoisted 
upon  tall  poles  of  pine  erected  for  the 
purpose,  and  flung  out  from  every  pub 
lic  building,  hotel,  and  private  residence. 
Men,  women,  and  children  flaunted  se 
cession  badges,  and  yielded  unresistingly 
to  the  common  madness. 

In  the  meanwhile  the  example  of 
South  Carolina  was  infecting  her  neigh 
bors.  The  Legislature  of  Georgia  voted 
Nov  an  appropriation  of  a  million  of 

18»  dollars  "to  arm  and  equip  'the 
State,"  and  ordered  an  election  of  del 
egates  to  a  convention.  The  Legislature 
Xov  of  North  Carolina  refused  to  elect 

m  a  United  States  Senator.  The 
Legislature  of  Mississippi  authorized  the 
Nov.  £overnor  to  appoint  commissioners 

«».  to  yjsjt  tj,c  slaveholding  States,  to 
devise  means  in  co-operation  for  "  their 
common  defence  and  safety."  The  Lcg- 
Deo.  islature  of  Florida  unanimously 

*•  passed  the  bill  calling  for  a  con 
vention.  The  Legislature  of  Georgia 
again,  unable  to  check  its  impatience, 
ljec<  made  a  further  advance  toward  re- 

:*«  bellion  by  considering  a  resolution 
to  invite  a  conference  of  the  Southern 


States,  for  mutual  counsel  in  regard  to 
the  best  means  of  resistance  to  the 
North. 

The  people  of  the  slave  States  were 
daily  arming  themselves  for  an  antici 
pated  encounter  with  the  Federal  au 
thorities  they  were  provoking.  Im 
mense  purchases  of  arms  and  ammunition 
were  made  lit  New  York,  Boston,  and 
Hartford.  The  rage  against  the  unsym 
pathetic  citizens  of  the  North,  who  by 
an  unhappy  fate  chanced  to  be  exposed 
to  their  insults  and  violence,  was  mani 
fested  with  increased  barbarity. 

The  loyal  citizens  of  the  country, 
though  alarmed  by  these  rebellious  in 
dications  of  the  slave  States,  yet  trusted 
to  the  sentiment  of  union  to  check,  and 
the  power  as  well  as  the  disposition-  of 
the  Federal  Government  to  repress  them. 
Some  looked  to  Congress,  now  in  D(H. 
session,  for  a  ready  compliance  with  «*• 
measures  of  conciliation  and  compro 
mise,  by  which  Southern  discontent  might 
be  soothed  by  Northern  concession.  Oth 
ers  trusting  in  the  power  of  Government, 
hoped  that  the  chief  magistrate,  now  that 
his  weak  will  arid  vacillating  purposes 
could  be  steadied  and  directed  by  con 
gressional  resolution,  would  bind  with 
the  fetters  of  authority  the  rebellion  be 
fore  it  should  be  aroused  in  its  might. 

The  message  of  Buchanan,   however, 
soon  dissipated  these  hopes.     Instead  of 
a  dignified  vindication  of  authority,  Dec 
it  was  an  ill-concealed   attempt  at    •*• 
justification  of   its  contemners,  and   an 
open  declaration  of  their  impunity.     This 
remarkable    document    will    be    always 
considered  a  not  inefficient  promoter  of 


BUCHANAN'S  MESSAGE. 


rebellion,  «and  is  now  recorded  as  an 
important  fact  in  its  history. 

PRESIDENT  BUCHANAN'S  MESSAGE. 

"  FELLOW-CITIZENS  OF  THE  SENATE 

AND  HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES  : 
"Throughout  the  vear  since  our  last 

O  */ 

meetino-,  the  country  has  been  eminently 
prosperous  in  all  its  material  interests. 
The  general  health  has  been  excellent, 
our  harvests  have  been  abundant,  and 
plenty  smiles  throughout  the  land.  Our 
commerce  and  manufactures  have  been 
prosecuted  with  energy  and  industry, 
and  have  yielded  fair  and  ample  re 
turns.  In  short,  no  nation  in  the  tide 
of  time  has  ever  presented  a  specta 
cle  of  greater  material  prosperity  than 
we  have  done  until  within  a  very  recent 
period. 

"  Why  is  it,  then,  that  discontent  now 
so  extensively  prevails,  and  the  Union 
of  the  States,  which  is  the  source  of 
all  these  blessings,  is  threatened  with 
destruction  ?  The  long-continued  and 
intemperate  interference  of  the  Northern 
people  with  the  question  of  slavery  in 
the  Southern  States  has  at  length  pro 
duced  its  natural  effects.  The  different 
sections  of  the  Union  are  now  arrayed 
against  each  other,  and  the  time  has  ar 
rived,  so  much  dreaded  by  the  Father 
of  his  Country,  when  hostile  geograph 
ical  parties  have  been  formed.  I  have 
long  foreseen  and  often  forewarned  my 
countrymen  of  the  now  impending  dan 
ger.  This  does  not  proceed  solely  from 
the  claims  on  the  part  of  Congress  or  the 
Territorial  Legislature  to  exclude  slav 
ery  from  the  Territories,  nor  from  the 


efforts  of  different  States  to  defeat  the 
execution  of  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law. 

"  All  or  any  of  these  evils  might  have 
been  endured  by  the  South  without 
danger  to  the  Union  (as  others  have 
been),  in  the  hope  that  time  and  re 
flection  might  apply  the  remedy.  The 
immediate  peril  arises  not  so  much  from 
these  causes,  as  from  the  fact  that  the 
incessant  and  violent  agitation  of  the 
slavery  question  throughout  the  North 
for  the  last  quarter  of  a  century,  has  at 
length  produced  its  malign  influence  on 
the  slaves,  and  inspired  them  with  vague 
notions  of  freedom.  Hence  a  sense  of 
security  no  longer  exists  around  the 
family  altar.  This  feeling  of  peace  at 
home  has  given  place  to  apprehensions 
of  servile  insurrection.  Many  a  ma 
tron  throughout  the  South  retires  at 
nio-ht  in  dread  of  what  may  befall  her- 

o  * 

self  and  her  children  before  the  morn 
ing.  Should  this  apprehension  of  do 
mestic  danger,  whether  real  or  imagin 
ary,  extend  and  intensify  itself  until  it 
shall  pervade  the  masses  of  the  Southern 
people,  then  disunion  will  become  inev 
itable.  Self-preservation  is  the  first  law 
of  nature,  and  has  been  implanted  in  the 
heart  of  man  by  his  Creator  for  the 
wisest  purpose ;  and  no  political  union, 
however  fraught  with  blessings  and  ben 
efits  in  all  other  respects,  can  long  con 
tinue,  if  the  necessary  consequence  be 
to  render  the  homes  and  the  firesides  of 
nearly  half  the  parties  to  it  habitually 
and  hopelessly  insecure.  Sooner  or  later 
the  bonds  of  such  a  union  must  be  sev 
ered.  It  is  my  conviction  that  this  fatal 
I  period  has  not  yet  arrived ;  and  my 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


prayer  to  God  is,  that  he  would  preserve 
the  Constitution  and  the  Union  through 
out  all  generations. 

"  But  let  us  take  warning  in  time,  and 
remove  the  cause  of  danger.  It  can  not 
be  denied  that  for  five-and-twenty  years 
the  agitation  at  the  North  against  slav 
ery  in  the  South  has  been  incessant.  In 
1835,  pictorial  handbills  and  inflamma 
tory  appeals  were  circulated  extensively 
throughout  the  South,  of  a  character  to 
excite  the  passions  of  the  slaves  ;  and, 
in  the  language  of  Gen.  Jackson,  '  to 
stimulate  them  to  insurrection,  and  pro 
duce  all  the  horrors  of  a  servile  war.' 
This  agitation  has  ever  since  been  con 
tinued  by  the  public  press,  by  the  pro 
ceedings  of  State  and  county  conven- 
titins,  and  by  abolition  sermons  and  j 
lectures.  The  time  of  Congress  has 
been  occupied  in  violent  speeches  on 
this  never-ending  subject,  and  appeals 
in  pamphlet  and  other  forms,  indorsed 
by  distinguished  names,  have  been  sent 
forth  from  this  central  point,  and  spread 
broadcast  over  the  Union. 

li  How  easy  would  it  be  for  the  Amer 
ican  people  to  settle  the  slavery  question 
forever,  and  to  restore  peace  and  har 
mony  to  this  distracted  country ! 

"  They,  and  they  alone,  can  do  it. 
All  that  is  necessary  to  accomplish  the 
object,  and  all  for  which  the  slave  States 
have  ever  contended,  is  to  be  let  alone 
and  permitted  to  manage  their  domestic 
institutions  in  their  own  way.  As  sov 
ereign  States,  they,  and  they  alone,  are 
responsible  before  God  and  the  world 
for  the  slavery  existing  among  them. 
For  this,  the  people  of  the  North  are  not 


more  responsible,  and  have  no  more 
right  to  interfere,  than  with  similar  in 
stitutions  in  Russia  or  in  Brazil.  Upon 
their  good  sense  and  patriotic  forbear 
ance  I  confess  I  still  greatly  rely.  With 
out  their  aid,  it  is  beyond  the  power  of 
any  President,  no  matter  what  may  be 
his  own  political  proclivities,  to  restore 
peace  and  harmony  among  the  States. 
Wisely  limited  and  restrained  as  is  his 
power,  under  our  Constitution  and  laws, 
he  alone  can  accomplish  but  little,  for 
good  or  for  evil,  on  such  a  momentous 
question. 

"  And  this  brings  me  to  observe  that 
the  election  of  any  one  of  our  fellow- 
citizens  to  the  office  of  President  does 
not  of  itself  afford  just  cause  for  dis 
solving  the  Union.  This  is  more  espe 
cially  true  if  his  election  has  been 
effected  by  a  mere  plurality,  and  not 
a  majority,  of  the  people,  and  has  re 
sulted  from  transient  and  temporary 
causes,  which  may  probably  never  again 
occur.  In  order  to  justify  a  resort  to 
revolutionary  resistance,  the  Federal 
Government  must  be  guilty  of  '  a  delib 
erate,  palpable,  and  dangerous  exercise' 
of  powers  not  granted  by  the  Constitu 
tion.  The  late  Presidential  election, 
however,  has  been  held  in  strict  con 
formity  with  its  express  provisions. 
How,  then,  can  the  result  justify  a  rev 
olution  to  destroy  this  very  Constitu 
tion  \  Reason,  justice,  a  regard  for  the 
Constitution,  all  require  that  we  shall 
wait  for  some  overt  and  dangerous  act 
on  the  part  of  the  President-elect  before 
resorting  to  such  a  remedy. 

"  It  is   said,   however,  that   the  ante- 


THE  SOUTH  AND  ITS  RIGHTS. 


cedents  of  the  President-elect  have  been 
sufficient  to  justify  the  fears  of  the  South 
that  he  will  attempt  to  invade  their  con 
stitutional  rights.  But  are  such  appre 
hensions  of  contingent  danger  in  the 
future  sufficient  to  justify  the  immediate 
destruction  of  the  noblest  system  of 
government  ever  devised  by  mortals '( 
From  the  very  nature  of  his  office,  and 
its  high  responsibilities,  he  must  neces 
sarily  be  conservative.  The  stern  duty 
of  administering  the  vast  and  compli 
cated  concerns  of  this  Government  af 
fords  in  itself  a  guarantee  that  he  will 
not  attempt  any  violation  of  a  clear 
constitutional  right.  After  all,  he  is  no 
more  than  the  chief  executive  officer  of 
the  Government.  His  province  is  not 
to  make,  but  to  execute,  the  laws  ;  and 
it  is  a  remarkable  fact  in  our  history, 
that,  notwithstanding  the  repeated  ef 
forts  of  the  Anti-Slavery  party,  no  single 
act  has  ever  passed  Congress,  unless  we 
may  possibly  except  the  Missouri  Com 
promise,  impairing  in  the  slightest  de 
gree  the  rights  of  the  South  to  their 

C  O 

property  in  slaves.  And  it  may  also  be 
observed,  judging  from  the  present  in 
dications,  that  no  probability  exists  of 
the  passage  of  such  an  act,  by  a  ma 
jority  of  both  Houses,  either  in  the 
present  or  the  next  Congress.  Surely, 
under  these  circumstances,  we  ought  to 
be  restrained  from  present  action  by  the 
precept  of  Him  who  spake  as  never  man 
spoke,  that  '  sufficient  unto  the  day  is 
the  evil  thereof.'  The  day  of  evil  may 
never  come,  unless  we  shall  rashly  bring 
it  upon  ourselves. 

"  It  is  alleged  as  one  cause  for  imme- 

4 


diate  secession,  that  the  Southern  States 
are  denied  equal  rights  with  the  other 
States  in  the  common  Territories.  But 
by  what  authority  are  these  denied  ? 
Not  by  Congress,  which  has  never  passed, 
and  I  believe  never  will  pass,  any  act  to 
exclude  slavery  from  these  Territories ; 
and  certainly  not  by  the  Supreme  Court, 
which  has  solemnly  decided  that  slaves 
are  property,  and,  like  all  other  prop 
erty,  their  owners  have  a  right  to  take 
them  into  the  common  Territories,  and 
hold  them  there  under  the  protection  of 
the  Constitution. 

"So  far,  then,  as  Congress  is  con 
cerned,  the  objection  is  not  to  anything 
they  have  already  done,  but  to  what 
they  may  do  hereafter.  It  will  surely 
be  admitted  that  this  apprehension  of 
future  danger  is  no  good  reason  for  an 
immediate  dissolution  of  the  Union.  It 
is  true  that  the  Territorial  Legislature  of 
Kansas,  on  the  23d  of  February,  1860, 
passed  in  great  haste  an  act,  over  the 
veto  of  the  governor,  declaring  that 
slavery  '  is,  and  shall  be,  forever  pro 
hibited  in  this  Territory.'  Such  an  act, 
however,  plainly  violating  the  rights  of 
property  secured  by  the  Constitution, 
will  surely  be  declared  void  by  the  ju 
diciary  whenever  it  shall  be  presented  in 
a  legal  form. 

"  Only  three  days  after  my  inaugura 
tion,  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States  solemnly  adjudged  that  the  power 
did  not  exist  in  a  Territorial  Legislature. 
Yet  such  has  been  the  factious  temper 
of  the  times,  that  the  correctness  of  this 
decision  has  been  extensively  impugned 
before  the  people,  and  the  question  has 


26 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


given  rise  to  angry  political  conflicts 
throughout  the  country.  Those  who 
have  appealed  from  this  judgment  of  our 
highest  constitutional  tribunal  to  pop 
ular  assemblies  would,  if  they  could,  in 
vest  a  Territorial  Legislature  with  power 
to  annul  the  sacred  rights  of  property. 
This  power  Congress  is  expressly  for 
bidden,  by  the  Federal  Constitution,  to 
exercise.  Every  State  Legislature  in 
the  Union  is  forbidden,  by  its  own  Con 
stitution,  to  exercise  it.  It  can  not  be 
exercised  in  any  State  except  by  the 
people,  in  their  highest  sovereign  capac 
ity,  when  framing  or  amending  their 
State  Constitution. 

"  In  like  manner  it  can  only  be  exer 
cised  by  the  people  of  a  Territory  rep 
resented  in   a   convention   of   delegates,  | 
for  the  purpose  of  framing  a  constitution,  | 
preparatory  to  admission  as  a  State  into   1 
the  Union.      Then,  and  not  until  then, 
are  they  invested  with  power  to  decide 
the   question,  whether  slavery  shall    or 
shall  not  exist  within  their  limits.     This 
is  an  act  of  sovereign  authority,  and  not 
of     subordinate     territorial     legislation. 
Were    it    otherwise,  then   indeed  would 
the  equality  of  the  States  in  the  Terri 
tories   be    destroyed,   and   the   risjht    of 

*/  '  O 

property  in  slaves  would  depend,  not 
upon  the  guarantees  of  the  Constitution, 
but  upon  the  shifting  majorities  of  an 
irresponsible  Territorial  Legislature. 
Such  a  doctrine,  from  its  intrinsic  im- 
soundness,  can  not  long  influence  any 
considerable  portion  of  our  people, 
much  less  can  it  afford  a  good  reason 
for  a  dissolution  of  the  Union. 

"  The  most  palpable  violations  of  con 


stitutional  duty  which  have  yet  been 
committed,  consist  in  the  acts  of  differ 
ent  State  legislatures  to  defeat  the  ex- 

o 

edition  of  the  Fugitive  Slave  law.  It 
ought  to  be  remembered,  however,  that 
for  these  acts  neither  Congress  nor  any 
President  can  justly  be  held  responsible. 
Having  been  passed  in  violation  of  the 
Federal  Constitution,  they  are,  there 
fore,  null  and  void.  All  the  courts 
both  State  and  national,  before  whom 
the  question  has  arisen,  have  from  the 
beirinnino'  declared  the  Fugitive  Slave 

c5  O  O 

law  to  be  constitutional.  The  single 
exception  is  that  of  a  State  court  in 
Wisconsin  ;  and  this  has  not  only  been 
reversed  by  the  proper  appellate  tri 
bunal,  but  has  met  with  such  universal 
reprobation  that  there  can  be  no  danger 
from  it  as  a  precedent.  The  validity  of 
this  law  has  been  established  over  and 
over  again  by  the  Supreme  Court  of 
the  United  States  with  perfect  unan 
imity.  It  is  founded  upon  an  express 
provision  of  the  Constitution,  requiring 
that  fugitive  slaves  who  escape  from 
service  in  one  State  to  another  shall  be 
'  delivered  up  '  to  their  masters.  With 
out  this  provision,  it  is  a  well-known 
historical  fact  that  the  Constitution  itself 
could  never  have  been  adopted  by  the 
Convention. 

"  In  one  form  or  other,  under  the 
acts  of  1793  and  1850,  both  berng  sub 
stantially  the  same,  the  Fugitive  Slave 
law  has  been  the  law  of  the  land  from 
the  days  of  Washington  until  the  present 
moment.  Here,  then,  a  clear  case  is 
presented,  in  which  it  will  be  the  duty 
of  the  next  President,  as  it  has  bnen  m,v 


BUCHANAN  ON  SECESSION. 


'27 


own,  to  act  with  vigor  in  executing  the 
supreme  law  against  the  conflicting  en 
actments  of  State  legislatures.  Should 
lie  fail  in  the  performance  of  this  high 
duty,  he  will  then  have  manifested  a  dis 
regard  of  the  Constitution  and  laws,  to 
the  great  injury  of  the  people  of  nearly 
one  half  of  the  States  of  the  Union. 
But  are  we  to  presume  in  advance  that 
he  will  thus  violate  his  duty  1  This 
would  be  at  war  with  every  principle  of 
justice  and  of  Christian  charity.  Let 
us  wait  for  the  overt  act.  The  Fugitive 
Slave  law  has  been  carried  into  execu 
tion  in  every  contested  case  since  the 
commencement  of  the  present  adminis 
tration  ;  though  often,  it  is  to  be  re 
gretted,  with  great  loss  and  inconveni 
ence  to  the  master,  and  with  consider 
able  expense  to  the  Government.  Let 
us  trust  that  the  State  legislatures  will 
repeal  their  unconstitutional  and  obnox 
ious  enactments.  Unless  this  shall  be 
done  without  any  necessary  delay,  it  is 
impossible  for  any  human  power  to  save 
the  Union. 

"  The  Southern  States,  standing  on 
the  basis  of  the  Constitution,  have  a 
right  to  demand  this  act  of  justice  from 
the  States  of  the  North.  Should  it  be 
refused,  then  the  Constitution,  to  which 
all  the  States  are  parties,  will  have  been 
willfully  violated  by  one  portion  of  them 
in  a  provision  essential  to  the  domestic 
security  and  happiness  of  the  remain 
der.  In  that  event,  the  injured  States, 
after  having  first  used  all  peaceful  and 
constitutional  means  to  obtain  redress, 
would  be  justified  in  revolutionary  re 
sistance  to  the  Government  of  the  Union. 


"  I  have  purposely  confined  my  re 
marks  to  revolutionary  resistance,  be 
cause  it  has  been  claimed  within  the  last 
few  years  that  any  State,  whenever  this 
shall  be  its  sovereign  will  and  pleasure, 
may  secede  from  the  Union,  in  accord 
ance  with  the  Constitution,  and  without 
any  violation  of  the  constitutional  rights 
of  the  other  members  of  the  confed 
eracy.  That,  as  each  became  parties  to 
the  Union  by  a  vote  of  its  own  people 
assembled  in  convention,  so  any  one  of 
them  may  retire  from  the  Union  in  a 
similar  manner  by  the  vote  of  such  a 
convention. 

"In  order  to  justify  secession  as  a 
constitutional  remedy,  it  must  be  on  the 
principle  that  the  Federal  Government 
is  a  mere  voluntary  association  of  States, 
to  be  dissolved  at  pleasure  by  any  one 
of  the  contracting  parties.  If  this  be 
so,  the  confederacy  is  a  rope  of  sand,  to 
be  penetrated  and  dissolved  by  the  first 
adverse  wave  of  public  opinion  in  any 
of  the  States.  In  this  manner  our 
thirty-three  States  may  resolve  them 
selves  into  as  many  petty,  jarring,  and 
hostile  republics,  each  one  retiring  from 
the  Union,  without  responsibility,  when 
ever  any  sudden  excitement  might  impel 
them  to  such  a  course.  By  this  process 
a  union  might  be  entirely  broken  into 
fragments  in  a  few  weeks,  which  cost 
our  forefathers  many  years  of  toil,  pri 
vation,  and  blood  to  establish. 

"  Such  a  principle  is  wholly  incon 
sistent  with  the  history  as  well  as  the 
character  of  the  Federal  Constitution. 
After  it  was  framed,  with  the  greatest 
deliberation  and  care,  it  was  submitted 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


to  conventions  of  the  people  of  the 
several  States  for  ratification.  Its  pro 
visions  were  discussed  at  length  in  these 
bodies,  composed  of  the  first  men  of  the 
country.  Its  opponents  contended  that 
it  conferred  powers  upon  the  Federal 
Government  dangerous  10  the  rights  of 
the  States,  while  its  advocates  main 
tained  that  under  a  fair  construction  of 
the  instrument  there  was  no  foundation 
for  such  apprehensions.  In  that  mighty 
struggle  between  the  first  intellects  of 
this  or  any  other  country,  it  never  oc 
curred  to  any  individual,  either  among 
its  opponents  or  advocates,  to  assert,  or 
even  to  intimate,  that  their  efforts  were 
all  vain  labor,  because  the  moment  any 
State  felt  herself  aggrieved  she  might 
secede  from  the  Union.  What  a  crush 
ing  argument  would  this  have  proved 
against  those  who  dreaded  that  the 
rights  of  the  States  would  be  endangered 
by  the  Constitution  !  The  truth  is,  that 
it  was  not  until  many  years  after  the 
origin  of  the  Federal  Government  that 
such  a  proposition  was  first  advanced. 

"  It  was  then  met  and  refuted  by  the 
conclusive  arguments  of  General  Jack 
son,  who,  in  his  message  of  16th  Janu 
ary,  1833,  transmitted  the  nullifying  or 
dinance  of  South  Carolina  to  Congress, 
employs  the  following  language  :  '  The 
right  of  the  people  of  a  single  State  to 
absolve  themselves  at  will,  and  without 
the  consent  of  the  other  States,  from 
their  most  solemn  obligations,  and  haz 
ard  the  liberty  and  happiness  of  the 
millions  composing  this  Union,  can  not 
be  acknowledged.  Such  authority  is 
believed  to  be  utterly  repugnant  both  to 


the  principles  upon  which  the  General 
Government  is  constituted,  and  to  the 
objects  which  it  was  expressly  formed 
to  attain.' 

"  It  is  not  pretended  that  any  clause 
in  the  Constitution  gives  countenance  to 
such  a  theory.  It  is  altogether  founded 
upon  inference,  not  from  any  language 
contained  in  the  instrument  itself,  but 
from  the  sovereign  character  of  the 
several  States  by  which  it  was  ratified. 
But  is  it  beyond  the  power  of  a  State, 
like  an  individual,  to  yield  a  portion  of 
its  sovereign  rights  to  secure  the  re 
mainder  ?  In  the  language  of  Mr.  Mad 
ison,  who  has  been  called  the  Father  of 
the  Constitution :  '  It  was  formed  by 
the  States — that  is,  by  the  people  in 
each  of  the  States,  acting  in  their  high 
est  sovereign  capacity  ;  and  formed  con 
sequently  by  the  same  authority  Avhich 
formed  the  State  constitutions.' 

"  Nor  is  the  Government  of  the  United 
States,  created  by  the  Constitution,  less 
a  government  in  the  strict  sense  of  the 

o 

term,  within  the  sphere  of  its  powers, 
than  the  governments  created  by  the 
constitutions  of  the  States  are,  within 
their  several  spheres.  It  is,  like  them, 
organised  into  legislative,  executive,  and 
judiciary  departments.  It  operates,  like 
them,  directly  on  persons  and  things ; 
and,  like  them,  it  has  at  command  a 
physical  force  for  executing  the  powers 
committed  to  it. 

"  It  was  intended  to  be  perpetual,  and 
not  to  be  annulled  at  the  pleasure  of  any 
one  of  the  contracting  parties.  The  old 
articles  of  confederation  were  entitled 
'  Articles  of  Confederation  and  Perpet- 


PERPETUITY  OF  THE  UNION. 


ual  Union  between  the  States;' and  by 
the  13th  article  it  is  expressly  declared 
that  '  the  articles  of  this  Confederation 
shall  be  inviolably  observed  by  every 
State,  and  the  Union  shall  be  perpetual.' 
The  preamble  to  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States,  having  express  reference 
to  the  articles  of  Confederation,  recites 
that  it  was  established  '  in  order  to  form 
a  more  perfect  union.'  And  yet  it  is 
contended  that  this  '  more  perfect  union' 
does  not  include  the  essential  attribute 
of  perpetuity. 

"  But  that  the  Union  was  designed  to 
be  perpetual,  appears  conclusively  from 
the  nature  and  extent  of  the  powers 
conferred  by  the  Constitution  on  the 
Federal  Government.  These  powers 
embrace  the  very  highest  attributes  of 
national  sovereignty.  They  place  both 
the  sword  and  the  purse  under  its  con 
trol.  Congress  has  power  to  make  war, 
and  to  make  peace  ;  to  raise  and  sup 
port  armies  and  navies,  and  to  conclude 
treaties  with  foreign  governments.  It  is 
invested  with  the  power  to  coin  money, 
and  to  regulate  the  value  thereof,  and  to 
regulate  commerce  with  foreign  nations, 
and  amoricr  the  several  States.  It  is  not 

O 

necessary  to  enumerate  the  other  high 
powers  which  have  been  conferred  upon 
the  Federal  Government.  In  order  to 
carry  the  enumerated  powers  into  effect, 
Congress  possesses  the  exclusive  right  to 
lay  and  collect  dut;es  on  imports,  and  in 
common  with  the  States  to  lay  and  col 
lect  all  other  taxes. 

"But  the  Constitution  has  not  only 
conferred  these  high  powers  upon  Con 
gress,  but  it  has  adopted  effectual  means 


to  restrain   the  States  from  interferiii" 

O 

with  their  exercise.  For  that  purpose 
it  has,  in  strong  prohibitory  language, 
expressly  declared  that  'no  State  shall 
enter  into  any  treaty,  alliance,  or  con 
federation  ;  grant  letters  of  marque  and 
reprisal ;  coin  money ;  emit  bills  of 
credit ;  make  anything  but  gold  and 
silver  coin  a  tender  in  payment  of  debts  ; 
pass  any  bill  of  attainder,  ex  post  facto 
law,  or  law  impairing  the  obligation  of 
contracts.'  Moreover,  'without  the  con 
sent  of  Congress,  no  State  shall  lay  any 
imposts  or  duties  on  any  imports  or  ex 
ports,  except  what  may  be  absolutely 
necessary  for  executing  its  inspection 
laws  ;'  and  if  they  exceed  this  amount, 
the  excess  shall  belong  to  the  United 
States. 

"  And  '  no  State  shall,  without  the  con 
sent  of  Congress,  lay  any  duty  of  tonnage, 
keep  troops,  or  ships  of  war,  in  time  of 
peace ;  enter  into  any  agreement  or 
compact  with  another  State,  or  with  a 
foreign  power  ;  or  engage  in  war,  unless 
actually  invaded,  or  in  such  imminent 
danger  as  will  not  admit  of  delay.1 

"  In  order  still  further  to  secure  the 
uninterrupted  exercise  of  these  high 
powers  against  State  interposition,  it  is 
provided  '  that  this  Constitution,  and 
the  laws  of  the  United  States,  which  shall 
be  made  in  pursuance  thereof,  and  all 
treaties  made,  or  which  shall  be  made, 
under  the  authority  of  the  United 
States,  shall  be  the  supreme  law  of  the 
land  ;  and  the  judges  in  every  State 
shall  be  bound  thereby,  anything  in  the 
Constitution  or  laws  of  any  State  to  the 
contrary  notwithstanding. 


30 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


"  The  solemn  sanction  of  religion  has 
been  superadded  to  the  obligations  of 
official  duty,  and  all  Senators  and  Rep 
resentatives  of  the  United  States,  all 
members  of  State  Legislature,  and  all 
executive  and  judicial  officers,  *  both  of 
the  United  States  and  of  the  several 
States,  shall  be  bound  by  oath  or  affirm 
ation  to  support  this  Constitution.' 

"In  order  to  carry  into  effect  these 
powers,  the  Constitution  has  established 
a  perfect  government  in  all  its  forms, 
legislative,  executive,  and  judicial ;  and 
this  Government,  to  the  extent  of  its 
powers,  acts  directly  upon  the  individual 
citizen  of  every  State,  and  executes  its 
own  decrees  by  the  agency  of  its  own 
officers.  In  this  respect  it  differs  en 
tirely  from  the  Government  under  the 
old  confederation,  which  was  confined 
to  making  requisitions  on  the  States  in 
their  sovereign  character.  This  left  it 
in  the  discretion  of  each  whether  to  obey 
or  to  refuse,  and  they  often  declined  to 
comply  with  such  requisition.  It  thus 
became  necessary,  for  the  purpose  of  re 
moving  this  barrier,  and,  'in  order  to 
form  a  more  perfect  union,'  to  establish 
a  government  which  could  act  directly 
upon  the  people,  and  execute  its  own 
laws  without  the  intermediate  agency  of 
the  States.  This  has  been  accomplished 
by  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States. 

"  In  short,  the  Government  created  by 
the  Constitution,  and  deriving  its  au 
thority  from  the  sovereign  people  of 
each  of  the  several  States,  has  precisely 
the  same  right  to  exercise  its  power  over 
the  people  of  all  these  States,  in  the 
enumerated  cases,  that  each  one  of 


them  possesses  over  subjects  not  del 
egated  to  the  United  States,  but  '  re- 

C  7 

served  to  the  States  respectively,  or  to 
the  people 

"  To  the  extent  of  the  delegated  pow 
ers,  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States 
is  as  much  a  part  of  the  Constitution  of 
each  State,  and  is  as  binding  upon  its 
people,  as  though  it  had  been  textually 
inserted  therein. 

"  This  Government,  therefore,  is  a 
great  and  powerful  government,  in 
vested  with  all  the  attributes  of  sov 
ereignty  over  the  special  subjects  ,to 
which  its  authority  extends.  Its  framers 
never  intended  to  implant  in  its  bosom 
the  seeds  of  its  own  destruction,  nor 
were  they,  at  its  creation,  guilty  of  the 
absurdity  of  providing  for  its  own  disso 
lution.  It  was  not  intended  by  its 
framers  to  be  the  baseless  fabric  of  a 
vision  which,  at  the  touch  of  the  en 
chanter,  would  vanish  into  thin  air,  but 
a  substantial  and  mighty  fabric,  capable 
of  resisting  the  slow  decay  of  time,  and 
of  defying  the  storms  of  ages.  Indeed, 
well  may  the  jealous  patriots  of  that  day 
have  indulged  fears  that  a  government 
of  such  high  powers  might  violate  the 
reserved  rights  of  the  States,  and  wisely 
did  they  adopt  the  rule  of  a  strict  con 
struction  of  these  powers  to  prevent  the 
danger  !  But  they  did  not  fear,  nor  had 
they  any  reason  to  imagine,  that  the 
Constitution  would  ever  be  so  inter 
preted  as  to  enable  any  State,  by  her 
own  act.  and  without  the  consent  of  her 
sister  States,  to  discharge  her  people 
from  all  or  any  of  their  Federal  obliga 
tions. 


THE  DUTY  OF  THE   PRESIDENT. 


31 


"  It  may  be  asked,  then,  are  the  peo 
ple  of  the  States  without  redress  against 
the  tyranny  and  oppression  of  the  Fed 
eral  Government  ?  By  no  means.  The 
right  of  resistance  on  the  part  of  the 
governed  against  the  oppression  of  their 
governments  can  not  be  denied.  It  ex 
ists  independently  of  all  constitutions, 
and  has  been  exercised  at  all  periods  of 
the  world's  history.  Under  it  old  gov 
ernments  have  been  destroyed,  and  new 
ones  have  taken  their  place.  It  is  em 
bodied  in  strong  and  express  language 
in  our  own  Declaration  of  Independence. 
But  the  distinction  must  ever  be  ob 
served,  that  this  is  revolution  against  an 
established  government,  and  not  a  vol 
untary  secession  from  it  by  virtue  of  an 
inherent  constitutional  right.  In  short, 
let  us  look  the  danger  fairly  in  the  face  : 
secession  is  neither  more  nor  less  than 
revolution.  It  may  or  it  may  not  be  a 
justifiable  revolution,  but  still  it  is  revo 
lution. 

"  What,  in  the  mean  time,  is  the  re 
sponsibility    and    true    position    of    the  : 
Executive  ?      He    is    bound    by   solemn  \ 
oath   before    God   and    the    country  '  to 
take  care  that  the  laws  be  faithfully  ex 
ecuted/  and  from  this  obligation  he  can  j 
not  be   absolved  by  any  human  power,  j 
But    what  if   the    performance    of    this 
duty,  in  whole  or  in  part,  has  been  ren 
dered  impracticable  by  events  over  which 
he    could    have    exercised    no    control  ? 
Such,  at  the  present  moment,  is  the  case 
throughout  the  State  of  South  Carolina, 
so  far  as  the  laws  of  the  United  States 
to  secure   the   administration   of  justice 
by  means  of  the    Federal  judiciary  are 


concerned.  All  the  Federal  officers 
within  its  limits,  through  whose  agency 
alone  these  laws  can  be  carried  into  ex 
ecution,  have  already  resigned.  We  no 
longer  have  a  district  judge,  a  district 
attorney,  or  a  marshal,  in  South  Caro 
lina.  In  fact,  the  whole  machinery  of 
the  Federal  Government  necessary  for 
the  distribution  of  remedial  justice  among 
the  people  has  been  demolished,  and  it 
would  be  difficult,  if  riot  impossible,  to 
replace  it. 

"  The  only  acts  of  Congress  on  the 
statute-book,  bearing  upon  this  subject, 
are  those  of  the  28th  February,  1795, 
and  3d  March,  1807.  These  authorize 
the  President,  after  he  shall  have  ascer 
tained  that  the  marshal,  with  his  posse 
comitatus,  is  unable  to  execute  civil  or 
criminal  process  in  any  particular  case, 
to  call  forth  the  militia  and  employ  the 
army  and  navy  to  aid  him  in  performing 
this  service,  having  first  by  proclama 
tion  commanded  the  insurgents  to  dis 
perse  and  retire  peaceably  to  their  re 
spective  abodes  within  a  limited  time.' 
This  duty  can  not  by  possibility  be  per 
formed  in  a  State  where  no  judicial  au 
thority  exists  to  issue  process,  and  where 
there  is  no  marshal  to  execute  it,  and 
where,  even  if  there  were  such  an  offi 
cer,  the  entire  population  would  consti 
tute  one  solid  combination  to  resist  him. 

"  The  bare  enumeration  of  these  pro 
visions  proves  how  inadequate  they  are 
without  further  legislation  to  overcome 
a  united  opposition  in  a  single  State,  not 
to  speak  of  other  States  who  may  place 
themselves  in  a  similar  attitude.  Con 
gress  alone  has  power  to  decide  whether 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


the  present  laws  can  or  can  not  be 
amended  so  as  to  carry  out  more  effect 
ually  the  object"  of  the  Constitution. 

"  The  same  insuperable  obstacles  do 
not  lie  in  the  way  of  executing  the  laws 
for  the  collection  of  the  customs.  The 
revenue  still  continues  to  be  collected, 
as  heretofore,  at  the  custom-house  in 
Charleston  ;  and  should  the  collector 
unfortunately  resign,  a  successor  may 
be  appointed  to  perform  this  duty. 

"  Then  in  regard  to  the  property  of 
the  United  States  in  South  Carolina. 
This  has  been  purchased  for  a  fair  equiv 
alent,  '  by  the  consent  of  the  Legislature 
of  the  State,'  'for  the  erection  of  forts, 
magazines,  arsenals,'  etc.,  and  over  these 
the  authority  '  to  exercise  exclusive  leg 
islation'  has  been  expressly  granted  by 
the  Constitution  to  Congress.  It  is  net 
believed  that  any  attempt  will  be  made 
to  expel  the  United  States  from  this 
property  by  force  ;  but  if  in  this  I  should 
prove  to  be  mistaken,  the  officer  in  com 
mand  of  the  forts  has  received  orders  to 
act  strictly  on  the  defensive.  In  such  a 
contingency  the  responsibility  for  conse 
quences  would  rightfully  rest  upon  the 
heads  of  the  assailants. 

"  Apart  from  the  execution  of  the 
laws,  so  far  as  this  may  be  practicable, 
the  Executive  has  no  authority  to  de 
cide  what  shall  be  the  relations  between 
the  Federal  Government  and  South  Car 
olina.  He  has  been  invested  with  no 
such  discretion.  He  possesses  no  power 
to  change  the  relations  heretofore  exist 
ing  between  them,  much  less  to  ac 
knowledge  the  independence  of  that 
State.  This  would  be  to  invest  a  mere 


executive  officer  with  the  power  of  rec 
ognizing  the  dissolution  of  the  confed 
eracy  among  our  thirty-three  sovereign 
States.  It  bears  no  resemblance  to  the 
recognition  of  a  foreign  de  facto  govern 
ment,  involving  no  such  responsibility. 
Any  attempt  to  do  this  would,  on  his 
part,  be  a  naked  act  of  usurpation.  It 
is,  therefore,  my  duty  to  submit  to  Con 
gress  the  whole  question  in  all  its  bear 
ings.  The  course  of  events  is  so  rapidly 
hastening  forward  that  the  emergency 
may  soon  arise,  when  you  may  be  called 
upon  to  decide  the  momentous  question 
whether  you  possess  the  power,  by  force 
of  arms,  to  compel  a  State  to  remain 
in  the  Union.  I  should  feel  myself 
recreant  to  my  duty  were  I  not  to 
express  an  opinion  on  this  important 
subject. 

"  The  question  fairly  stated  is  :  Has 
the  Constitution  delegated  to  Congress 
the  power  to  coerce  a  State  into  sub 
mission  which  is  attempting  to  with 
draw,  or  has  actually  withdrawn,  from 
the  confederacy "?  If  answered  in  the 
affirmative,  it  must  be  on  the  principle 
that  the  power  has  been  conferred  upon 
Congress  to  declare  and  to  make  war 
against  a  State.  After  mucli  serious  re 
flection,  I  have  arrived  at  the  conclusion 
that  no  such  power  has  been  delegated 
to  Congress,  or  to  any  other  depart 
ment  of  tho  Federal  Government.  It  is 
manifest,  upon  an  inspection  of  the  Con 
stitution,  that  this  is  not  among  the  spe 
cific  and  enumerated  powers  granted  to 
Congress  ;  and  it  is  equally  apparent 
that  its  exercise  is  not  '  necessary  and 
proper  for  carrying  into  execution'  any 


EFFECT  OF  WAR  ON  THE  UNION. 


33 


one  of  these  powers.  So  far  from  this 
power  having  been  delegated  to  Con 
gress,  it  was  expressly  refused  by  the 
Convention  which  framed  the  Consti 
tution. 

"  It  appears  from  the  proceedings  of 
that  body,  that  on  the  31st  May,  1787, 
tne  clause  '  authorizing  an  exertion  of  the 
force  of  the  whole  against  a  delinquent 
State?  came  up  for  consideration.  Mr. 
Madison  opposed  it  in  a  brief  but  pow 
erful  speech,  from  which  I  shall  extract 
but  a  single  sentence.  He  observed  : 
'  The  use  of  force  against  a  State  would 
look  more  like  a  declaration  of  war  than 
an  infliction  of  punishment,  and  would 
probably  be  considered  by  the  party  at 
tacked  as  a  dissolution  of  all  previous 
compacts  by  which  it  might  be  bound.' 
Upon  his  motion,  the  clause  was  unani 
mously  postponed,  and  was  never,  I  be 
lieve,  again  presented.  Soon  afterward, 
on  the  8th  June,  1787,  when  incident 
ally  adverting  to  the  subject,  he  said  : 
'  Any  government  for  the  United  States, 
formed  on  the  supposed  practicability 
of  using  force  against  the  unconstitu 
tional  proceedings  of  the  States,  would 
prove  as  visionary  and  fallacious  as  the 
Government  of  Congress,7  evidently 
meaning  the  then  existing  Congress  of 
the  old  confederation. 

"Without  descending  to  particulars, 
it  may  be  safely  asserted  that  the  power 
to  make  war  against  a  State  is  at  va 
riance  with  the  whole  spirit  and  intent 
of  the  Constitution.  Suppose  such  a 
war  should  result  in  the  conquest  of  a 
State,  how  are  we  to  govern  it  after 
ward  ?  Shall  we  hold  it  as  a  province, 


and  govern  it  by  despotic  power?  In 
the  nature  of  things  we  could  not,  by 
physical  force,  control  the  will  of  the 
people,  and  compel  them  to  elect  Sen 
ators  and  Representatives  to  Congress, 
and  to  perform  all  the  other  duties  de 
pending  upon  their  own  volition,  and 
required  from  the  free  citizens  of  a  free 
State,  as  a  constituent  member  of  tho 
confederacy. 

' '  But  if  we  possessed  this  power,  would 
it  be  wise  to  exercise  it  under  existing 
circumstances  ?  The  object  would  doubt 
less  be  to  preserve  the  Union.  War 
would  not  only  present  the  most  effect 
ual  means  of  destroying  it,  but  would 
banish  all  hope  of  its  peaceable  recon 
struction.  Besides,  in  the  fraternal  con 
flict,  a  vast  amount  of  blood  and  treasure 
would  be  expended,  rendering  future 
reconciliation  between  the  States  im 
possible.  In  the  mean  time,  who  can 
foretell  what  would  be  the  sufferings 
and  privations  of  the  people  during  its 
existence  ? 

"  The  fact  is,  that  our  Union  rests 
upon  public  opinion,  and  can  never  be 
cemented  by  the  blood  of  its  citizens 
shed  in  civil  war.  If  it  can  not  live  in 
the  affections  of  the  people,  it  must  one 
day  perish.  Congress  possess  many 
means  of  preserving  it  by  conciliation  ; 
but  the  sword  was  not  placed  in  their 
hand  to  preserve  it  by  force. 

"  But  may  I  be  permitted  solemnly 
to  invoke  my  countrymen  to  pause  and 
deliberate,  before  they  determine  to  de 
stroy  this,  the  grandest  temple  which 
has  ever  been  dedicated  to  human  free 
dom  since  the  world  began?  It  haa 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE   SOUTH. 


been  consecrated  by  the  blood  of  our 
fathers,  by  the  glories  of  the  past,  and 
by  the  hopes  of  the  future.  The  Union 
has  already  made  us  the  most  pros 
perous  and,  ere  long,  will,  if  preserved, 
render  us  the  most  powerful  nation  on 
the  face  of  the  earth.  In  every  foreign 
region  of  the  globe  the  title  of  American 
citizen  is  held  in  the  highest  respect, 
and  when  pronounced  in  a  foreign  land 
it  causes  the  hearts  of  our  countrymen 
to  swell  with  honest  pride.  Surely 
when  we  reach  the  brink  of  the  yawning 
abyss,  we  shall  recoil  with  horror  from 
the  last  fatal  plunge.  By  such  a  dread 
catastrophe  the  hopes  of  the  friends  of 
freedom  throughout  the  world  would  be 
destroyed,  and  a  long  night  of  leaden 
despotism  would  enshroud  the  nations. 
Our  example  for  more  than  eighty  years 
would  not  only  be  lost,  but  it  would  be 
quoted  as  a  conclusive  proof  that  man 
is  unfit  for  self-government. 

"It  is  not  every  wrong — nay,  not 
every  grievous  wrong — which  can  just 
ify  a  resort  to  such  a  fearful  alternative. 
This  ought  to  be  the  last  desperate 
remedy  of  a  despairing  people,  after 
every  other  constitutional  means  of  con 
ciliation  had  been  exhausted.  We  should 
reflect  that  under  this  free  Government 
there  is  an  incessant  ebb  and  flow  in 
public  opinion.  The  slavery  question, 
like  everything  human,  will  have  its 
day.  I  firmly  believe  that  it  has  al 
ready  reached  and  passed  its  culmi 
nating  point.  But  if,  in  the  midst  of 
the  existing  excitement,  the  Union  shall 
perish,  the  evil  may  then  become  irrep 
arable.  Congress  can  contribute  much 


to  avert  it  by  proposing  and  recom 
mending  to  the  Legislatures  of  the  sev 
eral  States  the  remedy  for  existing 
evils,  which  the  Constitution  has  itself 
provided  for  its  own  preservation.  This 
has  been  tried  at  different  critical  pe 
riods  of  our  history,  and  always  with 
eminent  success.  It  is  to  be  found  in 
the  5th  article  providing  for  its  own 
amendment.  Under  this  article,  amend 
ments  have  been  proposed  by  two  thirds 
of  both  Houses  of  Congress,  and  have 
been  '  ratified  by  the  Legislatures  of 
three  fourths  of  the  several  States,'  and 
have  consequently  become  parts  of  the 
Constitution.  To  this  process  the  coun 
try  is  indebted  for  the  clause  prohib 
iting  Congress  from  passing  any  law 
respecting  an  establishment  of  religion, 
or  abridging  the  freedom  of  speech,  or 
of  the  press,  or  of  the  right  of  petition. 
To  this  we  are  also  indebted  for  the  bill 
of  Rights,  which  secures  the  people 
against  any  abuse  of  power  by  the  Fed 
eral  Government.  Such  were  the  ap 
prehensions  justly  entertained  by  the 
friends  of  State  Rights  at  that  period  as 
to  have  rendered  it  extremely  doubtful 
whether  the  Constitution  could  have 
long  survived  without  these  amend 
ments. 

"Again  :  the  Constitution  was  amend 
ed  by  the  same  process  after  the  election 
of  President  Jefferson  by  the  House 
of  Representatives,  in  February,  1803. 
This  amendment  was  rendered  neces 
sary  to  prevent  a  recurrence  of  the 
dangers  which  had  seriously  threatened 
the  existence  of  the  Government  during 
the  pendency  of  that  election.  The  art- 


THE  SOUTH  AND  ITS  RIGHTS. 


35 


icle  for  its  own  amendment  was  intended 
to  secure  the  amicable  adjustment  of 
conflicting  constitutional  questions  like 
the  present  which  might  arise  between 
the  governments  of  the  States  and  that 
of  the  United  States.  This  appears 
from  cotemporaneous  history.  In  this 
connection,  I  shall  merely  call  attention 
to  a  few  sentences  in  Mr.  Madison's 
justly  celebrated  report  in  1799  to  the 
Legislature  of  Virginia.  In  this  he  ably 
and  conclusively  defended  the  resolu 
tions  of  the  preceding  Legislature  against 
the  strictures  of  several  other  State  Leg 
islatures.  These  were  mainly  founded 
upon  the  protest  of  the  Virginia  Legis 
lature  against  the  '  Alien  and  Sedition 
Acts,'  as  '  palpable  and  alarming  infrac 
tions  of  the  Constitution.'  In  pointing 
out  the  peaceful  and  constitutional  rem 
edies — and  he  referred  to  none  other — 
to  which  the  States  were  authorized 
to  resort  on  such  occasions,  he  con 
cludes  by  saying,  '  that  the  Legislatures 
of  the  States  might  have  made  a  direct 
representation  to  Congress  with  a  view 
to  obtain  a  rescinding  of  the  two  offens 
ive  acts,  or  they  might  have  represented 
to  their  respective  senators  in  Congress 
their  wish  that  two  thirds  thereof  would 
propose  an  explanatory  amendment  to 
the  Constitution  ;  or  two  thirds  of  them 
selves,  if  such  had  been  their  option, 
might,  by  an  application  to  Congress, 
have  obtained  a  convention  for  the  same 
object.' 

"  This  is  the  very  course  which  I 
earnestly  recommend  in  order  to  obtain 
an  '  explanatory  amendment'  of  the  Con 
stitution  on  the  subject  of  slavery.  This 


might  originate  with  Congress  or  the 
State  Legislatures,  as  may  be  deemed 
most  advisable  to  attain  the  object. 

"The  explanatory  amendment  might 
be  confined  to  the  final  settlement  of  the 
true  construction  of  the  Constitution  on 
three  special  points  : 

"  1.  An  express  recognition  of  the 
right  of  property  in  slaves  in  the  States 
where  it  now  exists  or  may  hereafter 
exist. 

"2.  The  duty  of  protecting  this  right 
in  all  the  common  Territories  through 
out  their  territorial  existence,  and  until 
they  shall  be  admitted  as  States  into  the 
Union,  with  or  without  slavery,  as  theii 
constitutions  may  prescribe. 

"3.  A  like  recognition  of  the  right 
of  the  master  to  have  his  slave,  who  has 
escaped  from  one  State  to  another, 
restored  and  '  delivered  up'  to  him,  and 
of  the  validity  of  the  Fugitive  Slave 
law  enacted  for  this  purpose,  together 
with  a  declaration  that  all  State  laws 
impairing  or  defeating  this  right  are  vio 
lations  of  the  Constitution,  and  are  con 
sequently  null  and  void. 

"  It  may  be  objected  that  this  con 
struction  of  the  Constitution  has  al 
ready  been  settled  by  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  United  States,  and  what 
more  ought  to  be  required  ?  The  an 
swer  is,  that  a  very  large  proportion  of 
the  people  of  the  United  States  still 
contest  the  correctness  of  this  decision, 
and  never  will  cease  from  agitation  and 
admit  its  binding  force  until  clearly 
established  by  the  people  of  the  several 
States  in  their  sovereign  character. 
Such  an  explanatory  amendment  would, 


36 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


it  is  believed,  forever  terminate  the 
existing  dissensions  and  restore  peace 
and  harmony  among  the  States. 

"  It  ought  not  to  be  doubted  that 
such  an  appeal  to  the  arbitrament  es 
tablished  by  the  Constitution  itself  would 
be  received  with  favor  by  all  the  States 
of  the  confederacy.  In  any  event  it 
ought  to  be  tried  in  a  spirit  of  concilia 
tion  before  any  of  these  States  shall  sep 
arate  themselves  from  the  Union. 

"  When  I  entered  upon  the  duties  of 
the  Presidential  office,  the  aspect  neither 
of  our  foreign  nor  domestic  affairs  was 
at  all  satisfactory.  We  were  involved 
in  dangerous  complications  with  several 
nations,  and  two  of  our  Territories  were 
in  a  state  of  revolution  against  the  Gov 
ernment.  A  restoration  of  the  African 
elave-trade  had  numerous  and  powerful 
advocates.  Unlawful  military  expedi 


tions  were  countenanced  by  many  of  our 
citizens,  and  were  suffered,  in  defiance 
of  the  efforts  of  the  Government,  to  es 
cape  from  our  shores,  for  the  purpose 
of  making  war  upon  the  unoffending 
people  of  neighboring  republics  with 
whom  we  were  at  peace.  In  addition 
to  these  and  other  difficulties,  we  expe 
rienced  a  revulsion  in  monetary  affairs, 
soon  after  my  advent  to  power,  of  un 
exampled  severity  and  of  ruinous  con 
sequences  to  all  the  great  interests  of 
the  country.  When  we  take  a  retro 
spect  of  what  was  then  our  condition, 
and  contrast  this  with  its  material  pros 
perity  at  the  time  of  the  late  Presi 
dential  election,  we  have  abundant 
reason  to  return  our  grateful  thanks 
to  that  merciful  Providence  which  has 
never  forsaken  us  as  a  nation  in  all  our 
past  trials." 


CHAPTER    IV. 

Meeting  of  Congress. — Little  Hope. — Determination  of  the  Disuuionists.— Refusal  to  Vote. — Reasons. — Opposed  to 
Compromise. — Bold  Assertions  of  Southern  Senators. — A  Programme  of  Rebellion. — A  Menace  of  Rebellion. — An 
Appeal  for  Union. — Caucuses  and  Conferences. — Failure. — Increased  Violence  and  Hostility. — Bewilderment  of  the 
Moderates. — President  Buchanan's  indisposition  to  exercise  Authority. — His  Message  an  Encouragement  to  Rebellion. 
— General  Scott's  Advice. — Advice  not  Taken. — Dissension  in  the  Cabinet. — Resignation  of  Cass. — Continued  but 
ineffectual  attempts  of  Congress. — Firmness  of  the  Republicans. — Speech  of  Wade. — Resolutions  of  Crittenden. — 
The  state  of  Feeling  in  the  Country. — Depression  of  Trade  and  Commerce. — Bankruptcy. — Suspension  of  Specie 
Payment. — Emptiness  of  the  National  Treasury. — Resignation  of  Cobb. — Appointment  of  Dix. — A  continued  belief 
in  the  Cessation  of  Troubles. — Speech  of  Seward. 


FROM  the  very  first  day  of  the  meet- 
1860.  ing  °f  Congress  it  became  evi- 
Dec.  3  dent  that  the  distracted  country 
had  little  to  hope  from  its  action.  All 
the*  members  from  South  Carolina,  and 
most  of  those  from  Florida,  Alabama, 
Georgia,  arid  Mississippi,  who  still  re 


tained  their  seats  in  the  national  legis 
lature  with  a  formal  affectation  of  alle 
giance  to  the  Union,  showed  at  once 
their  obstinate  determination  to  dis 
solve  it.  They  refused  to  vote  on  the 
resolution,  "that  so  much  of  the  Presi 
dent's  message  as  relates  to  the  present 


AUDACITY  IN  CONGRESS. 


37 


perilous  condition  of  the  country  be  re 
ferred  to  a  special   committee  of  one 
from  each  State,"  audaciously  declaring, 
as  a  reason  for  their  recreancy,  that  the 
States  to  which  they  owed   allegiance 
had,  in  their  "sovereign"  capacity,  or 
dered  conventions  to  consider  their  rela 
tions  with  the  Federal  Union,  and  that 
they  looked  to  them  for  an  authoritative 
decision  of  the   question.     Some    even 
proclaimed  that  they  were  now,  and  had 
ever  been,  opposed  to  all  compromises. 
The    introduction    of    a   resolution    ex 
pressing  fidelity  to  the  Union,  and  pledg 
ing  the  House  to  maintain  it,  was  fiercely 
opposed   by   the    disaffected    Southern 
members,  and  every  indication  was  given 
of     a    predetermined    hostility    to    all 
efforts  at  conciliation.     Such  were  the 
sentiments  and  action,  not  only  of  the 
Southern  members  of  the  less  restrained 
House  of  Representatives,   but  of  the 
more  composed  Senate.     Even  a  senator 
from  North  Carolina,  a  State  which  was 
believed  to  be  loyal  to  the  Union,  did 
not  hesitate  to  propose  a  division  of  the 
public  property  between  the  North  and 
South,  while  the  senators  of  Mississippi, 
Georgia,  and  Texas  declared  any  attempt 
on  the  part  of  the  Federal  authorities 
to  resist   the    progress  of  insurrection 
would  be  opposed  by  force.     The  sena 
tor*  from  Georgia,  after  a  bold  avowal 
of  the  projected  rebellion,  published  by 
anticipation  its  programme,  and  flaunted 
it  in  the  face  of  the   Senate  with  the 
declaration,    that   "before   the    4th   of 
March — before  your  President  is  inaugu 
rated—there  will  be  five  States,  if  no 


0  Mr.  Iverson. 


ight,  that  will  be  out  of  the  Union,  and 
will  have   formed  a  constitution   for  a 
rame    of    government."     He   declared 
hat  the  South  wanted  no  concessions, 
and   would   receive    none.     "  You   can 
not,"  he  added,   "stop  this  revolution. 
[t  is  not  the  liberty  laws,  but  the  mob 
aw,  which  the  South  fears.     They  do 
not  dread  these  overt  acts,  for,  without 
:he  power  of  the  Federal  Government, 
by  force,   under   the    Republican   rule, 
their    institution   would    not    last    ten 
years,  and  they  know  it.     They  intend 
to  go   out  of  this  Union.     Before  the 
4th    of    March    five    States   will    have 
declared  their  independence,  and  I  am 
satisfied    that   three    other   States   will 
follow    as    soon    as   the    action    of    the 
people  can  be  had.     Arkansas  will  call 
her  convention,  and  Louisiana  will  fol 
low.     And  though  there  is  a  clog  in  the 
way  in  the   lone  star  of  Texas,  in  the 
person  of  the   governor,  who  will  not 
consent  to  call  the  Legislature,  yet  the 
public  sentiment  is  so  strong,  that  even 
her  governor  may  be  over-ridden  ;  and 
if  he  will  not  yield  to  that  public  senti 
ment,  some  Texan  Brutus  may  arise  to 
rid  his  country  of  this  old,  hoary-headed 
traitor.     There  has  been  a  good  deal  of 
vaporing  and  threatening,  but  they  came 
from  the  last  men  who  would  carry  out 
their   threats.     Men   talk    about    their 
eighteen  millions,   but  we  hear  a  few 
days  afterward  of  these  same  men  being 
switched  in  the  face,  and  they  tremble 
like  a  sheep-stealing  dog.     There  will 
be  no  war.     The  North,  governed  by 
such  far-seeing  statesmen  as  the  senator 
from  New  York,  will  see  the  futility  of 


38 


THE   WAR   WITH   THE   SOUTPI. 


this.  In  less  than  twelve  months  a 
Southern  confederacy  will  be  formed, 
and  it  will  be  the  most  successful  gov 
ernment  on  earth.  The  Southern  States, 
thus  banded  together,  will  be  able  to 
resist  any  force  in  the  world.  We  do 
not  expect  war,  but  we  will  be  prepared 
for  it,  and  we  are  not  a  feeble  race  of 
Mexicans  either." 

This  menace  of  rebellion  was  received 
with  a  cautious  but  defiant  silence  on 
the  part  of  most  of  the  Republicans, 
and  timid  expressions  from  the  moderate 
men  of  all  parties  of  a  hope  of  still 
allaying  the  fierce  temper  of  the  South 
by  the  persuasives  of  conciliation  and 
compromise.  Crittenden,  of  Kentucky, 
the  Nestor  of  the  Senate,  appealed  to 
the  sentiment  of  Union  by  an  eloquent 
exposition  of  its  blessings,  and  the 
dangers  to  the  country  of  its  dissolution. 
"  This  Union  was  established,7' he  said, 
"by  great  sacrifices,  and  it  is  worthy  of 
great  sacrifices  and  great  concessions  for 
its  maintenance.  I  trust  that  there  is 
no  senator  but  who  is  willing  to  yield 
and  conciliate,  and  to  compromise,  in 
order  to  preserve  the  Union  to  the  na 
tion  and  to  the  country.  I  look  with 
dismay,  and  something  like  despair,  to 
the  condition  of  this  country  when  the 
Union  is  stricken  down  and  we  shall  be 
turned  loose  to  speculate  on  the  founda 
tions  of  a  new  government.  I  look  at 
it  with  fear  and  trembling,  which  pre 
dispose  me  to  the  most  solemn  consider 
ation  that  I  am  capable  of  feeling,  and 
to  search  out,  if  possible,  some  means 
for  the  reconciliation  of  the  different 
sections  and  members  of  this  Union, 


to  see  if  we  can  not  again  restore  that 
harmony  and  fraternity  that  belong  to 
the  Union  which  has  given  us  so  much 
blessing  and  prosperity." 

The  Senate  and  House,  with  brief 
intervals  of  adjournment,  during  which 
vain  attempts  were  made  by  caucuses 
and  conferences  to  appease  contention, 
continued  their  fruitless  deliberations. 
The  representatives  of  the  extreme 
Southern  States  became  daily  more  in 
veterate  in  their  expressions  of  hostility 
to  the  Federal  Government,  and  more 
outspoken  in  their  expressions  of  dis 
loyalty.  The  more  moderate  men  of  the 
South  and  those  of  the  North  seemed 
bewildered  and  powerless  to  counsel  or 
to  act. 

President  Buchanan,  surrounded  by 
men  whose  ill-concealed  treason  was 
soon  to  display  itself  in  open  rebellion, 
showed  no  disposition  to  exercise  his 
power  in  protecting  the  authority  of  the 
Federal  G-overnment  already  boldly  de 
fied.  His  message,  manipulated  to  their 
purpose  by  the  hands  of  traitors,  had, 
while  it  argued  against  the  right  ol 
secession,  put  in  a  plea  for  its  extenua 
tion  on  the  score  of  provocation  from 
the  North,  and  by  confessing  the  impo- 
tency  of  the  Federal  authority  to  en 
force  obedience,  encouraged  the  dis 
affected  to  rebel,  with  assurances  of  im 
punity.  His  conduct  was  in  conformity 
with  the  assertion  in  his  message,  that 
coercion  was  unconstitutional,  and  he 
studiously  withheld  every  indication  of 
a  manifestation  of  the  exercise  of  ex 
ecutive  authority  to  check  the  intent  or 
to  repress  the  overt  act  of  rebellion. 


ADVICE   OF   GENERAL   SCOTT. 


The  commander-in-chief,  Lieutenant- 
General  Scott,  had  already  at  an  early 
Oct.  29,  period  urged  upon  the  President 
1860t  the  necessity  of  prompt  measures 
to  thwart  the  action  of  threatened  se 
cession.  "  From  a  knowledge  of  our 
Southern  population,"  he  wrote  in  a 
letter  to  Mr.  Buchanan,  "it  is  my  sol 
emn  conviction  that  there  is  some  danger 
of  an  early  act  of  rashness  preliminary 
to  secession,  viz.,  the  seizure  of  some  or 
all  of  the  following  forts  :  Forts  Jackson 
and  St.  Philip,  in  the  Mississippi,  below 
New  Orleans,  both  without  garrisons  ; 
Fort  Morgan,  below  Mobile,  without  a 
garrison  ;  forts  Pickens  and  McRae, 
Pensacola  harbor,  with  an  insufficient 
garrison  for  one  ;  Fort  Pulaski,  below 
Savannah,  without  a  garrison  ;  forts 
Moultrie  and  Sumter,  Charleston  har 
bor,  the  former  with  an  insufficient  gar 
rison,  and  the  latter  without  any  ;  and 
Fort  Monroe,  Hampton  Roads,  without 
a  sufficient  garrison.  In  my  opinion  all 
these  works  should  be  immediately  so 
garrisoned,  as  to  make  any  attempt  to 
take  any  one  of  them  by  surprise  or 
coup  de  main  ridiculous. 

"With  the  army  faithful  to  its  alle 
giance,  and  the  navy  probably  equally 
so,  and  with  a  Federal  Executive  for  the 
next  twelve  months  of  firmness  and  mod 
eration,  which  the  country  has  a  right 
to  expect — moderation  being  an  element 
of  power  not  less  than  firmness — there 
is  good  reason  to  hope  that  the  danger 
of  secession  may  be  made  to  pass  away 
without  one  conflict  of  arms,  one  exe 
cution,  or  one  arrest  for  treason." 

This    timely    advice    of   the   veteran 


Scott,  always  vigilant  to  preserve  the 
Union,  was  unheeded  by  the  President, 
whose  feeble  will  was  guided  by  those 
who  were  seeking  to  destroy  it.  His 
traitorous  associates  in  the  Government 
threatened  to  resign,  in  case  he  com 
plied  with  the  suggestions  of  Scott,  and 
extorted  from  him  the  pledge  not  to 
reinforce  the  forts.  While  thus  pro 
moting  their  traitorous  purposes  with 
the  sanction  and  under  the  protection 
of  the  Federal  Executive,  these  plotters 
of  rebellion  clung  to  the  Government, 
whose  authority  they  were  daily  weak 
ening  while  they  were  strengthening 
their  own  power  of  ill. 

There  had  been,  however,  already 
some  dissension  in  the  cabinet  in  regard 
to  the  subject  of  reinforcing  the  South 
ern  forts  ;  and  when  the  expediency  of 
sending  an  additional  force  to  Major 
Anderson,  in  command  of  a  feeble  gar 
rison  at  Fort  Moultrie,  in  Charleston 
harbor,  became  manifest,  two  Northern 
members,  Cass  and  Toucey,  earnestly 
pleaded  for  it.  Thev  were,  however, 
overborne,  and  the  President,  hampered 
by  his  pledges  and  controlled  by  his 
Southern  advisers,  sent  not  a  single 
soldier  to  sustain  the  insulted  and 
threatened  authority  of  the  Govern 
ment.  Cass,  with  patriotic  indig-  Dec. 
nation  at  this  remissness  of  duty,  14« 
resigned  his  seat  in  the  cabinet. 

While  the  President  was  thus  yield 
ing,  unresistingly,  to  the  promoters  of 
rebellion,  Congress  was  continuing  its 
futile  attempts  to  check  it  by  resolu 
tions.  The  debates,  however,  became 

ly  more  angry  and  the  discord  more 


on 


4:0 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


obvious.  The  secessionists  increased  in 
violence  and  audacity,  and  the  extreme 
Republicans,  provoked  to  more  obsti 
nate  resistance,  renewed  their  declara 
tions  of  opposing  all  compromises. 
Wade,  the  Republican  senator  for  Ohio, 
said,  in  a  forcible  speech : 

"  W*  beat  you  on  the  plainest  and 
most  palpable  issue  ever  presented  to 
the  American  people,  and  one  which 
every  man  understood  ;  and  now,  when 
we  come  to  the  capital,  we  tell  you  that 
our  candidates  must  and  shall  be  in 
augurated — must  and  shall  administer 
this  government  precisely  as  the  Con 
stitution  prescribes.  It  would  not  only 
be  humiliating,  but  highly  dishonorable 
to  us,  if  we  listened  to  any  compromise 
by  which  we  should  lay  aside  the  honest 
verdict  of  the  people.  When  it  comes 
to  that,  you  have  no  government,  but 
anarchy  intervenes,  and  civil  war  may 
follow,  and  all  the  evils  that  human  im 
agination  can  raise  may  be  consequent 
upon  such  a  course  as  that.  The  Amer 
ican  people  would  lose  the  sheet-anchor 
of  Liberty  whenever  it  is  denied  on  this 
floor  that  a  majority  fairly  given  shall 
rule.  I  know  not  what  others  may  do, 
but  I  tell  you,  that  with  that  verdict  of 
the  people  in  my  pocket,  and  standing 
on  the  platform  on  which  these  candi 
dates  were  elected,  I  would  suffer  any 
thing  before  I  would  compromise  in  any 
way.  I  deem  it  no  case  where  we  have 
a  right  to  extend  courtesy  or  generosity. 
The  absolute  right,  the  most  sacred  that 
a  free  people  can  bestow  upon  any  man, 
is  their  verdict  that  gives  him  a  full  title 
to  the  office  he  holds.  If  we  can  not 


stand  there  we  can  not  stand  anywhere, 
and,  my  friends,  any  other  verdict  would 
be  as  fatal  to  you  as  to  us." 

The  moderate  men  of  both  the  North 
and  the  South  with  an  amiable  persist 
ency  still  persevered  in  their  endeavors 
to  preserve  the  national  peace  by  plans 
of  conciliation  and  compromise.  These, 
however,  met  with  little  encouragement' 
from  the  embittered  partisans  of  ex 
treme  opinions,  and  the  hope  of  "saving 
the  Union"  by  mutual  concessions  daily 
diminished.  The  resolutions  of  Mr. 
Crittenden,  of  Kentucky,  seemed  from 
the  high  character  of  the  veteran  states 
man  who  offered  them,  to  make  the 
greatest  impression  upon  public  opinion. 
These  proposed  to  renew  the  Missouri 
Compromise  line — prohibiting  slavery 
in  the  Territory  north  of  36  deg.  30 
min.,  and  protecting  it  south  of  that  lat 
itude  ;  to  admit  new  States  with  or  with 
out  slavery,  as  their  constitutions  shall 
provide  ;  to  prohibit  the  abolition  of 
slavery  by  Congress  in  the  States  ;  to 
prohibit  its  abolition  in  the  District  of 
Columbia  so  long  as  it  exists  either  in 
Virginia  or  Maryland  ;  to  permit  the 
transportation  of  slaves  in  any  of  the 
States  by  land  or  water  ;  te  provide  for 
the  payment  of  fugitive  slaves,  when 
rescued  ;  to  repeal  one  obnoxious  feat 
ure  of  the  Fugitive  Slave  law — the  ine 
quality  of  the  fee  to  the  commissioner  ; 
to  ask  the  repeal  of  all  the  Personal 
Liberty  bills  in  the  Northern  States,  and 
effectually  to  execute  the  laws  for  the 
suppression  of  the  African  slave-trade. 
These  were  to  be  submitted  to  the 
people  as  amendments  to  the  Constitu- 


BANKRUPTCY. 


tion,  and  to  be  changed  at  no  subse 
quent  time. 

While  treason  was  being  uttered  in 
Congress,  plotted  in  the  cabinet,  and 
encouraged  to  overt  act  in  the  slave 
States,  unchecked  by  the  national  au 
thority,  which  seemed  indisposed,  if  not 
incapable  of  vindicating  its  supremacy, 
there  was  a  general  feeling  of  discour 
agement  throughout  the  country.  This 
was  increased  by  the  universal  depres 
sion  in  trade  and  commerce.  The  great 
business  of  the  Northern  commercial 
and  manufacturing  cities  with  the  South 
had  been  almost  entirely  arrested.  The 
Southern  merchants  made  no  new,  and 
failed  to  pay  for  their  old,  purchases. 
The  payment  of  the  great  debt  of  three 
hundred  millions  of  dollars  due  to  the 
North  suddenly  stopped,  and  fears  were 
already  entertained  that  it  would  never 
be  resumed.  The  Southern  banks  hav 
ing  suspended  the  payment  of  specie, 
had  so  depreciated  the  value  of  their 
currency,  that  exchange  upon  the  North 
rose  to  such  a  height  as  almost  to  pre 
clude  remittances  from  the  South  when 
ever  there  were  still  found  those  dis 
posed  to  make  them.  Northern  mer 
chants,  thus  suddenly  deprived  of  their 
Southern  resources,  were  forced  into 
bankruptcy.  The  banks  necessarily  sym 
pathized  with  the  ruin  of  their  custom 
ers,  and  although  those  of  New  York 
and  Boston  were  enabled,  through  the 
abundance  of  their  resources,  to  sustain 
their  credit  and  even  to  increase  their 
loans,  the  banks  of  Philadelphia,  Balti 
more,  Washington,  and  Richmond  sus 
pended  specie  payment. 
6 


To  add  to  this  financial  embarrass 
ment,  the  national  treasury  was  threat 
ened  with  bankruptcy.  So  little  faith 
had  the  country  in  the  government  aa 
controlled  by  the  Southern  advisers  of 
the  President,  that  the  secretary  of  the 
treasury,  Howell  Cobb,  of  Georgia, 
could  only  obtain  a  loan  at  a  discount 
of  25  per  cent,  of  the  usual  market  rates 
in  periods  of  national  prosperity.  Cobb 
was  so  perplexed  by  the  financial  em 
barrassments  of  his  department,  that, 
under  the  pretence  of  a  difference  of 
political  views  with  the  President,  he  re 
signed,  and  betook  himself  to  the  more 
congenial  work  of  disturbing  the  loyalty 
of  his  native  State.  His  successor,  John 
A.  Dix,  of  New  York,  a  Northern  man, 
was  enabled,  however,  through  the  con 
fidence  inspired  by  his  integrity  and 
patriotism,  to  restore  the  public  credit 
and  again  fill  the  treasury. 

With  all  these  causes,  however,  tend 
ing  to  depress  the  public  feeling,  there 
was  still  a  strong  belief  among  Northern 
people,  that  the  civil  troubles  would, 
although  none  pretended  to  know  how, 
be  soon  settled.  This  seemed  to  be 
based  upon  the  supposed  attachment  to 
the  Union  among  the  people  even  in 
South  Carolina.  How  far  this  belief  in 
the  loyalty  of  the  Southern  slave  States 
prevailed  is  well  illustrated  by  a  speech 
of  Seward,  then  senator,  now  secretary 
of  state.  He  thus  jauntily  descanted  on 
the  grave  subject  of  Southern  disaffec 
tion  : 

"  Now,  gentleman,  my  belief  about  all 
this  is,  that  whether  it  is  Massachu-  Dec, 
setts  or  South  Carolina,  or  whether  22( 


THE   WAR   WITH    THE  SOUTH. 


it  is  New  York  or  Florida,  it  would  turn 
out  the  same  way  in  each  case.  There 
is  no  such  thing  in  the  book,  no  such 
thing  in  reason,  no  such  thing  in  philos 
ophy,  and  no  such  thing  in  nature,  as 
any  State  existing  on  the  continent  of 
North  America  outside  of  the  United 
States  of  America.  I  do  not  believe  a 
word  of  it  ;  and  I  do  not  believe  it  for 
a  good  many  reasons.  Some  I  have 
already  hinted  at ;  and  one  is,  because  I 
do  not  see  any  good  reason  given  for  it. 
The  best  reason  I  see  given  for  it  is,  that 
the  people  of  some  of  the  Southern 
States  hate  us  of  the  free  States  very 
badly,  and  they  say  that  we  hate  them, 
and  that  all  love  is  lost  between  us. 
Well,  I  do  not  believe  a  word  of  that. 
On  the  other  hand,  I  do  know  for  my 
self  and  for  you,  that,  bating  some  little 
differences  of  opinion  about  advantages, 
and  about  prescription,  and  about  office, 
and  about  freedom,  and  about  slavery, 
and  all  those  which  are  family  difficulties, 
for  which  we  do  not  take  any  outsiders  in 
any  part  of  the  world  into  our  councils 
on  either  side,  there  is  not  a  state  on  the 
earth,  outside  of  the  American  Union, 
which  I  like  half  so  well  as  I  do  the 
State  of  South  Carolina — [cheers]— 
neither  England,  nor  Ireland,  nor  Scot 
land,  nor  France,  nor  Turkey  ;  although 
from  Turkey  they  sent  me  Arab  horses, 
and  from  South  Carolina  they  send  me 
nothing  but  curses.  Still,  I  like  South 
Carolina  better  than  I  like  any  of  them  ; 
and  I  have  the  presumption  and  vanity 
to  believe  that  if  there  were  nobody  to 
overhear  the  State  of  South  Carolina 
when  she  is  talking,  she  would  confess 


that  she  liked  us  tolerably  well.  I  am 
very  sure  that  if  anybody  were  to  make 
a  descent  on  New  York  to-morrow — 
whether  Louis  Napoleon,  or  the  Prince 
of  Wales,  or  his  mother  [laughter],  or 
the  Emperor  of  Russia,  or  the  Emperor 
of  Austria,  all  the  hills  of  South  Carolina 
would  pour  forth  their  population  for 
the  rescue  of  New  York.  [Cries  of 
'  Good,'  and  applause.]  God  knows 
how  this  may  be.  I  do  not  pretend  to 
know,  I  only  conjecture.  But  this  I  do 
know,  that  if  any  of  those  powers  were 
to  make  a  descent  on  South  Carolina, 
I  know  who  would  go  to  her  rescue. 
[A  voice — '  We'd  all  go.']  We  would 
all  go — everybody.  ['That's  so,'  and 
great  applause.]  Therefore  they  do  not 
humbug  me  with  their  secession,  and  I 
do  not  think  they  will  humbug  you  ;  and 
I  do  not  believe  that,  if  they  do  not 
humbug  you  and  me,  they  will  much 
longer  succeed  in  humbugging  them 
selves.  [Laughter.]  Now,  fellow-citi 
zens,  this  is  the  ultimate  result  of  all 
this  business.  These  States  are  always 
to  be  together — always  shall.  Talk  of 
striking  down  a  star  from  that  constella 
tion — it  is  a  thing  which  can  not  be 
done.  [Applause.]  I  do  not  see  any 
less  stars  to-day  than  I  did  a  week  ago, 
and  I  expect  to  see  more  all  the  while. 
[Laughter.]  The  question  then  is, 
what  in  these  times — when  people  are 
laboring  under  the  delusion  that  they 
are  going  out  of  the  Union  and  going 
to  set  up  for  themselves — ought  we  to 
do  in  order  to  hold  them  in  ?  I  do  not 
know  any  better  rule  than  the  rule 
which  every  good  father  of  a  family  ob- 


SEWARD   ON   SECESSION. 


serves.     It  is  this.     If  a  man  wishes  not 
to  keep  his  family  together,  it  is  the 
easiest  thing  in  the  world  to  place  them 
apart.     He  will  do  so  at  once  if  he  only 
gets  discontented  with  his  son,  quarrels 
with  him,   complains  of  him,  torments 
him,  threatens  him,  coerces  him.     This 
is  the  way  to  get  rid  of  the  family,  and 
to  get  them  all  out  of  doors.     On  the 
other  hand,  if  you  wish  to  keep  them, 
you  have   got  only  one  way  to   do  it. 
That  is,  be  patient,  kind,  paternal,  for 
bearing,   and  wait  until  they  come   to 
reflect  for  themselves.     The  South  is  to 
us  what  the  wife  is  to  her  husband.     I 
do  not  know  any  man  in  the  world  who 
can  not  get  rid  of  his  wife  if  he  tries. 
*  *  *     I  do  not  know  a  man  on  earth 
who — even    though    his   wife    was    as 
troublesome  as  the  wife  of  Socrates— 
cannot  keep  his  wife  if  he  wants  to  do 
so  ;  all  that  he  needs  is,  to  keep  his  own 
virtue  and  his  own  temper.     [Applause.] 
Now,  in  all  this  business  I  propose  that 
we  shall  keep  our  own  virtue,  which,  in 
politics,  is  loyalty,  and  our  own  temper, 
which,  in  politics,  consists  in  remember 
ing  that  men  may  differ,  that  brethren 
may  differ.     If  we  keep  entirely  cool, 
and  entirely  calm,  and  entirely  kind,  a 
debate  will  ensue  which  will  be  kindly 
in  itself,   and  it  will  prove  very  soon 
either  that  we  are  wrong — and  we  shall 
concede  to  our  offended   brethren — or 
else  that  we  are  right,   and  they  will 
acquiesce  and  come  back  into  fraternal 
relations  with  us.     I  do  not  wish  to  an 
ticipate  any  question.     We  have  a  great 
many  statesmen  who  demand  at  once 
to  know  what  the  North  proposes  to  do 


—what  the  Government  proposes  to  do 
—whether  we    propose    to  coerce    our 
Southern  brethren  back  into  their  allegi 
ance.     They  ask  us,  as  of  course  they 
may  rightly  ask,  what  will  be  the  value 
of  fraternity  which  is  compelled?     All 
I  have  to  say  on  that  subject  is,  that  so 
long  ago  as   the    time   of  Sir   Thomas 
More,  he  discovered,  and  set  down  the 
discovery  in  his  writings,  that  there  were 
a  great  many  schoolmasters,   and  that 
while  there  were  a  very  few  who  knew 
how  to  instruct  children,  there  were  a 
great   many  who   knew  how   to    whip 
them.     [Laughter.]     I  propose  to  have 
no  question  on  that  subject,  but  to  hear 
complaints,  to  redress  them  if  they  ought 
to  be    redressed,   and  if  we   have    the 
power  to  redress  them  ;  and  I  expect 
them  to  be  withdrawn  if  they  are  un 
reasonable,   because    I    know   that   the 
necessities  which  made  this  Union  exist, 
for   these    States,   are    stronger   to-dav 
than  they  were   when  the   Union  wa<- 
made,  and  that  those  necessities  are  en 
during,  while  the  passions  of  men  are 
short-lived  and  ephemeral.      I  believe 
that  secession  was  stronger  on  the  night 
of  the   6th  of  November  last,  when  a 
President  and  Yice-President  who  were 
unacceptable  to  the  slave  States  were 
elected,  than  it  is  now.     That  is  now 
some  fifty  days  since,  and  I  believe  that 
every  day's   sun  which   set   since  that 
time,  has  set  on  mollified  passions  and 
prejudices,  and  that  if  you  will  only  give 
it  time,  sixty  days'  more  suns  will  give 
you  a  much  brighter  and  more  cheerful 
atmosphere."       [Loud    and    long    con 
tinued  applause.] 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE   SOUTH. 


CHAPTER    V. 

The  Inaction  of  Government. — The  Bewilderment  of  the  North. — Movement  of  the  South. — Precipitancy  of  South 
Carolina. — Election  of  Convention  of  South  Carolina. — Impatience  of  Action. — Anticipatory  Programme. — Gov 
ernor  Gist's  last  Message. — Action  of  other  Slave  States. — Alabama  Declaration  of  Causes. — Immediate  Secession 
views  of  the  Governor  of  Florida. — Immediate  Secession  views  of  the  Governor  of  Georgia. — Vigilance  Committees. 
— Arming  and  Equipping. — Conventions  called. — Meeting  of  South  Carolina  Convention. — Adjournment  to  Charles 
ton. — Ordinance  of  Secession. — Manifestation  of  Popular  Feeling  in  the  South. — Audacity  of  Southern  Members  of 
Congress. — Proceedings  of  South  Carolina  Convention. — Proclamation  of  the  Act  of  Secession  of  South  Carolina. — 
Declaration  of  Causes. — Withdrawal  from  Congress  of  the  Members  of  South  Carolina. — Apparent  attempts  made  tc 
check  the  precipitate  action  of  South  Carolina. — Motives  of  such  attempts. — Opposition  to  Disunion  from  Maryland. 
— Union  Sentiments  in  Virginia. — Loyalty  of  Eastern  and  Western  Virginia  contrasted. — Proposed  Conferences. — 
Disposition  of  Tennessee. — Firm  stand  for  the  Union  of  Johnson  and  Etheredge. — Letter  of  Bell,  of  Tennessee. — 
Feeling  in  Kentucky. — Governor  Magoffin's  Propositions. — Manful  resistance  of  Governor  Houston,  of  Texas. — 
Silence  of  Arkansas. — Irresolution  of  Georgia. — Union  eloquence  of  Alexander  H.  Stephens. — Feeling  in  Alabama. 
— Mississippi. — Louisiana. — How  the  Propositions  of  the  other  Slave  States  were  received  by  South  Carolina. — South 
Carolina's  Assurances. — Force  of  Example. — Anticipated  Effect. — Ordinance  of  Concurrence. 


1860. 


WHILE  the  President,  meekly  sub 
missive  to  the  influence  of  his  traitorous 
advisers,  was  confessing  and  man 
ifesting  impotency  ;  while  the  na 
tional  councils,  alternately  frightened  by 
the  defiance  of  audacious  rebels  and  pro 
voked  by  their  threats,  were  now  striv 
ing  to  soothe  them  by  plans  of  concilia 
tion  and  compromise,  and  again  con 
tending  with  them  in  angry  discussion  ; 
while  the  people  of  the  North,  bewil 
dered  by  the  inaction  of  the  Federal 
authority,  the  perplexing  deliberations 
of  Congress,  and  the  frivolous  conjec 
tures  of  their  leaders,  seemed  doubtful 
whether  to  hope  or  to  fear,  and  willing 
to  yield  their  destiny  to  the  uncertain 
ties  of  chance,  the  South  was  moving 
with  unhesitating  strides  toward  re 
bellion. 

South  Carolina,  with  characteristic 
precipitancy,  established  her  claim  to 
precedence  in  secession.  The  delegates 
io  tlie  convention  called  by  the  act  of 


the  Legislature  were  elected  on  the  5th 
of  December,  to  meet  on  the  17th.  The 
leaders  of  South  Carolina,  however,  as 
if  impatient  of  all  deliberation,  did  not 
await  its  action.  They  summoned  the 
people  in  masses  throughout  the  State, 
and  distinctly  announced  the  programme 
of  rebellion.  At  a  large  meeting  in 
Charleston,  Mr.  Memminger,  an  NOV. 
able  lawyer  of  that  city,  and  a  3(K 
prominent  politician,  declared  even  be 
fore  the  election  of  the  delegates  that 
the  convention,  within  three  days  of  its 
assembling,  would  declare  South  Caro 
lina  out  of  the  Union  ;  that  a  commis 
sioner  would  be  sent  to  the  capital  of 
the  United  States  to  treat  in  regard  to 
the  forts  and  other  Federal  property, 
which  would  be  formally  demanded,  and 
if  not  given  up,  that  the  armed  men  of 
South  Carolina  would  take  them.  Pre 
suming  upon  the  easy  temper  of  Bu 
chanan,  or  the  corrupt  connivance  of  his 
traitorous  advisers,  he  did  not  hesitate 


IMMEDIATE  SECESSION  RECOMMENDED. 


to  declare  that  he  had  no  fear  of  the 
interference  of  the  President,  while  he 
complacently  dwelt  upon  the  powerless- 
ness  of  his  successor,  who  would  be  too 
much  embarrassed  by  the  difficulty  of 
organizing  his  government  and  obtain 
ing  the  sanction  of  Congress,  to  apply 
coercion  to  South  Carolina,  until  she 
had  been  joined  by  the  other  cotton 
States,  when,  thus  strengthened,  she 
would  be  able  to  resist  it. 

The  governor*  of  the  State,  in  his 
Dec,  last  message,  urged  the  prospective 
?•  convention  to  immediate  action. 

"The  delay,"  he  said,  "of  the  con 
vention  for  a  single  week  to  pass  the 
ordinance  of  secession,  will  have  a  blight 
ing  and  chilling  influence  upon  the  action 
of  the  other  Southern  States.  The  op 
ponents  of  the  movement  everywhere 
will  be  encouraged  to  make  another 
effort  to  rally  their  now  disorganized 
and  scattered  forces  to  defeat  our  action 
and  stay  our  onward  march.  Fabius 
conquered  by  delay,  and  there  are  those 
of  his  school,  though  with  a  more  un 
worthy  purpose,  who,  shrinking  from 
open  and  manly  attack,  use  this  veil  to 
hide  their  deformity,  and  from  a  masked 
battery  to  discharge  their  missiles.  But 
I.  trust  they  will  strike  the  armor  of  truth 
and  fall  harmless  at  our  feet,  and  that 
by  the  28th  of  December  no  flag  but  the 
Palmetto  will  float  over  any  part  of  South 
Carolina." 

Great  encouragement  had  already 
come  from  the  leaders  of  the  other  cot 
ton  States,  who  hoped,  by  the  hasty 
action  of  South  Carolina,  to  precipitate 

*  Gist. 


their  fellow-citizens  into  a  separation 
from  that  Union  for  which  there  might 
be  still  a  traditional  reverence.  At  an 
early  meeting  at  Mobile  the  secession 
leaders  of  Alabama  had  issued  a 
declaration  of  causes  for  separation 
which  they  emphatically  urged.  After 
a  long  and  bitter  exposition  of  the 
wrongs  they  had  suffered  from  the 
North,  they  declared  : 

'  The  time  has  come  for  us  '  to  put 
our  house  in  order,'  and,  if  need  be,  to 
stand  by  our  arms. 

4  We  will  not  give  the  enemy  time  to 
collect  his  strength  and  wield  the  powers 
of  government  against  us,  by  waiting  for 
any  further  '  overt  act.'  Therefore,  be  it 

"  Resolved,  1.  That  the  election  of 
Abraham  Lincoln  to  the  Presidency  upon 
the  principles  avowed  by  the  Black  Re 
publican  party  is,  in  our  opinion,  a  vir 
tual  overthrow  of  the  Constitution  and 
of  the  equal  right  of  the  States. 

"2.  That  the  idea  of  submission  by 
the  South  to  the  rule  of  such  a  man  and 
such  a  party  should  be  repudiated  from 
one  end  of  her  borders  to  the  other. 

"3.  That  in  the  language  of  the  Con 
stitution  of  Alabama,  under  which  she 
was  admitted  into  the  Union,  '  All  po 
litical  power  is  inherent  in  the  people, 
and  all  free  governments  are  founded 
on  their  authority,  and  intended  for 
their  benefit ;  and,  therefore,  they  have 
at  all  times  an  inalienable  and  indefeas 
ible  right  to  alter,  reform,  or  abolish 
their  form  of  government  in  such  man 
ner  as  they  may  think  expedient/ 

"  4.  That,  in  the  present  state  of 
things,  it  is  the  deliberate  opinion  of 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE   SOUTH. 


this  meeting,  assembled  without  distinc 
tion  of  parties,  that  the  State  of  Ala 
bama  should  withdraw  from  the  Federal 
Union  without  any  further  delay  than 
may  be  necessary  to  obtain  in  the  speed 
iest  manner  a  consultation  with  other 
slaveholding  States,  in  the  hope  of  se 
curing  their  co-operation  in  a  move 
ment  which  we  deem  essential  to  our 
safety." 

It  is  true  that  in  this  document  a  con 
sultation  with  other  slaveholding  States 
was  recommended,  with  the  hope  of  se 
curing  their  co-operation,  but  at  the 
same  time  it  advised  immediate  action. 
A  meeting  was  held  in  Louisiana,  at 
which  a  similar  declaration  was  sug 
gested. 

The  Governor  of  Florida  invoked  the 
fov.  Legislature  to  immediate  secession. 
26,  "  For  myself,"  he  said,  "  in  full  view 
of  the  responsibility  of  my  position,  I 
most  decidedly  declare  that,  in  my  opin 
ion,  the  only  hope  the  Southern  States 
have  for  domestic  peace  or  safety,  or  for 
future  respectability  and  prosperity,  is 
dependent  on  their  action  now  ;  and  that 
the  proper  action  is,  secession  from  our 
faithless,  perjured  confederates."  Gov 
ernor  Brown,  too,  of  Georgia — a  State 
thought  to  be  extremely  reluctant  to 
dissolve  its  connection  with  the  Union — 
j>ec,  had  written  a  letter  in  favor  of  early 
9«  secession.  Mississippi  had  sent  com 
missioners  to  all  the  slaveholding  States 
to  confer  with  them  on  the  means  "for 
their  common  defence  and  safety."  Vig 
ilance  committees  had  been  formed  in 
the  cotton  States,  money  appropriated 
for  equipping  and  arming,  and  conven 


tions  called,  whose  purpose  was  une 
quivocally  the  severance  of  their  con 
nection  with  the  Federal  Union. 

The  Convention  of  South  Carolina 
assembled  on  the  day  appointed,  but  in 
consequence  of  the  prevalence  of  j)eCt 
an  epidemic  of  small-pox  at  the  17* 
capital,  adjourned  from  Columbia  to 
Charleston,  where,  by  a  unanimous  vote 
on  the  20th  of  December,  this,  the  first 
formal  act  of  secession,  was  passed  : 

"AN  ORDINANCE  TO  DISSOLVE  THE  UNION  BE 
TWEEN  THE  STATE  OF  SOUTH  CAROLINA  AND 
OTHER  STATES  UNITED  WITH  HER  UNDER  THE 
COMPACT  ENTITLED  THE  CONSTITUTION  OF  THE 
UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA  : 

"  We,  the  people  of  the  State  of  South 
Carolina,  in  convention  assembled,  do 
declare  and  ordain,  and  it  is  hereby 
declared  and  ordained,  that  the  ordi 
nance  adopted  by  us  in  convention,  on 
the  23d  day  of  May,  in  the  year  of  our 
Lord  1788,  whereby  the  Constitution  of 
the  United  States  of  America  was  rati 
fied,  and  also  all  acts  and  parts  of  acts 
of  the  General  Assembly  of  this  State 
ratifying  the  amendments  of  the  said 
Constitution,  are  hereby  repealed,  and 
that  the  Union  now  subsisting  between 
South  Carolina  and  other  States  under 
the  name  of  the  United  States  of  Amer 
ica  is  hereby  dissolved." 

That  in  Charleston  and  throughout 
South  Carolina  the  passage  of  this  or 
dinance  should  be  received  with  a  mani 
festation  of  popular  joy  was  expected  , 
that  in  Mobile,  and  New  Orleans,  Mem 
phis,  Macon,  Norfolk,  and  even  in  Balti 
more,  it  should  be  welcomed  by  the  firing 
of  guns,  the  cheers  of  the  people,  mili- 


AUDACITY   OF  TREASON 


tary  parades,  the  singing  of  the  Marseil 
laise,  the  decorating  of  busts  of  Calhoun 
with  secession  cockades,  the  raising  of  the 
Palmetto  flag,  the  burning  of  bonfires, 
arid  the  illuminating  of  the  streets,  was, 
if  a  discouraging,  not  a  surprising,  exhi 
bition  on  the  part  of  an  excited  and  de 
luded  people  ;  that,  however,  a  member 
of  the  Federal  Congress,  in  the  very 
capital  of  the  Union,  should  venture  to 
applaud  this  attempt  to  dissolve  it  by 
declaring  that  "  one  of  the  sovereign 
States  of  this  confederacy  has,  by  the 
glorious  act  of  her  people,  withdrawn,  in 
vindication  of  her  rights,  from  the 
Union,"*  and  that  some  of  his  fellows 
should  clap  their  hands  in  sympathetic 
response,  was  an  audacity  of  treason  as 
astounding  as  it  was  unexampled. 

The  Convention  of  South  Carolina 
proceeded  rapidly  in  its  work  of  disso- 
DeC(  lution.  Commissioners  were  ap- 
21»  pointed  to  proceed  to  Washington, 
and  to  treat  for  a  peaceful  settlement  of 
the  relations  between  the  United  States 
and  the  "sovereign"  State  of  South 
Carolina,  and  negotiate  for  the  transfer 
of  forts  and  other  public  property. 

The  newly  elected  governor,  Pickens, 
Dec.  proclaimed  to  the  world,  in  accord- 
22.  ance  with  the  act  of  secession,  that 
*'  South  Carolina  is,  and  has  a  right  to 
be,  a  separate,  sovereign,  free,  and  in 
dependent  State,  and,  as  such,  has  a 
right  to  levy  war,  conclude  peace,  ne 
gotiate  treaties,  leagues,  or  covenants, 
and  to  do  all  acts  whatever  that  right- 
Dec,  fully  appertain  to  a  free  and  inde- 
24.  pendent  State." 

0  Mr.  Garnet,  member  of  Congress  for  Virginia. 


This  was  followed  by  the — 

"  DECLARATION  OF  CAUSES  WHICH  INDUCED  THK 
SECESSION  OP  SOUTH  CAROLINA. 

"The  people  of  the  State  of  South 
Carolina,  in  convention  assembled,  on 
the  2d  day  of  April,  A.D.  1852,  de 
clared  that  the  frequent  violations  of  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States  by  the 
Federal  Government,  and  its  encroach 
ments  upon  the  reserved  rights  of  the 
States,  fully  justified  this  State  in  their 
withdrawal  from  the  Federal  Union  ; 
but  in  deference  to  the  opinions  and 
wishes  of  the  other  slaveholding  States, 
she  forbore  at  that  time  to  exercise  this 
right.  Since  that  time  these  encroach 
ments  have  continued  to  increase,  and 
further  forbearance  ceases  to  be  a 
virtue. 

' '  And  now  the  State  of  South  Carolina 
having  resumed  her  separate  and  equal 
place  among  nations,  deems  it  due  to 
herself,  to  the  remaining  United  States 
of  America,  and  to  the  nations  of  the 
world,  that  she  should  declare  the  im 
mediate  causes  which  have  led  to  this 
act. 

"  In  the  year  1765,  that  portion  of  the 
British  empire  embracing  Great  Britain 
undertook  to  make  laws  for  the  govern 
ment  of  that  portion  composed  of  the 
thirteen  American  Colonies.  A  struggle 
for  the  right  of  self-government  ensued, 
which  resulted,  on  the  4th  of  July,  1776, 
in  a  declaration,  by  the  Colonies,  '  that 
they  are,  and  of  right  ought  to  be,  FREE 
AND  INDEPENDENT  STATES  ;  and  that,  as 
free  and  independent  states,  they  have 
full  power  to  levy  war,  conclude  peace, 
contract  alliances,  establish  commerce, 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


and  to  do  all  other-  acts  and  things  which 
independent  states  may  of  right  do.' 

"  They  further  solemnly  declared  that 
whenever  any  '  form  of  government  be 
comes  destructive  of  the  ends  for  which 
it  was  established,  it  is  the  right  of  the 
people  to  alter  or  abolish  it,  and  to  in 
stitute  a  new  government.'  Deeming 
the  Government  of  Great  Britain  to 
have  become  destructive  of  these  ends, 
they  declare  that  the  Colonies  '  are  ab 
solved  from  all  allegiance  to  the  British 
Crown,  and  that  all  political  connection 
between  them  and  the  state  of  Great 
Britain  is,  and  ought  to  be,  totally  dis 
solved.' 

"In  pursuance  of  this  Declaration  of 
Independence,  each  of  the  thirteen 
States  proceeded  to  exercise  its  separate 
sovereignty  ;  adopted  for  itself  a  consti 
tution,  and  appointed  officers  for  the  ad 
ministration  of  government  in  all  its 
departments — legislative,  executive,  and 
judicial.  For  purposes  of  defence  they 
united  their  arms  and  their  counsels  ; 
and  in  1778  they  entered  into  a  league 
known  as  the  Articles  of  Confederation, 
whereby  they  agreed  to  intrust  the  ad 
ministration  of  their  external  relations  to 
a  common  agent,  known  as  the  Congress 
of  the  United  States,  expressly  declar 
ing,  in  the  first  article,  '  that  each  State 
retains  its  sovereignty,  freedom,  and  in 
dependence,  and  every  power,  jurisdic 
tion,  and  right  which  is  not,  by  this  con 
federation,  expressly  delegated  to  the 
United  States  in  Congress  assembled.' 

"  Under  this  confederation  the  war  of 
the  Revolution  was  carried  on  ;  and  on 
the  3d  of  September,  1783,  the  contest 


ended,  and  a  definite  treaty  was  signed 
by  Great  Britain,  in  which  she  acknow 
ledged  the  independence  of  the  Colonies 
in  the  following  terms  : 

"'ARTICLE  1.  His  Britannic  Majesty 
acknowledges  the  said  United  States, 
viz.  :  New  Hampshire,  Massachusetts 
Bay,  Rhode  Island  and  Providence 
Plantations,  Connecticut,  New  York, 
New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania,  Delaware, 
Maryland,  Virginia,  North  Carolina, 
South  Carolina,  and  Georgia,  to  be  FREE, 

SOVEREIGN,     AND     INDEPENDENT      STATES ; 

that  he  treats  with  them  as  such  ;  and, 
for  himself,  his  heirs,  and  successors, 
relinquishes  all  claims  to  the  govern 
ment,  property,  and  territorial  rights  of 
the  same  and  every  part  thereof.' 

"  Thus  were  established  the  two  great 
principles  asserted  by  the  Colonies, 
namely,  the  right  of  a  state  to  govern 
itself;  and  the  right  of  a  people  to 
abolish  a  government  when  it  becomes 
destructive  of  the  ends  for  which  it  was 
instituted.  And  concurrent  with  the 
establishment  of  these  principles  was 
the  fact,  that  each  Colony  became,  and 
was  recognized  by  the  mother  country, 

as  a  FREE,  SOVEREIGN,  AND  INDEPENDENT 
STATE. 

"In  1787,  deputies  were  appointed 
by  the  States  to  revise  the  articles  of 
confederation  ;  and  on  17th  September, 
1787,  these  deputies  recommended,  for 
the  adoption  of  the  States,  the  articles 
of  union  known  as  the  Constitution  cf 
the  United  States. 

' '  The  parties  to  whom  this  constitu 
tion  was  submitted  were  the  several 
sovereign  States  ;  they  were  to  agree  or 


DECLARATION   OF  SOUTH   CAROLINA. 


49 


disagree,  and  when  nine  of  them  agreed, 
the  compact  was  to  take  effect  among 
those  concurring  ;  and  the  General  Gov 
ernment,  as  the  common  agent,  was 
then  to  be  invested  with  their  authority. 

"If  only  nine  of  the  thirteen  States 
had  concurred,  the  other  four  would  have 
remained  as  they  then  were — separate 
sovereign  states,  independent  of  any  of 
the  provisions  of  the  Constitution.  In 
fact,  two  of  the  States  did  not  accede  to 
the  Constitution  until  long  after  it  had 
gone  into  operation  among  the  other 
eleven  ;  and  during  that  interval,  they 
each  exercised  the  functions  of  an  inde 
pendent  nation. 

"  By  this  constitution,  certain  duties 
were  imposed  upon  the  several  States, 
and  the  exercise  of  certain  of  their 
powers  was  restrained,  which  necessarily 
impelled  their  continued  existence  as 
sovereign  states.  But,  to  remove  all 
doubt,  an  amendment  was  added,  which 
declared  that  the  powers  not  delegated 
to  the  United  States  by  the  Constitution, 
nor  prohibited  by  it  to  the  States,  are 
reserved  to  the  States  respectively,  or 
to  the  people.  On  the  23d  May,  1788, 
South  Carolina,  by  a  convention  of  her 
people,  passed  an  ordinance  assenting  to 
this  Constitution,  and  afterwards  altered 
her  own  Constitution  to  conform  herself 
to  the  obligations  she  had  undertaken. 

"Thus  was  established,  by  compact 
between  the  States,  a  government  with 
defined  objects  and  powers,  limited  to 
the  express  words  of  the  grant.  This 
limitation  left  the  whole  remaining  mass 
of  power  subject  to  the  clause  reserving 
it  to  the  States  or  the  people,  and  ren- 
V 


dered  unnecessary  any  specification  of 
reserved  rights.  We  hold  that  the 
Government  thus  established  is  subject 
to  the  two  great  principles  asserted  in 
the  Declaration  of  Independence  ;  and 
we  hold  further,  that  the  mode  of  its 
formation  subjects  it  to  a  third  funda 
mental  principle,  namely,  the  law  of 
compact.  We  maintain  that  in  every 
compact  between  two  or  more  parties, 
the  obligation  is  mutual ;  that  the  failure 
of  one  of  the  contracting  parties  to  per 
form  a  material  part  of  the  agreement 
entirely  releases  the  obligation  of  the 
other  ;  and  that  where  no  arbiter  is  pro 
vided,  each  party  is  remitted  to  his  own 
judgment  to  determine  the  fact  of  fail 
ure,  with  all  its  consequences. 

"In  the  present  case,  that  fact  is 
established  with  certainty.  We  assert 
that  fourteen  of  the  States  have  deliber 
ately  refused  for  years  past  to  fulfil  their 
constitutional  obligations,  and  we  refer 
to  their  own  statutes  for  proof. 

"  The  Constitution  of  the  United 
States,  in  its  fourth  article,  provides  as 
follows  : 

"  'No  person  held  to  service  or  labor 
in  one  State  under  the  laws  thereof, 
escaping  into  another,  shall,  in  conse 
quence  of  any  law  or  regulation  therein, 
be  discharged  from  such  service  or 
labor,  but  shall  be  delivered  up,  on 
claim  of  the  party  to  whom  such  service 
or  labor  may  be  due.' 

"This  stipulation  was  so  material  to 
the  compact,  that  without  it  that  compact 
would  not  have  been  made.  The  greater 
number  of  the  contracting  parties  held 
slaves,  and  they  had  previously  evinced 


50 


THE   WAR   WITH   THE   SOUTH. 


their  estimate  of  the  value  of  such  a 
stipulation  by  making  it  a  condition  in 
the  ordinance  for  the  government  of  the 
territory  ceded  by  Virginia,  which  ob 
ligations,  and  the  laws  of  the  (reneral 
Government,  have  ceased  to  effect  the 
objects  of  the  Constitution.  The  States 
of  Maine,  New  Hampshire,  Vermont, 
Massachusetts,  Connecticut,  Rhode  Isl 
and,  New  York,  Pennsylvania,  Illinois, 
Indiana,  Michigan,  Wisconsin,  and  Iowa 
have  enacted  laws  which  either  nullify 
the  acts  of  Congress,  or  render  useless 
any  attempt  to  execute  them.  In  many 
of  these  States  the  fugitive  is  discharged 
from  the  service  of  labor  claimed,  and 
in  none  of  them  has  the  State  Govern 
ment  complied  with  the  stipulation  made 
in  the  Constitution.  The  State  of-  New 
Jersey,  at  an  early  day,  passed  a  law  in 
conformity  with  her  constitutional  obli 
gation  ;  but  the  current  of  anti-slavery 
feeling  has  led  her  more  recently  to 
enact  laws  which  render  inoperative  the 
remedies  provided  by  her  own  laws  and 
by  the  laws  of  Congress.  In  the  State 
of  New  York,  even,  the  right  of  transit 
for  a  slave  has  been  denied  by  her  tri 
bunals  ;  and  the  States  of  Ohio  and 
Iowa  have  refused  to  surrender  to 
justice  fugitives  charged  with  murder, 
and  with  inciting  servile  insurrection  in 
the  State  of  Virginia.  Thus  the  con 
stitutional  compact  has  been  deliberately 
broken  and  disregarded  by  the  non- 
slaveholding  States ;  and  the  conse 
quence  follows,  that  South  Carolina  is 
released  from  her  obligation. 

"  The  ends  for  which  this  Constitution 
was  framed  are  declared  by  itself  to  be 


4  to  form  a  more  perfect  union,  to  estab 
lish  justice,  insure  domestic  tranquility, 
provide  for  common  defence,  promote  the 
general  welfare,  and  secure  the  blessings 
of  liberty  to  ourselves  and  our  posterity.' 

"  These  ends  it  endeavored  to  accom 
plish  by  a  federal  government,  in  which 
each  State  was  recognized  as  an  equal, 
and  had  separate  control  over  its  own 
institutions.  The  right  of  property  in 
slaves  was  recognized  by  giving  to  free 
persons  distinct  political  rights  ;  by  giv 
ing  them  the  right  to  represent,  and 
burdening  them  with  direct  taxes  for, 
three-fifths  of  their  slaves  ;  by  authoriz 
ing  the  importation  of  slaves  for  twenty 
years  ;  and  by  stipulating  for  the  rendi 
tion  of  fugitives  from  labor. 

"  We  affirm  that  these  ends  for  which 
this  Government  was  instituted  have 
been  defeated,  and  the  Government 
itself  has  been  destructive  of  them  by 
the  action  of  the-  non-slaveholding 
States.  Those  States  have  assumed  the 
right  of  deciding  upon  the  propriety  of 
our  domestic  institutions ;  and  have 
denied  the  rights  of  property  established 
in  fifteen  of  the  States  and  recognized 
by  the  Constitution ;  they  have  de 
nounced  as  sinful  the  institution  of 
slavery  ;  they  have  permitted  the  open 
establishment  among  them  of  societies, 
whose  avowed  object  is  to  disturb  the 
peace  of  and  eloin  the  property  of  the 
citizens  of  other  States.  They  have 
encouraged  and  assisted  thousands  of 
our  slaves  to  leave  their  homes  ;  and 
those  who  remain  have  been  incited  by 
emissaries,  books,  and  pictures  to  ser 
vile  insurrection. 


WITHDRAWAL   OF   SOUTH   CAROLINA  SENATORS. 


"  For  twenty-five  years  this  agitation 
has  been  steadily  increasing,  until  it  has 
now  secured  to  its  aid  the  power  of  the 
common  government.  Observing  the 
forms  of  the  Constitution,  a  sectional 
party  has  found  within  that  article  es 
tablishing,  the  Executive  department,  the 
means  of  subverting  the  Constitution 
itself.  A  geographical  line  has  been 
drawn  across  the  Union,  and  all  the 
States  north  of  that  line  have  united  in 
the  election  of  a  man  to  the  high  office 
of  President  of  the  United  States  whose 
opinions  and  purposes  are  hostile  to 
slavery.  He  is  to  be  intrusted  with  the 
administration  of  the  common  govern 
ment,  because  he  has  declared  that  that 
'  government  can  not  endure  permanently 
half  slave,  half  free,'  and  that  the  public 
mind  must  rest  in  the  belief  that  slavery 
is  in  the  course  of  ultimate  extinction. 

"  This  sectional  combination  for  the 
subversion  of  the  Constitution  has  been 
aided,  in  some  of  the  States,  by  elevating 
to  citizenship  persons  who,  by  the  su 
preme  law  of  the  land,  are  incapable  of 
becoming  citizens  ;  and  their  votes  have 
been  used  to  inaugurate  a  new  policy 
hostile  to  the  South,  and  destructive  of 
its  peace  and  safety. 

' '  On  the  4th  of  March  next  this  party 
will  take  possession  of  the  Government. 
It  has  announced  that  the  South  shall 
be  excluded  from  the  common  territory, 
that  the  judicial  tribunal  shall  be  made 
sectional,  and  that  a  war  must  be  waged 
against  slavery  until  it  shall  cease 
throughout  the  United  States. 

"  The  guarantees  of  the  Constitution 
will  then  no  longer  exist ;  the  equal 


rights  of  the  States  will  be  lost.  The 
slaveholding  States  will  no  longer  have 
the  power  of  self-government  or  self- 
protection,  and  the  Federal  Government 
will  have  become  their  enemy. 

"  Sectional  interest  and  animosity 
will  deepen  the  irritation,  and  all  hope 
of  remedy  is  rendered  vain  by  the  fact 
that  the  public  opinion  at  the  North  has 
invested  a  great  political  error  with  the 
sanctions  of  a  more  erroneous  religious 
belief. 

"  We,  therefore,  the  people  of  South 
Carolina,  by  our  delegates  in  convention 
assembled,  appealing  to  the  Supreme 
Judge  of  the  world  for  the  rectitude  of 
our  intentions,  have  solemnly  declared 
that  the  Union  heretofore  existing  be 
tween  this  State  and  the  other  States  of 
North  America  is  dissolved,  and  that  the 
State  of  South  Carolina  has  resumed  her 
position  among  the  nations  of  the  world 
as  a  separate  and  independent  state, 
with  full  power  to  levy  war,  conclude 
peace,  contract  alliances,  establish  com 
merce,  and  to  do  all  other  acts  and 
things  which  independent  states  may  of 
right  do." 

The  South  Carolina  members,  at 
the  same  time  that  their  State  declared 
its  independence,  formally  withdrew 
from  Congress  with  a  studious  expres 
sion  in  their  letter  to  the  Speaker  of  the 
House  of  Representatives  of  a  desire  to 
do  so  with  a  feeling  of  "  mutual  regard 
and  respect  for  each  other,  and  the 
hope  that  in  our  future  relations  we 
may  better  enjoy  that  peace  and  har 
mony  essential  to  the  happiness  of  a 
free  and  enlightened  people." 


52 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE   SOUTH. 


Apparent  attempts  had  been  made  by 
some  of  the  political  leaders  of  the  South 
to  arrest  this  precipitate  action  of  South 
Carolina.  Some  of  these  were  undoubt 
edly  prompted  by  a  sincere  attachment 
to  the  Union  and  a  desire  to  preserve  it. 
Some  only  affected  the  sentiment  of  pa 
triotism,  while  others,  equally  resolved 
upon  secession  with  the  men  of  South 
Carolina,  were  desirous  of  a  concert  of 
action,  in  order  to  secure  strength  of 
effort  and  certainty  of  effect  by  combi 
nation.  The  Governor  of  Maryland, 
though  beset  by  a  strong  secession  sen 
timent  in  his  State,  resolutely  opposed 
any  indication  of  opposition  to  the  legit 
imate  authority  of  the  Federal  Govern 
ment.  In  answer  to  a  memorial  of  some 
of  the  more  influential  inhabitants  of 
Maryland,  urging  him  to  convene  the 
Legislature,  he  declared : 

"  Identified  as  I  am  by  birth  and  every 
other  tie  with  the  South,  a  slaveholder, 
NOY,  and  feeling  as  warmly  for  my  native 

2?«  State  as  any  man  can  do,  I  am  yet 
compelled  by  my  sense  of  fair  dealing, 
and  my  respect  for  the  Constitution  of 
our  country,  to  declare  that  I  see  noth 
ing  in  the  bare  election  of  Mr.  Lincoln 
which  would  justify  the  South  in  taking 
any  steps  tending  toward  a  separation 
of  these  States.  Mr.  Lincoln  being 
elected,  I  am  willing  to  await  further 
results.  If  he  will  administer  the  gov 
ernment  in  a  proper  and  patriotic  man 
ner,  we  are  all  bound  to  submit  to  his 
administration,  much  as  we  may  have 
opposed  his  election." 
DeCt  At  a  later  period,  at  a  Demo- 

6«    cratic  convention  held  in  the  city 


of  Baltimore,   the    following   resolution 
was  passed  : 

"  Resolved,  That  we  deplore  the  action 
taken  by  our  sister  State  of  South  Caro 
lina,  and  earnestly  protest  against  an 
ordinance  of  secession  on  her  part  as 
being  unconstitutional,  disorganizing, 
and  precipitate,  and  unfriendly,  if  not 
arrogant,  toward  the  counsels  and  situa 
tions  of  the  other  slaveholding  States  ; 
and  we  believe  that  such  act  of  secession 
will  weaken  and  must  divide  their  ulti 
mate  position  ;  and  while  we  declare  for 
co-operation,  we  will  firmly  resist  being 
dragged  into  secession.  Maryland  will 
not  stand  as  a  sentinel  at  the  bidding  of 
South  Carolina,  and  we  remind  her,  by 
the  memories  of  the  Revolution,  that 
such  purpose  can  not  be  justified  ;  and, 
in  conclusion,  in  a  fraternal  spirit,  we 
entreat  South  Carolina  to  suspend  all 
further  action  until  such  measures  of 
peaceful  adjustment  have  first  been  tried 
and  have  failed." 

Virginia,  though  many  of  her  leaders, 
deeply  infected  with  the  heresies  of  Cal- 
houn,  were  known  to  regard  secession 
from  the  United  States  as  an  act  if  not 
immediately  desirable,  at  any  rate  legal 
and  justifiable,  seemed  to  stand  firm  for 
the  Union.  Her  political  writers,  in  an 
emphatic  protest  against  the  assumed 
right  of  South  Carolina  to  individual 
action,  thus  rebuked  her  presumption  : 

"  Throwing  aside  the  question  of  con 
stitutional  right  to  secede  at  all,  there  is 
something  due  to  comity,  to  neighbor 
hood  associations,  to  propriety.  No  man 
has  a  'right,'  by  setting  fire  to  his  own 
house,  to  endanger  the  house  of  his 


DISPOSITION   OF  TEXXKSSEM 


53 


neighbor.  Virginia,  in  this  Union,  or 
out  of  it  as  a  sovereign,  and  as  poten 
tial  as  South  Carolina,  has  her  own  in- 
teres's  to  look  after,  her  own  rights  to 
be  secured,  her  own  feelings  to  be  re 
spected — and  she  will  demand  this  from 
South  Carolina  just  as  much  as  she 
would  from  any  other  State  in  the  pres 
ent  United  States.  It  would  seem  as  if 
in  the  course  now  pursued,  fearing  the 
conservative  action  of  Virginia,  and  not 
desiring,  in  truth,  '  a  united  South,7  cer 
tain  cotton  States  were  for  going  off  by 
themselves,  for  the  mere  sake  of  '  form 
ing  a  cotton  confederacy,'  totally  irre 
spective  of  other  Southern  States  which 
do  not  recognize  cotton  as  their  king, 
and  totally  regardless  of  any  interests  or 
any  views  but  their  own.  It  used  to  be 
a  '  united  South  !'  It  was  formerly  dis 
union  and  secession  for  aggression  by 
the  General  Government.  It  is  now  a 
disunited  South — secession  on  account 
of  the  untoward  result  of  a  Presidential 
election !  This  is  not  the  way  to  uphold 
the  rights  of  the  States  'and  the  rights 
of  the  South.  It  is  weakening  our 
own  position,  and  destroying  our  own 
strength." 

The  Virginian  leaders,  even  the  most 
headstrong  advocates  of  States'  Rights, 
seemed  desirous  of  making  an  effort  to 
hold  fast  by  the  Union.  At  a  polit- 
DCC,  ical  banquet  in  Richmond,  ' '  The 
5«  Union,"  "Virginia  in  the  Union," 
and  other  patriotic  toasts,  were  drunk 
and  responded  to  with  enthusiasm. 
While  there  might  be  doubt  of  the  con 
tinued  loyalty  of  Eastern,  there  was  no 
question  of  the  persistency  of  that  of 


Western,  Virginia,  whose  proximity  to 
the  free  States  of  Illinois  and  Ohio,  and 
identity  of  origin,  habits,  and  interests, 
made  them  as  one  people.  The  loyalty 
of  the  East  was  conditional  upon  such 
concessions  to  the  slave  power  as  the 
most  sanguine  believers  in  compromise 
could  hardly  anticipate.  The  loyalty 
of  the  West,  comparatively  free  of  the 
entanglement  of  slave  interests,  was  sin 
cere  and  unconstrained. 

Virginia  strove  to  check  the  precip 
itancy  of  South  Carolina  by  appointing 
a  commissioner  to  urge  an  arrest  of 
proceedings  until  there  might  be  a  con 
ference  among  the  slave  States. 

Tennessee,  though  her  governor  was 
suspected  even  at  that  early  period  of  a 
strong  sympathy,  if  not  active  concur 
rence,  with  the  leaders  of  the  rebellion, 
was  apparently  indisposed  to  secession. 
Her  United  States  senator,  and  formerly 
governor,  Andrew  Johnson,  and  Emer 
son  Etheredge,  a  member  of  the  House 
of  Representatives,  were  among  the  first 
to  deny  emphatically  the  assumed  right 
of  secession,  and  to  call  it  treason.  They 
both  in  their  respective  spheres  were  the 
firm  assertors  of  the  Federal  authority 
and  the  resolute  opponents  of  its  ene 
mies.  Johnson,  in  the  Senate  of  ]>ec. 
the  United  States,  while  even  !9« 
Northern  men  were  doubting  the  right 
of  the  Government  to  suppress  a  re 
bellion  against  its  authority,  thus  em 
phatically  argued  not  only  for  its  ex 
istence,  but  for  its  exercise  : 

"Have  we  not  the  power  to  enforce 
the  laws  in  the  State  of  South  Carolina, 
as  well  as  in  the  State  of  Vermont  or 


54 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


any  other  State  ?  And  notwithstanding 
they  may  resolve  and  declare  them 
selves  absolved  from  all  allegiance  to 
this  Union,  yet  it  does  not  save  them 
from  the  compact.  If  South  Carolina 
drives  out  the  Federal  courts  from  the 
State,  then  the  Federal  Government  has 
a  right  to  re-establish  the  courts.  If 
she  excludes  the  mails,  the  Federal  Gov 
ernment  has  a  right  and  the  authority  to 
carry  the  mails.  If  she  resists  the  collec 
tion  of  revenue  in  the  port  of  Charleston, 
or  any  other  ports,  then  the  Government 
has  a  right  to  enter  and  enforce  the  law. 
If  she  undertakes  to  take  possession  of 
the  property  of  the  Government,  the  Gov 
ernment  has  a  right  to  take  all  means  to 
retain  that  property.  And  if  they  make 
any  effort  to  dispossess  the  Government, 
or  to  resist  the  execution  of  the  judicial 
system,  then  South  Carolina  puts  her 
self  in  the  wrong,  and  it  is  the  duty  of 
the  Government  to  see  the  judiciary 
faithfully  executed.  In  1805,  South 
Carolina  made  a  deed  of  cession  of  the 
land  on  which  these  forts  stand — a  full 
cession — with  certain  conditions.  The 
Government  complied  with  the  condi 
tions,  and  has  had  possession  of  these 
forts  till  this  day.  And  now  has  South 
Carolina  any  right  to  attempt  to  drive 
the  Government  from  that  property  ? 
If  she  secedes,  and  makes  any  attempt 
of  this  kind,  does  she  not  come  within 
the  meaning  of  the  Constitution,  where 
i  •  speaks  of  levying  war  ?  And  in  levy 
ing  war,  she  does  what  the  Constitution 
declares  to  be  treason.  We  may  as  well 
talk  of  things  as  they  are,  for  if  anything 
can  be  treason,  within  the  scope  of  the 


Constitution,  is  not  levying  war  upon 
the  Government,  treason  ?  Is  not  at 
tempting  to  take  the  property  of  the 
Government  and  expel  the  Government 
soldiers  therefrom,  treason  ?  Is  not  at 
tempting  to  resist  the  collection  of  the 
revenue,  attempting  to  exclude  the  mails, 
and  driving  the  Federal  court  from  her 
borders,  treason  ?  What  is  it  ?  I  ask, 
in  the  name  of  the  Constitution,  what 
is  it  ?  It  is  treason,  and  nothing  but 
treason." 

With  a  sympathy  among  many  of  the 
political  leaders  of  Tennessee  with  seces 
sion,  and  an  undisguised  effort  to  pro 
mote  it,  there  yet  seemed  to  exist  among 
the  people  throughout  the  State,  but 
especially  in  the  eastern  districts,  a  firm 
attachment  to  the  Union.  A  secession 
meeting  at  Memphis  was  disturbed  j^OFi 
by  manifestations  of  opposition  on  30i 
the  part  of  a  large  gathering  of  union 
ists.  The  Honorable  John  Bell,  of  Nash 
ville,  who  had  been  a  candidate  for  the 
Presidency,  in  a  letter  in  answer  to  an 
invitation  to  an  assemblage  of  secession 
ists,  declared  that  he  was  for  the  Union, 
that  he  did  not  think  that  the  election 
of  Lincoln  was  a  just  cause  for  its  disso 
lution,  and  that  the  South,  equally  with 
the  North,  was  responsible  for  the  angry 
sectionalism  of  feeling  which  prevailed. 

In  Kentucky  the  Union  sentiment  ap 
peared  at  this  time  to  be  predominant. 
There  was,  however,  great  uneasiness 
of  feeling  and  a  disposition  on  the  part 
of  many  of  the  political  leaders  of  the 
State  to  act  concurrently  with  the  cotton 
States,  or  to  demand  excessive  conces 
sions  from  the  North  as  the  condition  of 


CONCILIATION    FROM  KENTUCKY. 


loyalty.     Governor  Magoffin  seemed  by 

DCC(  this  circular  sent  to  the  governors 

9«    of  the  various  slave  States,  to  have 

made  a  sincere  effort  toward  conciliation. 

"  COMMONWEALTH  OF  KENTUCKY,  EXECUTIVE  ) 
DEPARTMENT,  FRANKFORT,  Dec.  9,  1860.      f 

"  Entertaining  the  opinion  that  some 
movement  should  be  instituted  at  the 
earliest  possible  moment  to  arrest  the 
progress  of  events  which  seem  to  be 
rapidly  hurrying  the  Government  of  the 
Union  to  dismemberment,  as  an  initia 
tory  step  I  have,  with  great  diffidence, 
concluded  to  submit  to  the  governors  of 
the  slave  States  a  series  of  propositions, 
and  to  ask  their  counsel  and  co-operation 
in  bringing  about  a  settlement  upon 
them  as  a  basis.  Should  the  proposi 
tions  be  approved,  they  can  be  sub 
mitted  to  the  assembling  legislatures 
and  conventions  of  the  slave  States,  and 
a  convention  of  all  of  said  States,  or  of 
those  only  approving,  be  called  to  pass 
upon  them,  and  ask  a  general  convention 
of  all  the  States  of  the  Union  that  may 
be  disposed  to  meet  us  on  this  basis  for 
a  full  conference.  The  present  good  to 
be  accomplished  would  be  to  arrest  the 
secession  movement  until  the  question 
as  to  whether  the  Union  can  be  pre 
served  upon  fair  and  honorable  terms 
can  be  fully  tested.  If  there  be  a  basis 
for  the  adjustment  of  our  difficulties 
within  the  Union,  nothing  should  be  left 
undone  in  order  to  its  development. 
To  this  end,  it  seems  to  me  there  should 
be  a  conference  of  the  States  in  some 
form,  and  it  appears  to  me  the  form 
above  suggested  would  be  most  effect 
ive.  I,  therefore,  as  the  governor  of  a 


State  having  as  deep  a  stake  in  the  per 
petuity  of  the  Union,  and  at  the  same 
time  as  much  soli-citude  for  the  mainte 
nance  of  the  institution  of  slavery  as  any 
other,  would  respectfully  beg  leave  to 
submit  for  your  consideration  the  fol 
lowing  outline  of  propositions : 

"First.  Repeal,  by  an  amendment  of 
the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  all 
laws  in  the  free  States  in  any  degree 
nullifying  or  obstructing  the  execution 
of  the  Fugitive  Slave  law. 

"  Second.  Amendments  to  said  law  to 
enforce  its  thorough  execution  in  all  the 
free  States,  providing  compensation  to 
the  owner  of  the  slave  from  the  State 
which  fails  to  deliver  him  up  under  the 
requirements  of  the  law,  or  throws  ob 
structions  in  the  way  of  his  recovery. 

"  Third.  The  passage  of  a  law  bj 
Congress  compelling  the  governors  of 
free  States  to  return  fugitives  fron. 
justice,  indicted  by  a  grand  jury  in  an 
other  State  for  stealing  or  enticing  away 
a  slave. 

"  Fourth.  To  amend  the  Constitution 
so  as  to  divide  all  the  Territories  be 
longing  to  the  United  States,  or  here 
after  to  be  acquired,  between  the  free  and 
the  slave  States,  say  upon  the  line  of  the 
37th  degree  of  north  latitude — all  north 
of  that  line  to  come  into  the  Union  with 
requisite  population  as  free  States,  and 
all  south  of  the  same  to  come  in  as  slave 
States. 

"Fifth.  To  amend  the  Constitution 
so  as  to  guarantee  forever  to  all  the 
States  the  free  navigation  of  the  Missis 
sippi  River. 

"  Sixth.  To  alter  the  Constitution  so 


56 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


as  to  give  the  South  the  power,  say  in 
the  United  States  Sen-ate,  to  protect  it 
self  from  unconstitutional  and  oppressive 
legislation  upon  the  subject  of  slavery. 
"  Respectfully, 

"  Your  obedient  servant, 

"  B.  MAGOFFIN." 

Governor  Houston,  of  Texas,  man 
fully  resisted  the  progress  of  the  se 
cessionists  of  that  State  by  refusing  to 
convene  the  Legislature,  and  strove  to 
check  the  precipitancy  of  South  Caro 
lina  by  recommending  a  conference  of 
the  slave  States.  The  governor  of  Ar 
kansas  uttered  no  expression  of  opinion 
in  this  crisis,  but  it  was  hoped  that  his 
silence  was  an  indication  that  the  people 
were  loyal  to  the  Union. 

Georgia  was  evidently  still  irresolute. 
Alexander  H.  Stephens,  one  of  her  lead 
ing  men,  after  wad  Yice-President  c.f 
the  Southern  Confederacy,  spoke  elo 
quently  in  behalf  of  the  Union,  and  the 
DeCt  Legislature  urged  the  other  slave 

15.  States,  in  a  circular  addressed  to 
them,  not  to  act  separately  and  precip 
itately. 

Even  in  Alabama,  at  a  meeting  held 
NOV,  in  Baldwin  County,  a  unanimous 

24.  resolution  was  passed  against  se 
cession  ;  in  Mississippi  a  large  gathering 
flov,  of  citizens  in  Vicksburg  expressed 

29.  the  belief  by  a  resolution  that  there 
were  "yet  remedies  within  the  Union  ;" 
in  Louisiana  a  leading  journal  declared 
0ec,  that  there  was  a  "  disposition  to 

15.  move  with  deliberation  and  to  try 
all  remedies,  until  means  of  security  and 
equality  in  the  Union  are  exhausted, 
before  the  State  considers  the  United 


States  as  a  foreign  government  and  its 
citizens  as  aliens." 

South  Carolina  had,  however,  treated 
with  contempt  this  lingering  loyalty, 
and  gave  no  heed  to  the  suggestions  of 
the  other  slave  States.  The  convention 
refused  to  listen  to  the  commissioners 
of  Kentucky  and  Virginia,  and  even  laid 
upon  the  table  the  proposition  of  the 
Legislature  of  Georgia  without  read 
ing  it.  South  Carolina  was  doubtless 
strengthened  in  resolution  by  secret  al 
liances  and  pledges  of  conformity  on  the 
part  of  the  political  leaders  in  the  other 
slave  States,  and  could  estimate  at  its 
just  value  a  public  affectation  of  loyalty 
to  the  Union  by  men  who  had  conspired 
to  destroy  it.  In  South  Carolina  itself 
the  people  had  been  long  prepared  for 
secession,  and  required  no  persuasions 
or  threats  to  effect  what  they  impa 
tiently  desired.  In  the  other  "  cotton" 
States,  however,  partly  from  an  attach 
ment  to  the  Union  and  partly  from  a 
reluctance  to  assume  the  responsibility  of 
dissolving  it,  there  was  a  hesitating  dis 
affection  which  could  only  be  quickened 
to  rebellion  by  the  force  of  example. 
South  Carolina,  though  professing  her 
willingness  and  boasting  her  ability  to 
stand  alone,  did  not  doubt  that  her  lead 
would  be  soon  followed  by  her  sister 
States. 

Confident  in  this  belief,  a  committee  of 
the  convention  at  Charleston  introduced 
the  following  ordinance,  in  which  the 
concurrence  in  secession  of  the  Dec, 
slaveholding  States  and  their  or-  25, 
ganization  into  a  separate  government, 
were  already  assumed  by  anticipation  : 


FASTING  AND   PRAYER. 


"  First.  That  the  conventions  of  the 
seceding  slaveholding  States  of  the 
United  States  unite  with  South  Caro 
lina,  and  hold  a  convention  at  Mont 
gomery,  Ala.,  for  the  purpose  of  forming 
a  Southern  confederacy. 

' '  Second.  That  the  said  seceding  States 
appoint,  by  their  respective  conventions 
or  legislatures,  as  many  delegates  as 
they  have  representatives  in  the  present 
Congress  of  the  United  States,  to  the 
said  convention  to  be  held  at  Mont 
gomery,  and  that  on  the  adoption  of  the 
constitution  of  the  Southern  confederacy, 
the  vote  shall  be  by  States. 

"  Third.  That  whenever  the  terms  of 
the  constitution  shall  be  agreed  upon  by 
the  said  convention,  the  same  shall  be 


submitted  at  as  early  a  day  as  practi 
cable  to  the  convention  and  legislature 
of  each  State  respectively,  so  as  to  en 
able  them  to  ratify  or  reject  the  said 
constitution. 

"  Fourth.  That  in  the  opinion  of  South 
Carolina,  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States  will  form  a  suitable  basis  for  the 
confederacy  of  the  Southern  States  with 
drawing. 

"  Fifth.  That  the  South  Carolina  con 
vention  appoint  by  ballot  eight  delegates 
to  represent  South  Carolina  in  the  con 
vention  for  the  formation  of  a  Southern 
confederacy. 

"  Lastly.  That  one  commissioner  in 
each  State  be  elected  to  call  the  atten 
tion  of  the  people  to  this  ordinance  " 


CHAPTER    YI 

Energetic  Action  of  the  Convention  at  Charleston. — Proclamation  for  Fasting  and  Prayer  by  the  President  of  the 
United  States. — Compromise  Committees  :  their  ineffectiveness. — The  Senator  of  Georgia's  opinion  of  them. — 
Despair  of  the  Senator  from  Kentucky. — Feeling  at  the  North. — Activity  of  South  Carolina. — Resolution  of  Inquiry 
passed  by  the  Charleston  Convention  hi  regard  to  the  Federal  Forts. — Intense  interest  of  the  Charleston  people. — 
Description  of  the  Forts. — Anxiety  of  Major  Anderson. — Hopelessness  of  the  Defence  of  Fort  Moultrie. — A  Call  of 
Duty. — A  Eesolution  taken. — Preparations  to  abandon  Fort  Moultrie. — Ruse. — Expedition  at  Night. — In  possession 
of  Fort  Sumter. — Excitement  in  Charleston. — The  abandoned  Federal  Forts  taken  possession  of  by  the  South  Caro 
linians.— The  condition  of  Fort  Moultrie  described. — Seizure  of  Public  Property. — Indignation  against  Major  An 
derson. — Anderson  assumes  the  Responsibility. — Energetic  Preparations  at  Charleston  for  War. — Sympathy  from  the 
Gulf  States. — Feeling  at  the  North. — The  great  Robbery  of  the  Indian  Trust  Fund. — The  supposed  Criminals. — The 
order  for  the  removal  of  Arms  from  Pittsburg  — Excitement  of  the  Citizens. — Relief  in  a  Mass  Meeting. — Fears 
at  the  North. — The  deed  of  Anderson  hailed  with  enthusiasm.— Newspaper  Rhetoric. — The  effect  at  Washington. — 
Resignation  of  Floyd. — A  strange  Correspondence. — Departure  of  the  South  Carolina  Commissioners  from  Wash 
ington,  and  Correspondence. 


WHILE  the  convention  at  Charleston 
was  energetically  pursuing  its  course  of 
ndependent  government,  the  President 
at  Washington  did  nothing  but  be 
wail  the  misfortunes  of  the  country 
Ui  a  proclamation  of  a  day  to  be  set  apart 


for  humiliation,  fasting,  and  prayer,  and 
Congress  continued  its  futile  attempts  at 
compromise.  The  committees  of  "Thir 
ty-three"  and  "Thirteen,"  appointed  to 
consider  and  report  on  the  crisis  of  the 
country,  met,  adjourned,  and  met  again 


58 


THE  WAR   WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


without  any  result  but  the  increased 
conviction  that  conciliation  was  imprac 
ticable.  That  there  were  some  sincere 
efforts  made  by  the  moderate  men  of  the 
South,  with  the  desire  of  appeasing  dis 
union,  may  be  believed,  but  that  the 
representatives  of  the  extreme  opinions 
of  the  cotton  States  had,  if  the  wish  for, 
not  the  least  expectation  of,  their  success, 
Dec,  may  be  inferred  from  this  telegram 
23.  dispatched  to  his  constituents  by 
the  United  States  senator  from  Georgia  : 

"  I  came  here  to  secure  your  consti 
tutional  rights,  and  to  demonstrate  to 
you  that  you  can  get  no  guarantee  for 
those  rights  from  your  Northern  con 
federates. 

"  The  whole  subject  was  referred  to  a 
committee  of  thirteen  in  the  Senate.  I 
was  appointed  on  the  committee,  and 
accepted  the  trust.  I  submitted  propo 
sitions  which,  so  far  from  receiving  a 
decided  support  from  a  single  member 
of  the  Republican  party  of  the  com 
mittee,  were  all  treated  with  derision  or 
contempt.  A  vote  was  then  taken  in 
the  committee  on  amendments  to  the 
Constitution,  proposed  by  Hon.  J.  J. 
Crittenden,  and  each  and  all  of  them 
were  voted  against,  unanimously,  by 
the  Black  Republican  members  of  the 
committee. 

"  In  addition  to  these  facts,  a  majority 
of  the  Black  Republican  members  of  the 
committee  declared  distinctly  that  they 
had  no  guarantees  to  offer,  which  was 
silently  acquiesced  in  by  the  other  mem 
bers. 

"  The  Black  Republican  members  of 
this  committee  are  representative  men 


of  the  party  and  section,  and,  to  the  ex 
tent  of  my  information,  truly  represent 
them. 

"The  Committee  of  Thirty-Three  on 
Friday  adjourned  for  a  week,  without 
coming  to  any  vote,  after  solemnly  pledg 
ing  themselves  to  vote  on  all  the  propo 
sitions  then  before  them  that  day. '  It  is 
controlled  by  the  Black  Republicans, 
your  enemies,  who  only  seek  to  amuse 
you  with  delusive  hope  until  your  elec 
tion,  that  you  may  defeat  the  friends  of 
secession. 

"  If  you  are  deceived  by  them,  it  shall 
not  be  my  fault.  I  have  put  the  test 
fairly  and  frankly.  It  is  decisive  against 
you  now.  I  tell  you,  upon  the  faith  of 
a  true  man,  that  all  further  looking  to 
the  North  for  security  for  your  constitu 
tional  rights  in  the  Union  ought  to  be 
instantly  abandoned. 

"It  is  fraught  with  nothing  but  ruin 
to  yourselves  and  to  your  posterity. 
Secession,  by  the  4th  day  of  March 
next,  should  be  thundered  from  the 
ballot-box  by  the  unanimous  voice  of 
Georgia  on  the  2d  day  of  January  next. 
Such  a  voice  will  be  your  best  guarantee 
for  liberty,  tranquility,  and  glory. 

"  R.  TOOMBS." 

The  venerable  Crittenden,  of  Ken 
tucky,  whose  fidelity  to  the  Union  was 
beyond  peradventure,  even  despaired, 
and  seeing  no  prospect  in  congressional 
action  of  an  accommodation,  exclaimed, 
that  it  was  the  darkest  day  of  his  life— 
that  he  was  overwhelmed  with  solicitude 
for  the  country,  and  that  nothing  but  the 
affection  of  the  people  for  the  Union 
could  restore  peace.  In  the  mean 


THE   CHARLESTON   FORTS. 


59 


while,  the  people  of  the  North  remained 
in  a  state  between  fear  and  hope.  The 
timid  gave  expression  to  their  alarms  in 
"union  meetings/'  and  petitions  coun 
selling  concession  ;  while  the  hopeful  de 
luded  themselves  with  the  supposed 
strength  of  the  loyal  men  in  the  South. 
A  few  contemplated  the  possibility  of 
war,  but  most  fondly  believed  that  the 
country  would  be  spared  its  horrors. 

South  Carolina,  however,  though  se 
cured  for  the  present  by  the  pledges  of 
President  Buchanan  and  the  corrupt 
connivance  of  his  cabinet,  was  yet  dis 
trustful  of  the  future,  and  began  to  pre 
pare  for  its  possible  dangers.  A  reso- 
j)ec,  lution  was  offered  in  the  conven- 
26«  tion  at  Charleston  that  the  governor 
be  requested  to  communicate  in  secret 
session  any  information  he  might  pos 
sess  in  regard  to  the  condition  of  forts 
Moultrie  and  Sumter,  and  Castle  Pinck- 
ney,  the  number  of  guns  in  each,  the 
number  of  workmen  and  kind  of  labor 
employed,  the  number  of  soldiers  in 
each,  and  what  additions,  if  any,  had 
been  made  since  the  20th  of  December  ; 
also,  whether  any  assurance  had  been 
given  that  the  forts  would  not  be  rein 
forced,  and  if  so,  to  what  extent ;  also, 
what  police  or  other  regulations  had 
been  made,  if  any,  in  reference  to  the 
defences  of  the  harbor  of  Charleston,  the 
coast,  and  the  State. 

At  the  same  time  the  condition  of  these 
forts  and  their  capability  of  defence  be 
came  a  subject  of  intense  interest  to  the 
people  of  South  Carolina,  who  were  evi 
dently  determined  upon  possessing  them 
selves  of  them.  A  minute  survey  of  the 


works  was  made  and  published,  in  which 
the  efforts  in  progress  to  improve  their 
strength  were  studiously  detailed  and 
exaggerated,  with  the  view  of  exciting 
the  impatient  ardor  of  the  South  Caro 
linians  to  wrest  them  from  the  Federal 
Government. 

This  account,  as  it  conveys  a  tolerably 
accurate  idea  of  the  forts  in  the  harbor 
of  Charleston,  is  here  given  as  published 
in  the  Charleston  Mercury  : 

:i  Fort  Moultrie  is  an  inclosed  water 
battery,  having  a  front  on  the  south,  or 
water  side,  of  about  300  feet,  and  a 
depth  of  about  240  feet.  It* is  built 
with  salient  and  re-entering  angles  on 
all  sides,  and  is  admirably  adapted  for 
defence,  either  from  the  attack  of  a 
storming  party  or  by  regular  approaches. 

"  The  outer  and  inner  walls  are  of 
brick,  capped  with  stone,  and  filled  in 
with  earth,  making  a  solid  wall  15  or  16 
feet  in  thickness.  The  work  now  in 
progress  consists  in  cleaning  the  sand 
from  the  walls  of  the  fort ;  ditching  it 
around  the  entire  circumference,  and 
erecting  a  glacis  ;  closing  up  the  postern 
gates  in  the  east  and  west  walls,  and, 
instead,  cutting  sally-ports  which  lead 
into  strong  outworks  on  the  southeast 
and  southwest  angles,  in  which  twelve- 
pounder  howitzer  guns  will  be  placed, 
enabling  the  garrison  to  sweep  the  ditch 
on  three  sides  with  grape  and  canister. 
The  northwest  angle  of  the  fort  has  also 
been  strengthened  by  a  bastionette  to 
sustain  the  weight  of  a  heavy  gun  which 
will  command  the  main  street  of  the 
island.  The  main  entrance  has  also 
been  better  secured,  and  a  trap-door. 


60 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE   SOUTH. 


two  feet  square,  cut  in  the  door  for  in 
gress   and   egress.      At   this   time,  the 
height  of  the  wall  from  the  bottom  of 
the  ditch  to  the  top  of  the  parapet  is  20 
feet.     The  ditch  is  from  12  to  15  feet 
wide  at  the  base,  and  15  feet  deep.  The 
nature  of  the  soil  would  not  seem  to 
admit   of  this    depth   being   increased, 
quicksand  having  been  reached  in  many 
places.     The  work  on  the  south  side  is 
nearly  finished.     The    counterscarp    is 
substantially     built    with     plank,     and 
spread  with  turf.      The   glacis   is    also 
finished.     It  is  composed  of  sand,  and 
covered  with  layers  of  loam  and  turf, 
all  of  which  are  kept  firmly  in  place  by 
the  addition  of  sections  of  plank  nailed 
to  uprights  sunk  in  the  sand,  and  cross 
ing  each  other  at  right  angles,  making 
squares  of  10  feet  each.     The  purpose 
of  the  glacis,  which  is  an  inclined  plane, 
is  to  expose  an  attacking  party  to  the 
fire  of  the  guns,  which  are  so  placed  as 
lo  sweep  it  from  the  crest  of  the  coun 
terscarp  to  the  edge  of  the  beach.     On 
the  north  side  all  the  wooden  gun-cases 
have  been  placed  close  together  on  the 
ramparts,  apparently  for  the  purpose  of 
securing  it  against  an  escalade,  but  pos 
sibly  as  a  screen  for  a  battery  of  heavy 
guns.     A  good  many  men  are  engaged 
in    clearing  the    ramparts  of  turf  and 
earth,  for  the  purpose  of  putting  down 
a  very  ugly-looking  arrangement,  which 
consists  of  strips  of  planks  four  inches 
wide,  one  and  a  half  inches  thick,  and 
six  or  eight  feet  long,  sharpened  at  the 
point,  and  nailed  down  so  as  to  project 
about  three  feet  horizontally  from  the 
top  of  the  walls. 


"A  noticeable  fact  in  the  bastionettes, 
to  which  we  have  above  alluded,  is  the 
haste  in  which  one  of  them  has  been  built. 
The  one  completed  is  formed  of  solid 
masonry.  In  constructing  the  other, 
however,  a  framework  of  plank  has  been 
substituted.  Against  the  inside  of  this 
wooden  outwork  loose  bricks  have  been 
placed.  Both  bastionettes  are  armed 
with  a  small  carronade,  and  a  howitzer 
pointed  laterally  so  as  to  command  the 
whole  intervening  moat  by  a  cross-fire. 

"  In  the  hurried  execution  of  these 
extensive  improvements,  a  large  force- 
about  170  men — are  constantly  engaged. 

J  O     O 

Additions  are  daily  made  to  this  num 
ber,  and  the  work  of  putting  the  post 
in  the  best  possible  condition  for  de 
fence  is  carried  on  with  almost  incred 
ible  vigor. 

"  A  few  days  ago,  Colonel  Gardiner, 
who  for  years  had  held  the  command 
ant's  position,  and  whose  courtesy  and 
bearing  had  won  the  friendship  of  all 
who  knew  him,  was  relieved  in  the 
command  by  Major  Robert  Anderson, 
of  Kentucky.  Major  Anderson  received 
his  first  commission  as  brevet  second  lieu 
tenant  second  artillery,  July  1st,  1825, 
was  acting  inspector-general  in  the 
Black  Hawk  war,  and  received  the  rank 
of  brevet  captain,  August,  1838,  for  his 
successful  conduct  in  the  Florida  war. 
On  September  8th,  1847,  he  was  made 
brevet-major  for  his  gallant  and  merito 
rious  conduct  in  the  battle  of  Molino 
del  Hey. 

' '  The  other  officers  are  :  Captain  Ab- 
ner  Doubleday,  Captain  T.  Seymour, 
Lieutenant  T.  Talbot,  Lieutenant  J.  C. 


CONDITION   OF   FORT  SUMTER. 


61 


Davis,  Lieutenant  N.  J.  Hall — all  of  the 
first  regiment  artillery. 

"  Captain  J.  Gr.  Foster  and  Lieuten 
ant  Q .  W.  Snyder,  of  the  engineer  corps. 

"  Assistant  Surgeon  S.  W.  Crawford, 
of  the  medical  staff. 

"The  force  under  these  gentlemen 
consists  of  two  companies  of  artillery. 
The  companies,  however,  are  not  full, 
the  two  comprising,  as  we  are  informed, 
only  about  seventy  men,  including  the 
band.  A  short  time  ago  two  additional 
companies  were  expected,  but  they  have 
not  come  ;  and  it  is  now  positively 
stated  that  there  will  be,  for  the  pres 
ent  at  least,  no  reinforcement  of  the 
garrison. 

"  While  the  working-men  are  doing 
wonders  on  the  outside,  the  soldiers 
within  are  by  no  means  idle.  Field- 
pieces  have  been  placed  in  position  upon 
the  green  within  the  fort,  and  none  of 
the  expedients  of  military  engineering 
have  been  neglected  to  make  the  posi 
tion  as  strong  as  possible.  It  is  said 
that  the  greatest  vigilance  is  observed 
in  every  regulation  at  this  time,  and 
that  the  guns  are  regularly  shotted  every 
night.  It  is  very  certain  that  ingress  is 
no  longer  an  easy  matter  for  an  out 
sider,  and  the  visitor  who  hopes  to  get 
in  must  make  up  his  mind  to  approach 
with  all  the  caution,  ceremony,  and  cir 
cumlocution  with  which  the  allies  are  ad 
vancing  upon  the  capital  of  the  Celestial 
Empire. 

"  Fort  Sumter,  the  largest  of  our  fort 
resses,  is  a  work  of  solid  masonry, 
octagonal  in  form,  pierced  on  the  north, 
east,  and  west  sides  with  a  double  row 


of  port-holes  for  the  heaviest  guns,  and 
on  the  south  or  land  side,  in  addition  to 
openings  for  guns,  loop-holes  for  mus 
ketry  ;  stands  in  the  middle  of  the  har 
bor,  on  the  edge  of  the  ship  channel, 
and  is  said  to  be  bomb-proof.  It  is  at 
present  without  any  regular  garrison. 
There  is  a  large  force  of  workmen — 
some  one  hundred  and  fifty  in  all — 
busily  employed  in  mounting  the  guns 
and  otherwise  putting  this  great  strat 
egic  point  in  order.  The  armament 
of  Fort  Sumter  consists  of  140  guns, 
many  of  them  being  the  formidable  ten- 
inch  '  columbiads,'  which  throw  either 
shot  or  shell,  and  which  have  a  fearful 
range.  Only  a  few  of  these  are  yet  in 
position,  and  the  work  of  mounting 
pieces  of  this  calibre  in  the  casemates 
is  necessarily  a  slow  one.  There  is  also 
a  large  amount  of  artillery  stores,  con 
sisting  of  about  40,000  pounds  of  pow 
der,  and  a  proportionate  quantity  of 
shot  and  shell.  The  workmen  engaged 
here  sleep  in  the  fort  every  night,  owing 
to  the  want  of  any  regular  communica 
tion  with  the  city.  The  wharf  or  land 
ing  is  on  the  south  side,  and  is  of  course 
exposed  to  a  cross  fire  from  all  the  open 
ings  on  that  side. 

"  The  fortress  most  closely  command 
ing  the  city  and  its  roadstead  is  Castle 
Pinckney,  which  is  located  on  the 
southern  extremity  of  a  narrow  slip  of 
marsh  land,  which  extends  in  a  north 
erly  direction  to  Hog  Island  Channel. 
To  the  harbor  side  the  so-called  castle 
presents  a  circular  front.  It  has  never 
been  considered  of  much  consequence 
as  a  fortress,  although  its  proximity  to 


62 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


the  city  would  give  it  importance,  if 
properly  armed  and  garrisoned.  From 
hasty  observation,  we  find  that  there  are 
about  fifteen  guns  mounted  on  the  par 
apet  ;  the  majority  of  them  are  eighteen 
and  twenty-four  pounders.  Some  '  co- 
lumbiads'  are,  however,  within  the  walls. 
There  are  also  supplies  of  powder,  shot, 
and  shell.  At  present  there  is  no  gar 
rison  at  the  post ;  the  only  residents  are 
one  or  two  watchmen,  who  have  charge 
of  the  harbor  light.  Some  thirty  or 
forty  day  laborers  are  employed  repair 
ing  the  cisterns,  and  putting  the  place 
generally  in  order." 

Major  Anderson,  the  Federal  officer 
in  command,  informed  of  the  action  of 
the  convention  in  regard  to  the  forts, 
witnessing  the  public  excitement  in 
Charleston,  conscious  of  the  intense 
desire  of  the  people  of  South  Carolina 
to  possess  them,  and  believing  that  they 
would  not  long  hesitate  to  make  the 
attempt,  became  solicitous  about  their 
safety.  He  had  no  hope  of  being  able 
to  defend  Fort  Moultrie,  whose  feeble 
and  unprotected  walls  he  held  with  a 
meagre  garrison  of  only  sixty  effective 
men.  He  despaired  of  any  aid  from  the 
Federal  Government,  for  he  had  been 
told  by  the  secretary  of  war,  Floyd, 
how,  with  a  natural  regard  for  the 
safety  of  his  fellow-conspirators,  he  had 
"  carefully  abstained  from  increasing  the 
?orce  at  this  point,  or  taking  any  meas 
ures  which  might  add  to  the  present  ex 
cited  state  of  the  public  mind,  or  which 
would  throw  any  doubt  on  the  confi 
dence  he  feels  that  South  Carolina  will 
not  attempt  by  violence  to  obtain  pos 


session  of  the  public  works,  or  interfere 
with  their  occupancy."* 

It  was  not,  therefore,  surprising  that 
Anderson  should  write  thus  despair 
ingly  : 

"When  I  inform  you  that  my  garri 
son  consists  of  only  sixty  effective  j)eCl 
men,  and  that  we  are  in  a  very  24, 
indifferent  work,  the  walls  of  which  are 
only  about  fourteen  feet  high,  and  that 
we  have,  within  one  hundred  and  sixty 
yards  of  our  walls,  sand-hills  which 
command  our  work,  and  which  afford 
admirable  sites  for  batteries  and  the 
finest  covers  for  sharp-shooters,  and 
that  besides  this  there  are  numerous 
houses,  some  of  them  within  pistol-shot, 
you  will  at  once  see  that,  if  attacked  in 
force,  headed  by  any  one  but  a  simple 
ton,  there  is  scarce  a  possibility  of  our 
being  able  to  hold  out  long  enough  to 
enable  our  friends  to  come  to  our  succor. 

"Trusting  that  God  will  not  desert 
us  in  our  hour  of  trial,  I  am  sincerely 
yours. 

"ROBERT  ANDERSON, 

"  Major  1st  Artillery,  etc." 

Anderson,  however,  was  not  the  man 
to  yield  to  despair  while  the  call  of 
duty  invoked  to  effort.  He  accordingly 
determined,  that  if  Fort  Moultrie  could 
not  be  defended,  he  would  place  his 
meagre  garrison  in  Fort  Sumter,  which 
could.  His  preparations  were  made 
with  a  prudent  secrecy.  In  order  to 
deceive  the  inhabitants  of  Sullivan 
Island,  upon  which  the  fort  is  situated, 
it  was  studiously  reported  among  them, 
that  in  consequence  of  the  probability 


0  Verbal  Instructions  to  Major  Anderson,  Dec.  11,  I860. 


OCCUPATION   OF   FORT   SUMTER. 


63 


of  an  attack  by  the  people  of  Charles 
ton,  the  wives  and  children  of  the  gar 
rison  were  about  to  be  removed  to  a 
safer  place.  Under  the  cover  of  this 
pretext,  three  schooners  were  hired, 
brought  up  to  the  wharf,  and  loaded 
with  what  was  supposed  by  the  people 
of  the  island  merely  ordinary  baggage. 
These  vessels,  however,  contained  not 
only  the  women  and  children,  but  pro 
visions,  munitions  of  war,  and  the  per 
sonal  effects  of  the  officers  and  soldiers. 
Thus  laden,  the  three  schooners  put  off, 
and  sailed,  not  to  Fort  Johnson,  on 
James  Island,  as  had  been  carefully  re 
ported,  and  for  which  they  apparently 
steered,  but  to  Fort  Sumter,  where, 
after  a  circuitous  course,  they  finally 
arrived  in  the  evening  and  discharged 
their  important  burthens.  Anderson 
waited  for  the  darkness  of  the  night 
before  embarking  his  men.  At  half- 
Dec.  Past  nme  o'clock,  row-boats  having 
26«  been  got  ready,  the  whole  force, 
with  the  exception  of  Captain  Foster 
arid  eight  men,  left  to  dismantle  and 
spike  the  guns  and  burn  their  carriages, 
pushed  off.  Before  daylight  next  morn 
ing  Major  Anderson  was  in  full  posses 
sion  of  Fort  Sumter,  with  his  little  gar 
rison.  The  smoke  from  Fort  Moultrie, 
still  rising  at  early  dawn,  was  the  first 
to  arouse  the  attention  of  the  people 
of  Charleston.  They  gathered  in  ex 
cited  crowds  upon  the  wharfs  and  the 
battery,  and  anxiously  sought  the  cause. 
Great  alarm  spread  throughout  the  town, 
and  the  troops  were  called  to  arms. 
Various  were  the  conjectures :  some 
thought  that  a  fresh  United  States  force 


had  arrived  ;  some  supposed  that  Ander 
son  had  evacuated  the  harbor  altogether, 
after  having  destroyed  the  fort ;  but 
none  seemed  to  suspect  his  masterly 
movement.  All  doubt,  however,  was 
soon  removed  by  the  arrival  in  the  city 
of  some  of  the  inhabitants  of  Sullivan's 
Island. 

When  the  fact  became  known,  the  ex 
citement  increased.  The  convention  met 
immediately,  and  issued  orders  for  the 
occupation  of  the  deserted  Fort  Moultrie 
and  the  other  defences  of  the  harbor  by 
the  State  troops.  The  Federal  arsenal 
at  Charleston,  which  had  been  so  gen 
erously  supplied  by  the  treasonable  fore 
cast  of  the  secretary  of  war,  yielded  up 
its  stores  of  arms  and  ammunition  to  the 
eager  asserters  of  "  State  sovereignty." 
Colonel  Pettigrew,  in  obedience  to  the 
command  of  the  convention,  took  pos 
session,  with  two  hundred  men,  of  Castle 
Pinckney,  which  was  found  without  a 
man  to  defend  it,  but  with  its  entrances 
barricaded,  its  guns  spiked,  its  ammu 
nition  gone,  and  its  flagstaff  prostrate. 
Lieutenant-Colonel  De  Saussure,  also 
with  two  hundred  men,  proceeded  to 
take  possession  of  the  abandoned  Fort 
Moultrie.  As  he  approached,  Captain 
Foster  and  his  eight  soldiers,  who  had 
been  left  to  destroy  the  guns  and  keep 
nominal  possession,  pushed  off  in  a  row- 
boat  for  Fort  Sumter. 

As  soon  as  the  South  Carolinians  got 
possession,  they  commenced  to  repair 
the  damage  effected  by  Anderson,  and 
to  add  to  the  former  efficiency  and 
strength  of  the  fort.  The  condition  in 
which  it  was  found  after  its  abandon- 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


Dec,  ment  by  the  Federal  force,  is  thus 
27.  minutely  described  by  a  writer  in 
the  Charleston  Courier: 

"  On  the  way  across  the  harbor,  the 
hoisting  of  the  American  flag  from  the 
staff  of  Fort  Sumter,  at  precisely  twelve 
o'clock,  gave  certain  indication  that  the 
stronghold  was  occupied  by  the  troops 
of  the  United  States.  On  a  nearer  ap 
proach  the  fortress  was  discovered  to 
be  occupied,  the  guns  appeared  to  be 
mounted,  and  sentinels  were  discovered 
on  duty,  and  the  place  to  give  every 
sign  of  occupancy  and  military  dis 
cipline.  The  grim  fortress  frowned  de 
fiance  on  every  side  ;  the  busy  notes  of 
preparation  resounded  through  its  un- 
forbidding  recesses,  and  everything 
seemed  to  indicate  the  utmost  alacrity 
in  the  work  on  hand. 

"Turning  toward  Fort  Moultrie,  a 
dense  cloud  of  smoke  was  seen  to  pour 
from  the  end  facing  the  sea.  The  flag 
staff  was  down,  and  the  whole  place  had 
an  air  of  desolation  and  abandonment 
quite  the  reverse  of  its  busy  look  one 
week  ago,  when  scores  of  laborers  were 
engaged  in  adding  to  its  strength  all  the 
works  skill  and  experience  could  sug 
gest. 

"In  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the 
rear  or  landside  entrance,  however, 
greater  activity  was  noticeable.  At  the 
time  of  our  visit,  a  large  force  of  hands 
had  been  summoned  to  deliver  up  their 
implements  for  transportation  to  Fort 
Sumter.  Around  on  every  side  were 
the  evidences  of  labor  in  the  fortifica 
tion  of  the  work.  In  many  places  a 
portion  of  the  defences  were  strength 


ened  by  every  appliance  that  art  could 
suggest  or  ingenuity  devise  ;  while  in 
others,  the  uncompleted  works  gave 
evidences  of  the  utmost  confusion.  On 
all  hands  the  process  of  removing  goods, 
furniture,  and  munitions  was  yet  goii.g 
on.  The  heavy  guns  upon  the  ramparts 
of  the  fort  were  thrown  down  from  their 
carriages  and  spiked.  Every  ounce  of 
powder  and  every  cartridge  had  been 
removed  from  the  magazines,  and,  in 
fact,  everything  like  small-arms,  cloth 
ing,  provisions,  accoutrements,  and  other 
munitions  of  war  had  been  removed  off 
and  deposited  ;  nothing  but  heavy  balls 
and  useless  cannon  remained. 

"  The  entire  place  was,  to  all  appear 
ances,  littered  up  with  the  odds,  ends, 
and  fragments  of  war's  desolation.  Con 
fusion  could  not  have  been  more  com 
plete  had  the  late  occupants  retired  in 
the  face  of  a  besieging  foe.  Fragments 
of  gun-carriages,  etc.,  broken  to  pieces, 
bestrewed  the  ramparts.  Sand-bags  and 
barrels  filled  with  earth  crowned  the 
walls,  and  were  firmly  imbedded  in  their 
bomb-proof  surface  as  an  additional  safe 
guard  ;  and  notwithstanding  the  hetero 
geneous  scattering  of  materials  and  im 
plements,  the  walls  of  the  fort  evinced 
a  vague  degree  of  energy  in  preparing 
for  an  attack.  A  ditch  some  fifteen  feet 
wide  and  about  the  same  in  depth  sur 
rounds  the  entire  wall  on  three  sides. 
On  the  south  side,  or  front,  a  glacis  has 
been  commenced  and  prosecuted  nearly 
to  completion,  with  a  rampart  of  sand 
bags,  barrels,  etc. 

"  On  one  side  of  the  fort  a  palisade 
of  palmetto  logs  is  extended  around  the 


ANDERSON   DENOUNCED. 


65 


ramparts  as  a  complete  defence  against 
an  escalading  party.  New  embrasures 
have  been  cut  in  the  walls  so  as  to  com 
mand  the  faces  of  the  bastion  and  ditch. 
These  new  defences  are  all  incomplete, 
and  are  evidence  of  the  haste  with  which 
they  were  erected.  Considering  the  in 
ferior  force,  in  point  of  numbers,  under 
his  command,  Major  Anderson  had  paid 
particular  attention  to  strengthening 
only  a  small  part  of  the  fort. 

"A  greater  portion  of  the  labor  ex 
pended  was  spent  upon  the  citadel,  or 
centre  of  the  west  point  of  the  position. 
This  he  had  caused  to  be  strengthened 
in  every  way  ;  loop-holes  were  cut,  and 
everything  was  so  arranged  that  in  case 
a  well-concerted  attack  was  made,  he 
would  have  retired  from  the  outer  bas 
tions  to  the  citadel,  and  afterward  blow 
up  the  other  portions  of  the  fort.  For 
this  purpose  mines  had  already  been 
sprung,  and  trains  had  been  laid  ready 
for  the  application  of  the  match.  The 
barrack-rooms  and  every  other  part  of 
the  fort  that  was  indefensible  would  have 
gone  at  a  touch. 

"  On  the  ramparts  of  the  fort  fronting 
Fort  Sumter  were  nine  eight-inch  co- 
lumbiads,  mounted  on  wooden  carriages. 
As  soon  as  the  evacuation  of  the  fort 
was  complete,  the  carriages  of  these 
guns  were  fired,  and  at  the  time  of  vis 
iting  the  fort  yesterday,  were  nearly 
consumed,  and  the  guns  thereby  dis 
mounted.  These  guns,  as  well  as  those 
constituting  the  entire  armament  of  the 
fortress,  were  spiked  before  it  was  aban 
doned.  This  is  the  only  damage  done 
the  fortification,  further  than  cutting 


down  the  flagstaff,  and  the  breaking  up 
of  ammunition-wagons  to  form  ramparts 
on  the  walls  of  the  fort." 

The  seizure  of  the  Federal  forts  was 
followed  by  that  of  the  arsenal,  the  cus 
tom-house,  and  the  post-office,  upon  each 
of  which  was  raised  the  Palmetto  flag. 
The  South  Carolinians  were  pleased  to 
consider  the  simple  movement  of  a  Fed 
eral  officer  from  one  Federal  fort  to  an 
other  an  act  of  war.  "  Major  Robert 
Anderson,  United  States  army,"  wrote  a 
journalist,*  "has  achieved  the  unen 
viable  distinction  of  opening  civil  war 
between  American  citizens  by  an  act  of 
gross  breach  of  faith.  He  has,  under 
counsels  of  a  panic,  deserted  his  post  at 
Fort  Moultrie,  and  under  false  pretexts 
has  transferred  his  garrison  and  military 
stores  and  supplies  to  Fort  Sumter." 

Another  writerf  declared  :  "  It  is  due 
to  South  Carolina  and  to  good  faith  that 
the  act  of  this  officer  (Major  Anderson) 
should  be  repudiated  by  the  Govern 
ment,  and  that  the  troops  be  removed 
forthwith  from  Fort  Sumter." 

The  governor  of  South  Carolina  de 
manded  of  Anderson  by  what  authority 
he  had  acted,  and  what  was  the  object 
of  his  movement,  Anderson  replied, 
that  it  was  merely  a  military  measure 
for  the  purpose  only  of  defence,  which 
he  had  executed  on  his  own  responsi 
bility. 

The  convention,  however,  of  South 
Carolina  made  the  act  of  Anderson  the 
pretext  for  the  most  energetic  prepara 
tions  for  war.  Assuming  the  whole  con 
duct  of  government,  it  organized  a  mil- 

*  Courier.  t  Mercury. 


66 


THE  WAK  WITH  THE  SOUTH 


itary  force  and  a  complete  system  of 
coast  defence.  The  buoys  from  the 
channels  were  removed,  the  lights  in 
the  light-houses  extinguished,  fortifica 
tions  built,  an  army  was  enlisted,  and  a 
most  formidable  show  of  defiance  to  the 
Federal  authorities  exhibited  every 
where  throughout  the  State.  Most  of 
the  officers  of  the  United  States  army 
and  navy  who  were  natives  of  South 
Carolina  had,  on  the  announcement  of 
its  act  of  secession,  resigned  from  the 
Federal  service  and  offered  their  alle 
giance  to  the  seceded  State.  South  Car 
olina  was  thus  at  once  provided  with 
officers  capable  of  organizing  its  military 
force  and  directing  the  works  necessary 
for  its  defence. 

Throughout  the  cotton  States  the 
movement  of  Major  Anderson  was  con 
sidered  an  aggressive  act,  and  they 
showed  their  disposition  to  make  com 
mon  cause  with  South  Carolina  by  lib 
eral  offerings  of  aid.  Georgia,  Alabama, 
and  even  North  Carolina,  tendered  the 
services  of  troops. 

At  the  North,  public  attention  had 
been  diverted  for  a  time  from  South 
Carolina  by  exciting  events  occurring 
nearer  home,  which,  however,  from  their 
supposed  relation  to  the  Southern  move 
ment,  served  to  increase  the  general  in 
quietude,  and  prepare  the  public  for 
DeCt  further  developments  of  treason. 
25.  A  great  defalcation  had  been  dis 
covered  in  the  Indian  trust  fund,  by 
which  the  Government  had  been  de 
frauded  of  eight  hundred  and  thirty 
thousand  dollars.  Thompson,  the  secre 
tary  of  the  interior,  who  had  been  ab 


sent  from  his  Federal  post,  striving  as  a 
secession  commissioner  from  Mississippi 
to  stir  up  the  people  of  North  Carolina 
to  rebellion,  was  summoned  to  Wash 
ington.  His  disbursing  clerk  was  ab 
sent,  and  the  key  of  the  safe  missing. 
The  former  was  discovered,  but  the 
latter  was  lost.  The  safe  was  broken 
open  ;  no  property,  however,  was  found. 
It  was  difficult  to  trace  the  degree  of 
criminality  which  belonged  to  those  to 
whom  the  trust  had  been  confided.  The 
superiors  asserted  their  innocence,  and 
to  the  inferior  was  imputed  the  crime  ; 
but  public  opinion  did  not  hesitate  to 
charge  the  secretary  of  war,  Floyd,  and 
the  secretary  of  the  interior,  Thompson, 
as  accomplices  in  the  fraud,  which  had 
been  committed,  if  not  for  personal  ad 
vantage,  at  any  rate  for  the  advance 
ment  of  Southern  interests. 

Another  event,  no  less  exciting,  oc 
curred  at  the  same  moment.  An  order 
had  been  received  from  Washing-  j)ec§ 
ton  at  Pittsburg  to  send  irnme-  25. 
diately  from  the  Alleghany  arsenal  there 
78  large  cannon  to  Fort  Newport,  near 
Galveston,  and  48  to  Ship  Island,  near 
Biloxi,  off  the  coast  of  Mississippi. 

As  the  government  of  Buchanan  was 
still  guided  by  those  whose  fidelity  to 
the  Union  was  suspected,  the  purpose 
of  this  order  was  naturally  supposed  to 
further  Southern  secession.  This  aroused 
the  indignation  of  the  citizens  of  Pitts- 
burg,  who  expressed  a  determination  not 
to  allow  the  arms  to  leave  the  arsenal. 
Finally,  the  excitement  of  Pittsburg 
found  relief  in  a  "mass  meeting,"  at 
which  resolutions  were  adopted  "  de- 


FEELING  AT  THE   NORTH. 


67 


claring  loyalty  to  the  Union,  and  ability 
to  defend  themselves  against  all  enemies 
of  the  Union  ;  deprecating  any  inter 
ference  with  the  shipment  of  arms  under 
government  orders,  however  inoppor 
tune  or  impolitic  the  order  might  ap 
pear  ;  deploring  the  existing  state  of 
things  in  connection  with  the  adminis 
tration  of  important  departments  of  the 
public  service  so  as  to  have  shaken 
confidence  in  the  people  of  the  free 
States  ;  declaring  that  while  Pennsyl 
vania  is  on  guard  at  the  Federal  capital, 
it  is  her  special  duty  to  look  to  the 
fidelity  of  her  sons,  and  in  that  view 
call  on  the  President,  as  a  citizen  of  this 
Commonwealth,  to  see  that  the  public 
receive  no  detriment  at  his  hands,  and 
to  purge  his  cabinet  of  every  man  known 
to  give  aid  and  comfort  to,  or  in  any 
way  countenancing  the  revolt  of,  any 
State  against  the  authority  of  the  Con 
stitution  and  the  laws  of  the  Union." 

These  events,  the  robbery  of  the  public 
treasury  and  arsenals,  seemed  to  reveal 
more  clearly  to  the  public  mind  of  the 
North  the  extent  and  danger  of  the  South 
ern  conspiracy.  Alarm  and  distrust  now 
became  more  general,  and  the  people 
began  to  fear  for  the  safety  of  that  Union 
which  they  had  fondly  believed  to  be 
too  greatly  endeared  to  the  universal 
American  heart  to  be  in  peril  from  any 
sectional  disaffection.  While  thus  de 
pressed,  the  news  came  of  the  move 
ment  of  Major  Anderson,  and  that  sim 
ple  act  of  military  duty  was  hailed  as  a 
deed  of  heroism,  and  its  author  as  an 
heroic  defender  of  the  Union. 

The    feeling   of   patriotic    exultation 


found  vent  through  the  press  in  a  burst 
of  ardent  rhetoric : 

'  We  must  own,"  exclaimed  a  writer 
in  the  Boston  Courier,  ' '  that  the  news 
of  the  transaction  in  Charleston  harbor 
was  learned  by  us  yesterday  with  a 
prouder  beating  of  the  heart.  We  could 
not  but  feel  once  more  that  we  had  a  coun 
try — a  fact  which  had  been  to  a  certain 
degree  in  suspense  for  some  weeks  past. 
What  is  given  up  for  the  moment  is  of 
no  consequence,  provided  the  one  point 
stands  out  clear,  that  the  United  States 
means  to  maintain  its  position,  where  its 
rights  exist,  and  that  its  officers,  civil  and 
military,  intend  to  discharge  their  duty. 
The  concentration  of  the  disposable  force 
in  Charleston  harbor  in  a  defensible  post 
is  thus  a  bond  of  union.  It  is  a  decisive 
act,  calculated  to  rally  the  national  heart. 
*  *  We  are  not  disposed  to  allow  the 
Union  to  be  broken  up  for  grievances 
of  South  Carolina,  which  might  be  set 
tled  within  the  Union  ;  and  if  there  is 
to  be  any  fighting,  we  prefer  it  within, 
rather  than  without.  The  abandonment 
of  Fort  Moultrie  was  obviously  a  neces 
sary  act,  in  order  to  carry  into  effect  the 
purpose  contemplated  with  such  an  in 
ferior  force  as  that  under  the  command 
of  Major  Anderson. 

"  If  anybody  ever  doubted  Major  An 
derson's  eminent  military  capacity,  that 
doubt  must  be  dispelled  by  the  news 
that  we  publish  in  another  column," 
wrote  the  editor  of  the  Boston  Atlas. 
"  Of  his  own  accord,  without  orders 
from  Washington,  but  acting  on  the  dis 
cretion  which  an  officer  in  an  inde 
pendent  command  always  possesses, 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


Major  Anderson,  commander  of  the  de 
fences  of  Charleston  harbor,  transports 
his  troops  to  the  key  of  his  position, 
Fort  Sumter,  against  which  no  gun  can 
be  laid  which  is  not  itself  commanded 
by  a  10-inch  columbiad  in  the  embra 
sures  of  that  octagon  citadel.  This 
rapid,  unexpected  manoeuvre  has  dis 
concerted  treason,  and  received  the 
highest  military  commendation  in  the 
country. 

"  Brave  major  of  artillery,  true  serv 
ant  of  your  country,  soldier  of  pene 
trating  and  far-seeing  genius,  when  the 
right  is  endangered  by  fraud  or  force, 
at  the  proper  time  the  needed  man  is 
always  provided.  The  spirit  of  the  age 
provides  him,  and  he  always  regards 
the  emergency.  WASHINGTON,  GARI 
BALDI,  ANDERSON." 

Washington,  in  the  mean  time,  had 
been  no  less  stirred  by  the  great  event. 
Floyd,  the  secretary  of  war,  who  had 
been  so  long  pretending  to  serve  the 
Union,  while  he  had  given  himself  up 
totally  to  the  demon  of  rebellion,  re 
signed,  and  was  succeeded  by  Holt,  of 
Kentucky,  a  patriot  of  unquestioned 
loyalty  to  the  Union.  The  correspond 
ence  between  Floyd  and  the  President 
is  a  curious  memorial  of  the  times  when 
an  obvious  duty  of  government  was 
construed  into  a  justifiable  cause  for  dis 
affection  and  hostile  defiance. 

"WAR  DEPARTMENT,  Dec.  29,  1860. 

"  SIR  :  On  the  morning  of  the  27th 
mat.  I  read  the  following  paper  to  you 
in  the  presence  of  the  cabinet : 

*  COUNCIL  CHAMBER,  EXECUTIVE  MANSION. 
'  SIR  :  It   is   evident  now.  from   the 


action  of  the  commnnder  of  Fort  Moul- 
trie,  that  the  solemn  pledges  of  the  Gov 
ernment  have  been  violated  by  Major 
Anderson.  In  my  judgment,  but  one 
remedy  is  now  left  us  by  which  to  vindi 
cate  our  honor  and  prevent  civil  war. 
It  is  in  vain  now  to  hope  for  confidence 
on  the  part  of  the  people  of  South  Caro 
lina  in  any  further  pledges  as  to  the 
action  of  the  military.  One  remedy  is 
left,  and  that  is  to  withdraw  the  gar 
rison  from  the  harbor  of  Charleston.  I 
hope  the  President  will  allow  me  to 
make  that  order  at  once.  This  order, 
in  my  judgment,  can  alone  prevent 
bloodshed  and  civil  war. 

'  JOHN'B.  FLOYD, 

/Secretary  of  War.7 
"  I  then  considered  the  honor  of  th^ 
administration  pledged  to  maintain  the 
troops  in  the  position  they  occupied,  for 
such  had  been  the  assurances  given  to 
the  gentlemen  of  South  Carolina  who. 
had  a  right  to  speak  for  her.  South 
Carolina,  on  the  other  hand,  gave  recip 
rocal  pledges  that  no  force  should  be 
brought  by  them  against  the  troops  or 
against  the  property  of  the  United  States. 
The  sole  object  of  both  parties  in  these 
reciprocal  pledges  was  to  prevent  a  col 
lision  and  the  effusion  of  blood,  in  the 
hope  that  some  means  might  be  found 
for  a  peaceful  accommodation  of  the  ex 
isting  troubles,  the  two  Houses  of  Con 
gress  having  both  raised  committees 
looking  to  that  object.  Thus  affairs 
stood  until  the  action  of  Major  Ander 
son,  taken  unfortunately  while  the  com 
missioners  were  on  their  way  to  this 
capital  on  a  peaceful  mission  looking  to 


DEMAND   OF  SOUTH  CAROLINA  COMMISSION  ERS. 


the  avoidance  of  bloodshed,  has  compli 
cated  matters  in  the  existing  manner. 
Our  refusal  or  even  delay  to  place  af 
fairs  back  as  they  stood  under  our  agree 
ment  invites  a  collision,  and  must  in 
evitably  inaugurate  civil  war.  I  cannot 
consent  to  be  the  agent  of  such  calam 
ity.  I  deeply  regret  that  I  feel  myself 
under  the  necessity  of  tendering  to  you 
my  resignation  as  secretary  of  war,  be 
cause  I  can  no  longer  hold  it  under  my 
convictions  of  patriotism,  nor  with  hon 
or,  subjected  as  I  am  to  a  violation  of 
solemn  pledges  and  plighted  faith. 
"  With  the  highest  personal  regard, 
"  I  am  most  truly  yours, 

"  JOHN  B.  FLOYD. 

•»  To  His  Excellency  the  PRESIDENT 
OF  THE  UNITED  STATES." 

THE  PRESIDENT'S  REPLY. 

"WASHINGTON,  Dec.  21,  I860. 

"  MY  DEAR  SIR  :  I  have  received  and 
'accepted  your  resignation  of  the  office 
of  secretary  of  war  ;  and  not  wishing  to 
impose  upon  you  the  task  of  perform 
ing  its  mere  routine  duties,  which  you 
have  so  kindly  offered  to  do,  I  have  au 
thorized  Postmaster-General  Holt  to  ad 
minister  the  affairs  of  the  department 
until  your  successor  shall  be  appointed. 
"  Yours,  very  respectfully, 

"JAMES  BUCHANAN. 

"Hon.  JOHN  B.  FLOYD." 

The  commissioners  appointed  by  the 
convention  of  South  Carolina  to  treat 
with  the  President  in  regard  to  the  de 
livery  of  the  forts  and  other  Federal 
property,  made  the  event  of  Anderson's 
performance  of  his  duty  the  occasion 
for  their  abrupt  departure  from  Wash 


ington,  after  an  insolent  demand  for 
satisfaction  from  the  Federal  authority, 
followed  by  an  audacious  defiance  of  its 
power,  and  a  threat  of  resistance.  The 
correspondence  between  the  commis 
sioners  of  South  Carolina  and  the  Presi 
dent,  is  another  strange  memorial  of 
that  period  of  humiliation  for  the  Union 
when  its  chief  magistrate  was  called  to 
account  in  the  capital  of  the  United 
States  by  confessed  rebels,  for  not  re 
pudiating  a  simple  act  of  national  de 
fence,  performed  by  an  officer  in  the 
course  of  his  military  duties. 

THE  CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN  THE  SOUTH 
CAROLINA  COMMISSIONERS  AND  THE  PRESIDENT 
OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

"WASHINGTON,  Dec.  29,  1860. 
"  SIR  :  We  have  the  honor  to  transmit 
to  you  a  copy  of  the  full  powers  from 
the  convention  of  the  people  of  South 
Carolina,  under  which  we  are  '  authorized 
and  empowered  to  treat  with  the  Gov 
ernment  of  the  United  States  for  the 
delivery  of  the  forts,  magazines,  light 
houses,  and  other  real  estate,  with  their 
appurtenances,  in  the  limits  of  South 
Carolina  ;  and  also  for  an  apportionment 
of  the  public  debt,  and  for  a  division  of 
all  other  property  held  by  the  Govern 
ment  of  the  United  States,  as  agent  of 
the  confederated  States,  of  which  South 
Carolina  was  recently  a  member,  and 
generally  to  negotiate  as  to  all  other 
measures  and  arrangements  proper  to 
be  made  and  adopted  in  the  existing 
relation  of  the  parties,  and  for  the  con 
tinuance  of  peace  and  amity  between 
this  Commonwealth  and  the  Government 
at  Washington.' 


70 


THE  WAK  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


"  In  the  execution  of  this  trust  it  is 
our  duty  to  furnish  you,  as  we  now  do, 
with  an  official  copy  of  the  Ordinance 
of  Secession,  by  which  the  State  of 
South  Carolina  has  resumed  the  powers 
she  delegated  to  the  Government  of  the 
United  States,  and  has  declared  her  per 
fect  sovereignty  and  independence. 

"  It  would  also  have  been  our  duty  to 
have  informed  you  that  we  were  ready 
to  negotiate  with  you  upon  all  such 
questions  as  are  necessarily  raised  by 
the  adoption  of  this  Ordinance,  and  that 
we  were  prepared  to  enter  upon  this 
negotiation  with  the  earnest  desire  to 
avoid  all  unnecessary  and  hostile  colli 
sion,  and  so  to  inaugurate  our  new  re 
lations  as  to  secure  mutual  respect,  gen 
eral  advantage,  and  a  future  of  good 
will  and  harmony,  beneficial  to  all  the 
parties  concerned. 

"  But  the  events  of  the  last  twenty-four 
hours  render  such  an  assurance  impossi 
ble.  We  came  here  the  representatives 
of  an  authority  which  could,  at  any  time 
within  the  past  sixty  days,  have  taken 
possession  of  the  forts  in  Charleston 
harbor,  but  which,  upon  pledges  given 
in  a  manner  that  we  cannot  doubt,  de 
termined  to  trust  to  your  honor  rather 
than  to  its  own  power.  Since  our 
arrival  here,  an  officer  of  the  United 
States,  acting,  as  we  are  assured,  riot 
only  without,  but  against,  your  orders, 
has  dismantled  one  fort  and  occupied 
another — thus  altering  to  a  most  import 
ant  extent  the  condition  of  affairs  under 
which  we  came. 

4  Until  these  circumstances  are  ex 
plained  in  a  manner  which  relieves  us 


of  all  doubt  as  to  the  spirit  in  which 
these  negotiations  shall  be  conducted, 
we  are  forced  to  suspend  all  discussion 
as  to  any  arrangement  by  which  our 
mutual  interests  may  be  amicably  ad 
justed. 

"  And,  in  conclusion,  we  would  urge 
upon  you  the  immediate  withdrawal  of 
the  troops  from  the  harbor  of  Charles 
ton.  Under  present  circumstances,  they 
are  a  standing  menace  which  renders 
negotiation  impossible,  and,  as  our  re 
cent  experience  shows,  threatens  speed 
ily  to  bring  to  a  bloody  issue  questions 
which  ought  to  be  settled  with  temper 
ance  and  judgment.  We  have  the  honor 
to  be, 

"  Very  respectfully. 

"Your  obedient  servants, 

"R.  W.  BARNWELL,  j 

"  J.  H.  ADAMS,          j-  Commissioners. 

"  JAS.  L.  ORE,          ) 
"  To  the  PRESIDENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES." 

THE  PRESIDENT'S  REPLY, 
"  WASHINGTON  CITY,  Deo.  30,  1860. 

"GENTLEMEN:  I  have  had  the  honor 
to  receive  your  communication  of  28th 
hist.,  together  with  a  copy  of  '  your  full 
powers  from  the  convention  of  the 
people  of  South  Carolina,'  authorizing 
you  to  treat  with  the  Government  of 
the  United  States  on  various  important 
subjects  therein  mentioned,  and  also  a 
copy  of  the  Ordinance,  bearing  date  on 
the  20th  inst.,  declaring  that  '  the 
union  now  subsisting  between  South 
Carolina  and  other  States,  under  the 
name  of  the  United  States  of  America, 
is  hereby  dissolved.' 

"In  answer  to  this  communication,  1 


PRESIDENT'S  REPLY. 


71 


have  to  say  that  my  position  as  Presi 
dent  of  the  United  States  was  clearly 
defined  in  the  message  to  Congress  on 
the  3d  inst.  In  that  I  stated  that, 
'  apart  from  the  execution  of  tbe  laws, 
so  far  as  this  may  be  practicable,  the 
Executive  has  no  authority  to  decide 
what  shall  be  the  relations  between  the 
Federal  Government  and  South  Carolina. 
He  has  been  invested  with  no  such  dis 
cretion.  He  possesses  no  power  to 
change  the  relations  hitherto  existing 
between  them,  much  less  to  acknow 
ledge  the  independence  of  that  State. 
This  would  be  to  invest  a  mere  execu 
tive  officer  with  the  power  of  recogniz 
ing  the  dissolution  of  the  confederacy 
among  our  thirty-three  sovereign  States. 
It  bears  no  resemblance  to  the  recogni 
tion  of  a  foreign  de  facto  government — 
involving  no  such  responsibility.  Any 
attempt  to  do  this  would,  on  his  part, 
be  a  naked  act  of  usurpation.  It  is 
therefore  my  duty  to  submit  to  Con 
gress  the  whole  question  in  all  its  bear 
ings. 

"Such  is  my  opinion  still.  I  could, 
therefore,  meet  you  only  as  private 
gentlemen  of  the  highest  character,  and 
was  entirely  willing  to  communicate  to 
Congress  any  proposition  you  might 
have  to  make  to  that  body  upon  the 
subject.  Of  this  you  were  well  aware. 
It  was  my  earnest  desire  that  such  a 
disposition  might  be  made  of  the  whole 
subject  by  Congress,  who  alone  possess 
the  power,  as  to  prevent  the  inaugura 
tion  of  a  civil  war  between  the  parties 
in  regard  to  the  possession  of  the  Fed 
eral  forts  in  the  harbor  of  Charleston  ; 


and  I  therefore  deeply  regret  that,  in 
your  opinion,  '  the  events  of  the  last 
twenty-four  hours  render  this  impossi 
ble.'  In  conclusion,  you  urge  upon  me 
'  the  immediate  withdrawal  of  the  troops 
from  the  harbor  of  Charleston,'  stating 
that  '  under  present  circumstances  they 
are  a  standing  menace,  which  renders 
negotiation  impossible,  and,  as  our  re 
cent  experience  shows,  threatens  speed 
ily  to  bring  to  a  bloody  issue  questions 
which  ought  to  be  settled  with  temper 
ance  and  judgment.' 

"The  reason  for  this  change  in  your 
position  is,  that  since  your  arrival  in 
Washington,  '  an  officer  of  the  United 
States,  acting,  as  we  [you]  are  assured, 
not  only  without,  but  against,  your  [my] 
orders,  has  dismantled  one  fort  and 
occupied  another — thus  altering  to  a 
most  important  extent  the  condition  of 
affairs  under  which  we  [you]  came.' 
You  also  allege  that  you  came  here,  '  the 
representatives  of  an  authority  which 
could,  at  any  time  within  the  past  sixty 
days,  have  taken  possession  of  the  forts 
in  Charleston  harbor,  but  which,  upon 
pledges  given  in  a  manner  that  we  [you] 
cannot  doubt,  determined  to  trust  to 
your  [my]  honor  rather  than  to  its 
power.' 

"  This  brings  me  to  a  consideration  of 
the  nature  of  those  alleged  pledges,  and 
in  what  manner  they  have  been  observed. 
In  my  message  of  the  3d  of  December 
last,  I  stated,  in  regard  to  the  property 
of  the  United  States  in  South  Carolina, 
that  it  'has  been  purchased  for  a  fair 
equivalent,  by  the  consent  of  the  Legis 
lature  of  the  State,  for  the  erection  of 


72 


THE   WAR   WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


forts,  magazines,  arsenals,  etc.,  and  over 
these  the  authority  '  to  exercise  exclu- 
tive  legislation7  has  been  expressly 
granted  by  the  Constitution  to  Congress. 
It  is  not  believed  that  any  attempt  will 
be  made  to  expel  the  United  States  from 
this  property  by  force  ;  but  if  in  this  I 
should  prove  to  be  mistaken,  the  officer 
in  command  of  the  forts  has  received 
orders  to  act  strictly  on  the  defensive. 
In  such  a  contingency,  the  responsibility 
for  consequences  would  rightfully  rest 
upon  the  heads  of  the  assailants.'  This 
being  the  condition  of  the  parties,  on 
Saturday,  8th  December,  four  of  the 
representatives  from  South  Carolina 
called  upon  me,  and  requested  an  inter 
view.  We  had  an  earnest  conversation 
on  the  subject  of  these  forts,  and  the 
best  means  of  preventing  a  collision 
between  the  parties,  for  the  purpose  of 
sparing  the  effusion  of  blood.  I  sug 
gested,  for  prudential  reasons,  that  it 
would  be  best  to  put  in  writing  what 
they  said  to  me  verbally.  They  did  so, 
accordingly,  and  on  Monday  morning, 
the  10th  inst.,  three  of  them  presented 
to  me  a  paper  signed  by  all  the  repre 
sentatives  from  South  Carolina,  with  a 
single  exception,  of  which  the  following 
is  a  copy  : 

'  To  His  EXCELLENCY  JAMES  BUCHANAN,  PRES 
IDENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 
'  In  compliance  with  our  statement  to 
you  yesterday,  we  now  express  to  you 
our  strong  convictions,  that  neither  the 
constituted  authorities,  nor  any  body  of 
the  people  of  the  State  of  South  Caro 
lina,  will   either  attack   or  molest   the 
United   States   forts   in  the  harbor  of 


Charleston  previously  to  the  act  of  the 
convention,  and  we  hope  and  believe 
not  until  an  offer  has  been  made,  through 
an  accredited  representative,  to  nego 
tiate  for  an  amicable  arrangement  of  all 
matters  between  the  State  and  the  Fed 
eral  Government,  provided  that  no  re 
inforcements  shall  be  sent  into  those 
forts,  and  their  relative  military  status 
shall  remain  as  at  present. 

'  JOHN  McQuEEN, 
'  M.  L.  BONHAM, 
'  W.  W.  BOYCE, 
'  LAWRENCE  M.  KEITT. 
'WASHINGTON,  Dec.  9,  I860.' 

"  And  here  I  must,  in  justice  to  my 
self,  remark  that  at  the  time  the  paper 
was  presented  to  me,  I  objected  to  the 
word  'provided/  as  it  might  be  con 
strued  into  an  agreement  on  my  part, 
which  I  never  would  make.  They  said 
that  nothing  was  further  from  their  in 
tention — they  did  not  so  understand  it, 
and  I  should  not  so  consider  it.  It  is 
evident  they  could  enter  into  no  recip 
rocal  agreement  with  me  on  the  subject. 
They  did  not  profess  to  have  authority 
to  do  this,  and  were  acting  in  their  in 
dividual  character.  I  considered  it  as 
nothing  more,  in  effect,  than  the  promise 
of  highly  honorable  gentlemen  to  exert 
their  influence  for  the  purpose  expressed. 
The  event  has  proven  that  they  have 
faithfully  kept  this  promise,  although  I 
have  never  since  received  a  line  from 
any  one  of  them,  or  from  any  member 
of  the  convention  on  the  subject.  It  is 
well  known  that  it  was  my  determina 
tion — and  this  I  freely  expressed — not 
to  reinforce  the  forts  in  the  harbor,  and 


BUCHANAN  AND   SOUTHERN   COMMISSIONERS. 


78 


thus  produce  a  collision,  until  they  had 
been  actually  attacked,  or  until  I  had 
certain  evidence  that  they  were  about  to 
be  attacked.  This  paper  I  received  most 
cordially,  and  considered  it  as  a  happy 
omen  that  peace  might  be  still  pre 
served,  and  that  time  might  be  thus 
given  for  reflection.  This  is  the  whole 
foundation  for  the  alleged  pledge. 

"  But  I  acted  in  the  same  manner  as 
I  would  have  done  had  I  entered  into  a 
positive  and  formal  agreement  with  par 
ties  capable  of  contracting,  although  such 
an  agreement  would  have  been  on  my 
part,  from  the  nature  of  my  official  du 
ties,  impossible.  The  world  knows  that 
I  have  never  sent  any  reinforcements  to 
the  forts  in  Charleston  harbor,  and  I 
have  certainly  never  authorized  any 
change  to  be  made  '  in  their  relative 
military  status.'  Bearing  upon  this  sub 
ject,  I  refer  you  to  an  order  issued  by 
the  secretary  of  war,  on  the  llth  inst.  to 
Major  Anderson,  but  not  brought  to  my 
notice  until  the  21st  inst.  It  is  as  follows : 

'  MEMORANDUM  OF  VERBAL  INSTRUCTIONS  TO 
MAJOR  ANDERSON,  FIRST  ARTILLERY,  COM 
MANDING  FORT  MOULTRIE,  S.  C. 

'  You  are  aware  of  the  great  anxiety 
of  the  secretary  of  war  that  a  collision 
of  the  troops  with  the  people  of  this 
State  shall  be  avoided,  and  of  his  studied 
determination  to  pursue  a  course  with 
reference  to  the  military  force  and  forts 
in  this  harbor,  which  shall  guard  against 
such  a  collision.  He  has  therefore  care 
fully  abstained  from  increasing  the  force 
at  this  point,  or  taking  any  measures 
which  might  add  to  the  present  excited 

state  of  the  public  mind,  or  which  would 
10 


throw  any  doubt  on  the  confidence  he 
feels  that  South  Carolina  will  not  at 
tempt  by  violence  to  obtain  possession 
of  the  public  works,  or  interfere  with 
their  occupancy. 

'  But  as  the  counsel  and  acts  of  rash 
and  impulsive  persons  may  possibly  dis 
appoint  these  expectations  of  the  Gov 
ernment,  he  deems  it  proper  that  you 
should  be  prepared  with  instructions  to 
meet  so  unhappy  a  contingency.  He 
has  therefore  directed  me,  verbally,  to 
give  you  such  instructions. 

'  You  are  carefully  to  avoid  every 
act  which  would  needlessly  tend  to  pro 
voke  aggression,  and  for  that  reason 
you  are  not,  without  necessity,  to  take 
up  any  position  which  could  be  con 
strued  into  the  assumption  of  a  hostile 
attitude  ;  but  you  are  to  hold  possession 
of  the  forts  in  the  harbor,  and  if  attacked, 
you  are  to  defend  yourself  to  the  last  ex 
tremity.  The  smallness  of  your  force 
will  not  permit  you,  perhaps,  to  occupy 
more  than  one  of  the  three  forts,  but  an 
attack  on,  or  attempt  to  take  possession 
of,  either  of  them,  will  be  regarded  as 
an  act  of  hostility,  and  you  may  then 
put  your  command  into  either  of  them 
which  you  may  deem  most  proper  to  in 
crease  its  power  of  resistance.  You  are 
also  authorized  to  take  similar  steps  when 
ever  you  have  tangible  evidence  of  a  design 
to  proceed  to  a  hostile  act. 

"D.  P.  BUTLER, 
'  Assistant  Adjutant-General. 
4 FORT  MOULTRIE,  S.  C.,  Dec.  11,  I860.' 

1  This  is  in  conformity  to  my  in 
structions  to  Major  Buell. 

1  JOHN  B.  FLOYD,  Secretary  of  War.' 


THE   WAR   WITH   THE   SOUTH. 


"  These  were  the  last  instructions 
transmitted  to  Major  Anderson  before 
his  removal  to  Fort  Sumter,  with  a 
single  exception  in  regard  to  a  partic 
ular  which  does  not  in  any  degree  affect 
the  present  question.  Under  these  cir 
cumstances,  it  is  clear  that  Major  An 
derson  acted  upon  his  own  responsi 
bility,  and  without  authority,  unless,  in 
deed,  he  had  '  tangible  evidence  of  a 
design  to  proceed  to  a  hostile  act'  on  the 
part  of  South  Carolina,  which  has  not 
yet  been  alleged.  Still,  he  is  a  brave 
and  honorable  officer,  and  justice  re 
quires  that  he  should  not  be  condemned 
without  a  fair  hearing. 

"  Be  this  as  it  may,  when  I  learned 
that  Major  Anderson  had  left  Fort  Moul- 
trie  and  proceeded  to  Fort  Sumter,  my 
first  promptings  were  to  command  him 
to  return  to  his  former  position,  and 
there  to  await  the  contingencies  pre 
sented  in  his  instructions.  This  would 
only  have  been  done  with  any  degree 
of  safety  to  the  command  by  the  con 
currence  of  the  South  Carolina  author 
ities.  But  before  any  step  could  pos 
sibly  have  been  taken  in  this  direction, 
we  received  information  that  the  '  Pal 
metto  flag  floated  out  to  the  breeze  at 
Castle  Pinckney,  and  a  large  military 
force  went  over  last  night  (the  27th)  to 
Fort  Moultrie.'  Thus  the  authorities  of 
South  Carolina,  without  waiting  or  ask 
ing  for  any  explanations,  and  doubtless 
believing,  as  you  have  expressed  it,  that 
the  officer  had  acted  not  only  without, 
but  against,  my  orders,  on  the  very  next 
day  after  the  night  when  the  removal 
was  made,  seized  by  a  military  force  two 


of  the  Federal  forts  in  the  harbor  of 
Charleston,  and  have  covered  them  un 
der  their  own  flag  instead  of  that  of  the 
United  States. 

"  At  this  gloomy  period  of  our  his 
tory,  startling  events  succeed  each  other 
rapidly.  On  the  very  day,  the  27th  in 
stant,  that  possession  of  these  two  forts 
was  taken,  the  Palmetto  flag  was  raised 
over  the  Federal  custom-house  and  post- 
office  in  Charleston  ;  and  on  the  same 
day  every  officer  of  the  customs — col 
lector,  naval  officer,  surveyor,  and  ap 
praiser — resigned  their  offices.  And  this, 
although  it  was  well  known  from  the 
language  of  my  message  that,  as  an  ex 
ecutive  officer,  I  felt  myself  bound  to  col 
lect  the  revenue  at  the  port  of  Charles 
ton  under  the  existing  laws.  In  the 
harbor  of  Charleston  we  now  find  three 
forts  confronting  each  other,  over  all  of 
which  the  Federal  flag  floated  only  four 
days  ago  ;  but  now,  over  two  of  them, 
this  flag  has  been  supplanted,  and  the 
Palmetto  flag  has  been  substituted  in  its 
stead.  It  is  under  all  these  circum 
stances  that  I  am  urged  immediately 
to  withdraw  the  troops  from  the  harbor 
of  Charleston,  and  am  informed  that 
without  this,  negotiation  is  impossible. 
This  I  cannot  do — this  I  will  not  do. 
Such  an  idea  was  never  thought  of  by 
me  in  any  possible  contingency.  No 
such  allusion  had  been  made  in  any 
communication  between  myself  and  any 
human  being.  But  the  inference  is  that 
I  am  bound  to  withdraw  the  troops  from 
the  only  fort  remaining  in  the  possession 
of  the  United  States  in  the  harbor  of 
Charleston,  because  the  officer  there  in 


A  SECOND  LETTER  TO   BUCHANAN. 


75 


command  of  all  of  the  forts  thought 
proper,  without  instructions,  to  change 
his  position  from  one  of  them  to  an 
other. 

"  At  this  point  of  writing,  I  have  re 
ceived  information  by  telegraph  from 
Captain  Humphreys,  in  command  of  the 
arsenal  at  Charleston,  that  '  it  has  to 
day  (Sunday,  the  30th)  been  taken  by 
force  of  arms.'  It  is  estimated  that  the 
munitions  of  war  belonging  to  this  ar 
senal  are  worth  half  a  million  of  dollars. 
"  Comment  is  needless.  After  this 
information,  I  have  only  to  add,  that 
while  it  is  my  duty  to  defend  Fort 
Sumter,  as  a  portion  of  the  public  prop 
erty  of  the  United  States,  against  hos 
tile  attacks,  from  whatever  quarter  they 
may  come,  by  such  means  as  I  possess 
for  this  purpose,  I  do  not  perceive  how 
such  a  defence  can  be  construed  into  a 
menace  against  the  city  of  Charleston. 
With  great  personal  regard,  I  remain 
yours,  very  respectfully, 

"JAMES  BUCHANAN. 

"To  Hon.  ROBERT  W.  BARNWELL,  JAMES  H. 
ADAMS,  JAMES  L.  OKR." 

SECOND  LETTER  OF  THE  COMMISSIONERS  TO  THE 

PRESIDENT. 
"WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  Jan.  1,  1861. 

"  SIR  :  We  have  the  honor  to  acknowl 
edge  the  receipt  of  your  letter  of  the 
30th  December,  in  reply  to  a  note  ad 
dressed  by  us  to  you,  on  the  28th  of 
the  same  month,  as  commissioners  from 
South  Carolina. 

"  In  reference  to  the  declaration  with 
which  your  reply  commences,  that  your 
'  position  as  President"  of  the  United 
States  was  already  defined  in  the  mes 


sage  to  Congress  of  the  3d  instant.'  that 
you  possess  '  no  power  to  change  the 
relations    heretofore    existing    between 
South  Carolina  and  the  United  States, 
'  much  less  to    acknowledge  the   inde 
pendence  of  that  State,'  and  that  conse 
quently   you    could    meet    us    only    as 
private  gentlemen  of  the  highest  char 
acter,  with  an  entire  willingness  to  com 
municate   to    Congress   any  proposition 
we  might  have  to  make — we  deem  it 
only  necessary  to  say  that  the  State  of 
South  Carolina  having,  in  the  exercise 
of  that  great  right  of  self-government 
which  underlies  all  our  political  organ 
izations,  declared  herself  sovereign  and 
independent,  we,  as  her  representatives, 
felt  no  special  solicitude  as  to  the  char 
acter  in  which  you  might  recognize  us. 
Satisfied  that  the  State  had  simply  ex 
ercised   her   unquestionable    right,    we 
were  prepared,  in  order  to  reach  sub 
stantial  good,  to  waive  the  formal  con 
siderations    which    your    constitutional 
scruples  might  have  prevented  you  from 
extending.     We   came  here,   therefore, 
expecting  to  be  received  as  you  did  re 
ceive  us,  and  perfectly  content  with  that 
entire  willingness,  of  which  you  assured 
us,  to  submit  any  proposition  to  Con 
gress  which  we    might   have   to   make 
upon  the  subject  of  the  independence  of 
the  State.     The  willingness  was  ample 
recognition  of  the  condition  of  public  af 
fairs  which  rendered  our  presence  nec 
essary.     In  this  position,  however,  it  is 
our  duty,  both  to  the  State  which  we 
represent  and  to   ourselves,  to  correct 
several  important  misconceptions  of  our 
letter  into  which  you  have  fallen. 


76 


THE   WAR  AVITH   THE   SOUTH. 


"  You  say  :  '  It  was  my  earnest  de 
sire  that  such  a  disposition  might  be 
made  of  the  whole  subject  by  Congress, 
who  alone  possess  the  power,  to  prevent 
the  inauguration  of  a  civil  war  between 
the  parties  in  regard  to  the  possession 
of  the  Federal  forts  in  the  harbor  of 
Charleston  ;  and  I  therefore  deeply  re 
gret  that  in  your  opinion  the  events  of 
the  last  twenty-four  hours  render  this 
impossible.7  We  expressed  no  such  opin 
ion,  and  the  language  which  you  quote 
as  ours,  is  altered  in  its  sense  by  the 
omission  of  a  most  important  part  of  the 
sentence.  What  we  did  say  was,  '  But 
the  events  of  the  last  twenty-four  hours 
render  such  an  assurance  impossible.' 
Place  that  '  assurance'  as  contained  in 
our  letter  in  the  sentence,  and  we  are 
prepared  to  repeat  it. 

"  Again  ;  professing  to  quote  our  lan 
guage,  you  say  :  '  Thus  the  authorities 
of  South  Carolina,  without  waiting  or 
asking  for  any  explanation,  and  doubt 
less  believing,  as  you  have  expressed  it, 
that  the  officer  had  acted  not  only  with 
out,  but  against,  my  orders,'  etc.  We 
expressed  no  such  opinion  in  reference 
to  the  belief  of  the  people  of  South 
Carolina.  The  language  which  you 
have  quoted  was  applied  solely  and 
entirely  to  our  assurances  obtained  here, 
and  based,  as  you  well  know,  upon  your 
own  declaration — a  declaration  which, 
at  that  time,  it  was  impossible  for  the 
authorities  of  South  Carolina  to  have 
known.  But,  without  following  this  let 
ter  into  all  its  details,  we  propose  only 
to  meet  the  chief  points  of  the  argu 
ment. 


"  Some  weeks  ago,  the  State  of  South 
Carolina  declared  her  intention,  in  the 
existing  condition  of  public  affairs,  to 
secede  from  the  United  States.  She 
called  a  convention  of  her  people  to  put 
her  declaration  in  force.  The  conven 
tion  met  and  passed  the  ordinance  of 
secession.  All  this  you  anticipated,  and 
your  course  of  action  was  thoroughly 
considered  in  your  annual  message. 
You  declared  you  had  no  right,  and 
would  not  attempt,  to  coerce  a  seceding 
State,  but  that  you  were  bound  by  your 
constitutional  oath,  and  would  defend 
the  property  of  the  United  States  within 
the  borders  of  South  Carolina  if  an 
attempt  was  made  to  take  it  by  force. 
Seeing  very  early  that  this  question  of 
property  was  a  difficult  and  delicate  one, 
you  manifested  a  desire  to  settle  it  with 
out  collision.  You  did  not  reinforce  the 
garrison  in  the  harbor  of  Charleston. 
You  removed  a  distinguished  and  vet 
eran  officer  from  the  command  of  Fort 
Moultrie  because  he  attempted  to  in 
crease  his  supply  of  ammunition.  You 
refused  to  send  additional  troops  to  the 
same  garrison  when  applied  for  by  the 
officer  appointed  to  succeed  him.  You 
accepted  the  resignation  of  the  oldest 
and  most  eminent  member  of  your  cab 
inet,  rather  than  allow  the  garrison  to 
be  strengthened.  You  compelled  an 
officer  stationed  at  Fort  Sumter  to  re 
turn  immediately  to  the  arsenal  forty 
muskets  which  he  had  taken  to  arm  his 
men.  You  expressed,  not  to  one,  but  to 
many,  of  the  most  distinguished  of  our 
public  characters,  whose  testimony  will 
be  placed  upon  the.  record  whenever  it 


BUCHANAN  CALLED  TO  ACCOUNT. 


77 


is  necessary,  your  anxiety  for  a  peaceful 
termination   of    this    controversy,    and 
your  willingness  not  to  disturb  the  mili 
tary  status  of  the  forts,  if  commission 
ers  should  be  sent  to  the  Government, 
whose  communications  you  promised  to 
submit  to  Congress.     You  received  and 
acted   on  assurances    from   the   highest 
official    authorities    of  South    Carolina, 
that  110  attempt  would  be  made  to  dis 
turb   your  possession  of  the   forts  and 
property  of  the  United   States,  if  you 
would  not  disturb  their  existing  condition 
until  the  commissioners  had  been  sent 
and  the  attempt  to  negotiate  had  failed. 
You   took    from   the    members    of  the 
House    of    Representatives    a    written 
memorandum    that    no    such    attempt 
should  be  made,  '  provided  that  no  re 
inforcements  should  be  sent  into  those 
forts,  and  their  relative  military  status 
shall   remain  as  at  present.'     And  al 
though  you  attach  no  force  to  the  accept 
ance    of  such    a   paper — although   you 
'  considered  it  as  nothing  more  in  effect 
than  the   promise   of  highly  honorable 
gentlemen' — as  an  obligation  on  one  side, 
without  corresponding  obligation  on  the 
other — it  must  be  remembered  (if  we 
were  rightly  informed)   that  you  were 
pledged,  if  you  ever  did  send  reinforce 
ments,  to  return  it  to  those  from  whom 
you  had  received  it,  before  you  executed 
your   resolution.     You   sent   orders   to 
your  officers,  commanding  them  strictly 
to  follow  a  line  of  conduct  in  conformity 
with  such   an   understanding.     Besides 
all  this,  you  had  received  formal  and 
official    notice    from   the    Governor    of 
South  Carolina  that  we  had  been  ap 


pointed  commissioners,  and  were  on  our 
way   to    Washington.     You   knew   the 
implied  condition  under  which  we  came  ; 
our  arrival  was  notified  to  you,  and  an 
hour  appointed  for  an  interview.     We 
arrived  in  Washington  on  Wednesday, 
at  three  o'clock,  and  you  appointed  an 
interview  with  us  at  one  the  next  day. 
Early  on  that  day  (Thursday)  the  news 
was  received  here  of  the  movement  of 
Major  Anderson.     That  news  was  com 
municated  to  you  immediately,  and  you 
postponed  our  meeting  until  half-past 
two  o'clock  on  Friday,  in  order  that  you 
might  consult  your  cabinet.     On  Friday 
we  saw  you,  and  we  called  upon  you 
then  to  redeem  your  pledge.     You  could 
not  deny  it.     With  the  facts  we  have 
stated,  and  in  the  face  of  the  crowning 
and  conclusive  fact  that  your  secretary 
of  war   had   resigned   his   seat   in   the 
cabinet,     upon     the     publicly    avowed 
ground  that  the  action  of  Major  Ander 
son  had  violated  the  pledged  faith  of  the 
Government,  and  that  unless  the  pledge 
was   instantly   redeemed,    he    was    dis 
honored,    denial   was   impossible  ;    you 
did  not  deny  it.     You  do  not  deny  it 
now,  but  you  seek  to  escape  from  its 
obligations   on  the    grounds,   first,  that 
we  terminated   all   negotiation  by   de 
manding,   as    a   preliminary,   the   with 
drawal  of  the  United  States  troops  from 
the  harbor  of  Charleston  ;  and,  second, 
that  the  authorities  of  South  Carolina, 
instead  of  asking  explanation,  and  giv 
ing   you   the    opportunity  to  vindicate 
yourself,  took  possession  of  other  prop 
erty  of   the   United   States.     We   will 
examine  both. 


78 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH 


"  In  the  first  place,  we  deny  positively 
that  we  have  ever  in  any  way  made  any 
such  demand.  Our  letter  is  in  your 
possession  ;  it  will  stand  by  this  on  rec 
ord.  In  it  we  informed  you  of  the 
objects  of  our  mission.  We  say  that  it 
would  have  been  our  duty  to  have 
assured  you  of  our  readiness  to  com 
mence  negotiations,  with  the  most  earn 
est  and  anxious  desire  to  settle  all  ques 
tions  between  us  amicably  and  to  our 
mutual  advantage,  but  that  events  had 
rendered  that  assurance  impossible.  We 
stated  the  events,  and  we  said  that  until 
some  satisfactory  explanation  of  these 
events  was  given  us,  we  could  not  pro 
ceed  ;  and  then,  having  made  this  re 
quest  for  explanation,  we  added  :  '  And 
in  conclusion,  we  would  urge  upon  you 
the  immediate  withdrawal  of  the  troops 
from  the  harbor  of  Charleston.  Under 
present  circumstances  they  are  a  stand 
ing  menace,  which  renders  negotiation 
impossible,'  etc.  '  Under  present  cir 
cumstances  !'  What  circumstances  ? 
Why,  clearly  the  occupation  of  Fort 
Sumter  and  the  dismantling  of  Fort 
Moultrie  by  Major  Anderson,  in  the 
face  of  your  pledges,  and  without  ex 
planation  or  practical  disavowal.  And 
there'  is  nothing  in  the  letter  which 
would,  or  could,  have  prevented  you 
from  declining  to  withdraw  the  troops, 
and  offering  the  restoration  of  the  status 
to  which  you  were  pledged,  if  such  had 
been  you  desire.  It  would  have  been 
wiser  and  better,  in  our  opinion,  to  have 
withdrawn  the  troops  ;  and  this  opinion 
we  urged  upon  you  ;  but  we  demanded 
nothing  but  such  an  explanation  of  the 


events  of  the  last  twenty-four  hours  as 
would  restore  our  confidence  in  the 
spirit  with  which  the  negotiations  should 
be  conducted.  In  relation  to  this  with 
drawal  of  the  troops  from  the  harbor, 
we  are  compelled,  however,  to  notice 
one  passage  of  your  letter.  Referring 
to  it,  you  say  :  '  This  I  cannot  do.  This 
I  will  not  do.  Such  an  idea  was  never 
thought  of  by  me  in  any  possible  con 
tingency.  No  allusion  to  it  had  ever 
been  made  in  any  communication  be 
tween  myself  and  any  human  being.' 

' '  In  reply  to  this  statement,  we  are 
compelled  to  say,  that  your  conversation 
with  us  left  upon  our  minds  the  distinct 
impression,  that  you  did  seriously  con 
template  the  withdrawal  of  the  troops 
from  Charleston  harbor.  And  in  sup 
port  of  this  impression  we  would  add, 
that  we  have  the  positive  assurance  of 
gentlemen  of  the  highest  possible  public 
reputation  and  the  most  unsullied  integ 
rity  —  men  whose  name  and  fame, 
secured  by  long  service  and  patriotic 
achievements,  place  their  testimony  be 
yond  cavil — that  such  suggestions  had 
been  made  to  and  urged  upon  you  by 
them,  and  had  formed  the  subject  of 
more  than  one  earnest  discussion  with 
you.  And  it  was  this  knowledge  that 
induced  us  to  urge  upon  you  a  policy, 
which  had  to  recommend  it  its  own 
wisdom  and  the  might  of  such  authority. 
As  to  the  second  point,  that  the  author 
ities  of  South  Carolina,  instead  of  ask 
ing  explanations,  and  giving  you  the 
opportunity  to  vindicate  yourself,  took 
possession  of  other  property  of  the 
United  States,  we  would  observe :  1. 


FALSE  TRUST. 


79 


That  even  if  this  were  so,  it  does  not 
avail  you  for  defence,  for  the  oppor 
tunity  for  decision  was  afforded  you  be 
fore  these  facts  occurred.  We  arrived 
in  Washington  on  Wednesday  ;  the  news 
from  Major  Anderson  reached  here  early 
on  Thursday,  and  was  immediately  com 
municated  to  you.  All  that  day  men  of 
the  highest  consideration — men  who  had 
striven  successfully  to  lift  you  to  your 
great  office — who  had  been  your  tried 
and  true  friends  through  the  troubles 
of  your  administration,  sought  you  and 
entreated  you  to  act — to  act  at  once. 
They  told  you  that  every  hour  compli 
cated  your  position.  They  only  asked 
you  to  give  the  assurance  that  if  the 
facts  were  so — that  if  the  commander 
had  acted  without  and  against  your 
orders,  and  in  violation  of  your  pledges 
• — that  you  would  restore  the  status  you 
had  pledged  your  honor  to  maintain. 
You  refused  to  decide.  Your  secretary 
at  war,  your  immediate  and  proper  ad 
viser  in  this  whole  matter,  waited  anx 
iously  for  your  decision,  until  he  felt  that 
delay  was  becoming  dishonor.  More 
than  twelve  hours  passed,  and  two  cab 
inet  meetings  had  adjourned,  before 
you  knew  what  the  authorities  of  South 
Carolina  had  done  ;  and  your  prompt 
decision  at  any  moment  of  that  time 
would  have  avoided  the  subsequent 
complications.  But,  if  you  had  known 
the  acts  of  the  authorities  of  South 
Carolina,  should  that  have  prevented 
your  keeping  your  faith?  What  was 
the  condition  of  things  ?  For  the  last 
sixty  days  you  had  in  Charleston  harbor 
not  force  enough  to  hold  the  forts 


against  an  equal  enemy.  Two  of  them 
were  empty — one  of  those  two  the  most 
important  in  the  harbor.  It  could  have 
been  taken  at  any  time.  You  ought  to 
know  better  than  any  man  that  it  would 
have  been  taken,  but  for  the  efforts  of 
those  who  put  their  trust  in  your  honor. 
Believing  that  they  were  threatened  by 
Fort  Sumter  especially,  the  people  were 
with  difficulty  restrained  from  securing, 
without  blood,  the  possession  of  this  im 
portant  fortress.  After  many  and  reiter 
ated  assurances,  given  on  your  behalf, 
which  we  can  not  believe  unauthorized, 
they  determined  to  forbear,  and  in  good 
faith  sent  on  their  commissioners  to  nego 
tiate  with  you.  They  meant  you  no  harm 
—wished  you  no  ill.  They  thought  of 
you  kindly,  believed  you  true,  and  were 
willing,  as  far  as  was  consistent  with 
duty,  to  spare  you  unnecessary  and 
hostile  collision.  Scarcely  had  these 
commissioners  left  than  Major  Anderson 
waged  war.  No  other  words  will  de 
scribe  his  action.  It  was  not  a  peaceful 
change  from  one  fort  to  another  ;  it  was 
a  hostile  act  in  the  highest  sense,  and 
only  justified  in  the  presence  of  a  su 
perior  enemy,  and  in  imnunent  peril 
He  abandoned  his  position,  spiked  his 
guns,  burned  his  gun-carriages,  made 
preparations  for  the  destruction  of  his 
post,  and  withdrew,  under  cover  of  the 
night,  to  a  safer  position.  This  was 
war.  No  man  could  have  believed 
(without  your  assurance)  that  any  officer 
could  have  taken  such  a  step,  '  not  only 
without  orders,  but  against  orders.' 
What  the  State  did  was  in  simple  self- 
defence  ;  for  this  act,  with  all  its  attend- 


80 


THE   WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


ing  circumstances,  was  as  much  war  as 
firing  a  volley ;  and  war  being  thus 
begun,  until  those  commencing  it  ex 
plained  their  action  and  disavowed  their 
intention,  there  was  no  room  for  delay  ; 
and  even  at  this  moment  while  we  are 
writing,  it  is  more  than  probable,  from 
the  tenor  of  your  letter,  that  reinforce 
ments  are  hurrying  on  to  the  conflict, 
so  that  when  the  first  gun  shall  be  fired, 
there  will  have  been  on  your  part  one 
continuous,  consistent  series  of  actions, 
commencing  in  a  demonstration  essen 
tially  warlike,  supported  by  regular  re 
inforcements,  and  terminating  in  defeat 
or  victory.  And  all  this  without  the 
slightest  provocation  ;  for,  among  the 
many  things  which  you  have  said,  there 
is  one  thing  you  cannot  say — you  have 
waited  anxiously  for  news  from  the  seat 
of  war,  in  hopes  that  delay  would 
furnish  some  excuse  for  this  precipita 
tion.  But  this  '  tangible  evidence  of  a 
design  to  proceed  to  a  hostile  act,  on 
the  part  of  the  authorities  of  South 
Carolina,'  which  is  the  only  justification 
of  Major  Anderson  you  are  forced  to 
admit,  '  has  not  yet  been  alleged.'  But 
you  have  decided,  you  have  resolved  to 
hold,  by  force,  what  you  have  obtained 
through  our  misplaced  confidence  ;  and 
by  refusing  to  disavow  the  action  of 
Major  Anderson,  have  converted  his 
violation  of  orders  into  a  legitimate  act 
of  your  executive  authority.  Be  the 
issue  what  it  may,  of  this  we  are  as 
sured,  that,  if  Fort  Moultrie  has  been 
recorded  in  history  as  a  memorial  of 


Carolina  gallantry,  Fort  Sumter  will  live 
upon  the  succeeding  page  as  an  imper 
ishable  testimony  of  Carolina  faith. 

"  By  your  course,  you  have  probably 
rendered  civil  war  inevitable.  Be  it  so. 
If  you  choose  to  force  this  issue  upon 
us,  the  State  of  South  Carolina  will  ac 
cept  it,  and,  relying  upon  Him  who  is 
the  God  of  Justice  as  well  as  the  God 
of  Hosts,  will  endeavor  to  perform  the 
great  duty  which  lies  before  her  hope 
fully,  bravely,  and  thoroughly. 

"  Our  mission  being  one  for  negotia 
tion  and  peace,  and  your  note  leaving  us 
without  hope  of  a  withdrawal  of  the 
troops  from  Fort  Sumter,  or  of  the  res 
toration  of  the  status  quo  existing  at  the 
time  of  our  arrival,  and  intimating,  as 
we  think,  your  determination  to  rein 
force  the  garrison  in  the  harbor  of 
Charleston,  we  respectfully  inform  you 
that  we  purpose  returning  to  Charleston 
to-morrow  afternoon. 

"  We  have  the  honor  to  be,  sir,  very 
respectfully,  your  obedient  servants. 

"  R.  W.  BARNWELL,  \ 

"  J.  H.  ADAMS,  >•  Commissioners. 

''JAMES  L.  ORR,       ) 

"To  His  Excellency  the  PRESIDENT  OF  THE 
UNITED  STATES." 

The  only  reply  by  Mr.  Buchanan  to  this 
paper  was  these  words  endorsed  upon  it : 

"  EXECUTIVE  MANSION, 
"  Half-past  three  o'clock,  Wednesday. 
"  This   paper,   just  presented   to   the 
President,  is  of  such  a  character  that  he 
declines  to  receive  it." 


FORT  SUMTER  BESIEGED. 


81 


CHAPTER    VII. 

Increased  Belligerency  of  South  Carolina.— Progress  of  the  Works  in  the  Harbor  of  Charleston.— Betrayal  of  a  United 
States  Government  Vessel.— Fort  Sumter  Besieged.— Stars  and  Stripes  still  Flying.— Offensive  Emblem  of  Union 
to  the  Charlestonians.— Plans  for  Degrading  it.— Example  of  South  Carolina  followed  by  other  States.— Seizure  of 
Federal  Forts  in  Georgia  and  North  Carolina.— Indications  of  Hostility.— A  more  Resolute  Tone  at  Washington.— 
The  Order  for  Eemoval  of  Cannon  from  Pittsburg  Revoked.— A  feeble  attempt  to  Reinforce  Fort  Sumter.— The 
Sailing  of  the  Star  of  the  West.— A  cautious  Offing.— Arrival  at  Charleston.— A  vigilant  Enemy.— Fire  Opened.— 
A  critical  Position.— Return  of  the  Star  of  the  West.— The  Demonstration  at  Fort  Sumter.— Correspondence  be 
tween  Major  Anderson  and  Governor  Pickens.— The  improvement  at  Washington  under  the  inspiration  of  a  patriotic 
Secretary  of  War.— Correspondence  of  Holt  with  the  Governor  of  North  Carolina.— The  Cotton  States  not  checked 
by  strong  words.— Secession  of  Mississippi.— Secession  of  Florida  and  Alabama.— Secession  Enthusiasm  in  Mobile.— 

Seizure  of  Fort  Barrancas  and  the  Navy  Yard  at  Pensacola.— An  insolent  Telegram  from  Florida  to  Washington. 

Secession  of  Georgia. — Opposition  of  some  leading  Politicians. — Popular  Demonstrations.— Secession  of  Louisiana. 
— Seizure  of  Federal  Property. — More  cautious  proceedings  of  Texas.— Secession  of  Texas.— Departure  of  the  Sen 
ators  of  the  Seceding  States  from  Washington. — Farewell  Speech  of  Benjamin,  of  Louisiana. — Farewell  Speech  of 
Davis.— Hand-shaking  in  the  Senate. — The  slow  Awakening  of  the  North.— Union  Meetings.— The  Union  Senti 
ment  variously  Manifested. — Indignation  against  the  Abolitionists. — Alarm  about  the  Safety  of  Washington. 

Scott  on  Guard. — Peace  Convention. 


1861. 


IN  South  Carolina  the  people  became 
iaily  more  belligerent  in  their  attitude 
toward  the  Federal  Government. 
The  works  which  had  been  ordered 
by  the  convention  for  the  defence  of  the 
harbor  of  Charleston  were  labored  at  with 
great  diligence,  and  soon  the  South  Car 
olinians  boasted  that  they  were  able  to 
resist  any  attempts  to  reinforce  Major 
Anderson,  now  in  command  of  Fort 
Sumter.  Batteries  of  earthwork,  pal 
metto  logs,  and  sand  were  erected  and 
mounted  with  cannon  on  Sullivan's  and 
Morris  islands,  guarding  the  approach 
to  the  harbor.  The  South  Carolina 
commander  at  Castle  Pinckney  issued 
an  order,  forbidding  all  boats  to  ap 
proach  the  wharfs  without  permission, 
under  the  severest  penalties  if  disobeyed. 
The  river  front  of  the  city  was  care 
fully  guarded,  and  mounted  patrols  pa 
raded  the  streets  night  and  day.  Ship- 
11 


masters  were  notified  that  all  vessels 
must  enter  and  clear  at  Charleston. 
The  United  States  revenue  cutter  the 
William  Aiken,  betrayed  by  her  captain 
into  the  hands  of  the  insurrectionists, 
was  received  into  the  service  of  South 
Carolina,  and  with  her  armament  and 
crew  increased,  was  ready,  under  the 
Palmetto  flag,  to  turn  her  guns  against 
the  government  which  her  commander 
had  sworn  to  defend  against  all  enemies. 
So  great  was  the  ardor  and  diligence 
of  the  South  Carolinians,  that  they  soon 
had  their  works  in  such  a  state  of  pro 
gress  that  "Fort  Sumter  was  completely 
besieged,  and  Major  Anderson  threat 
ened  with  an  attack.  The  people  looked 
with  excessive  hostility  at  the  flag  of  the 
United  States  still  floating  in  their  har 
bor,  and  the  prevailing  desire  was  to  re 
move,  if  possible,  that  emblem  of  the 
Union,  so  lately  the  object  of  thoir 


82 


THE  WAR   WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


pride,  but  which  they  now  strove  to 
dishonor.  This  intense  feeling  of  aver 
sion  found  expression  in  a  universal  cry 
for  the  capture  of  Fort  Sumter.  Plans 
of  all  kinds  were  devised  to  effect  the 
purpose.  Some  proposed  to  float  down 
rafts,  loaded  with  burning  tar-bairels, 
and  thus  smoke  out  the  United  States 
garrison ;  some  suggested  bribing  the 
soldiers  ;  some  thought  that  a  floating 
battery  might  be  built  with  breastworks 
of  cotton-bales,  behind  which  sharp 
shooters  could  post  themselves  and  pick 
off  each  man  in  the  fort ;  some  hit  upon 
the  expedient  of  filling  bomb-shells  with 
prussic  acid  to  throw  among  the  troops 
and  poison  them,  while  others  recom 
mended  a  more  protracted,  if  not  more 
Christian  method,  of  cutting  off  their 
supplies  and  starving  them  to  death.* 

In  the  mean  time,  the  example  of 
South  Carolina  in  taking  possession  of 
the  Federal  property,  was  being  fol 
lowed  by  other  States.  Fort  Pulaski 
was  seized  by  the  troops  of  Georgia,  by 
order  of  the  Governor,  and  even  Gov 
ernor  Ellis,  of  North  Carolina,  dispatched 
the  troops  of  the  State  to  take  possession 
of  Fort  Macon,  at  Beaufort,  the  forts  at 
Wilmington,  and  the  United  States  ar 
senal  at  Fayetteville.  At  Mobile,  too, 
Fort  Morgan  and  the  arsenal,  containing 
six  stands  of  arms,  1,500  barrels  of 
powder,  300,000  rounds  of  musket  car 
tridges,  and  other  munitions  of  war, 
were  seized  by  the  secessionists.  These 
acts  of  undisguised  hostility,  though  they 
preceded  the  meeting  of  the  conventions 
in  those  States,  gave  an  indication  that 


•  South  Carolinian. 


could  not  be  mistaken  of  a  predeter 
mined  purpose  to  defy  and  resist  the 
Federal  authority. 

A  more  resolute  tone  had,  in  the  mean 
while,  been  assumed  by  the  President. 
No  longer  exclusively  under  the  control 
of  traitorous  advisers,  he  ventured  to 
speak  more  authoritatively.  The  order 
for  the  removal  of  the  cannon  from  the 
Alleghany  arsenal  to  Southern  forts, 
which  had  so  greatly  stirred  the  indigna 
tion  of  the  citizens  of  Pittsburg,  was  re 
voked,  and  a  feeble  attempt*  made  to 
sustain  Major  Anderson  and  his  little 
garrison  at  Fort  Sumter. 

The  steamship  Star  of  the  West — a 
merchant  vessel  chartered  by  the  Gov 
ernment — having  taken  on  board  two 
hundred  and  fifty  artillerists  and  ma 
rines,  and  a  supply  of  stores  and  aminu 
nition,  sailed  at  night  for  Charles-  jau, 
ton,  though  she  cleared  for  New  &• 
Orleans  and  Havana.  She  thus  stole 
away  in  the  darkness  and  under  false 
pretences,  with  the  hope  that  she  might 
reach  her  destination  and  effect  her  pur 
pose  of  reinforcing  Major  Anderson 
without  exciting  the  suspicion  of  his 
besiegers. 

After  a  prosperous  passage,  the  steam 
er  having  previously  extinguished  all  her 
lights,  lest  she  should  be  seen,  arrived 
at  Charleston  Bar  at  half-past  one  jan, 
o'clock  in  the  morning.  Here  it  9. 
was  necessary  to  check  her  speed  and 
grope  her  way  cautiously,  for  there  were 
no  lights  in  the  light-houses  to  guide 
her  in  her  dangerous  course.  She  con- 

0  The  secretary  of  the  interior,  Thompson,  resigned  in 
consequence 


THE   STAR   OF  THE  WEST. 


83 


tinued,  however,  to  move  on  slowly,  the 
lead  being  thrown  at  every  moment 
until  four  o'clock,  when  a  light  was  seen 
through  the  haze  of  the  early  dawn. 
This  was  supposed  to  be  a  signal  from 
Fort  Sumter,  and  the  ship  having  steered 
in  that  direction,  hove  to,  to  wait  for 
daylight. 

As  the  day  broke,  a  Charleston  steam 
er,  the  General  Clinch,  was  discovered, 
which,  as  soon  as  she  caught  sight  of  the 
Star  of  the  West,  began  to  burn  blue 
and  red  lights,  as  signals  to  the  batteries. 
Those  on  guard  at  Morris  Island  were  at 
once  on  the  alert  and  at  their  posts  be 
fore  the  orders  could  be  given  them  to 
prepare  for  action.  They  expected  at 
every  moment  a  volley  from  Fort  Sum 
ter  as  they  themselves  got  ready  to  fire 
at  the  approaching  steamer.  The  Star 
of  the  West,  too,  was  preparing  for  a 
warm  reception.  The  soldiers  were 
thrust  below,  and  none  allowed  on  deck 
but  the  crew.  She,  however,  proceeded 
on  her  course,  following  in  the  wake  of 
the  little  Charleston  steamer,  which 
steamed  on,  keeping  about  two  miles 
ahead,  and  perseveringly  sending  off 
rockets  and  burning  blue  lights  even 
until  after  broad  daylight. 

When  the  Star  of  the  West  had  reached 
within  two  miles  of  Fort  Moultrie,  and 
about  the  same  distance  of  Fort  Sumter, 
the  battery  at  Morris  Island,  from  which 
the  Palmetto  flag  was  flying,  opened  fire. 
After  the  first  shot  the  Star  of  the  West 
hoisted  a  large  American  ensign  at  the 
fore,  in  addition  to  the  American  flag 
flying  from  the  flagstaff.  She,  in  spite 
of  the  fire,  continued  her  course  for  ten 


minutes.  In  the  mean  time,  the  shots 
from  Morris  Island  came  thick  and  fast. 
Several  passed  clear  over  the  steamer, 
one  between  the  smoke-stack  and  walk 
ing-beam  of  the  engine,  one  within  an 
ace  of  the  rudder,  and  another  struck 
the  ship  just  abaft  the  fore -rigging  and 
stove  in  the  planking. 

"  At  the  same  time,"  says  McGowan, 
the  captain,  in  his  report,  "  there  was  a 
movement  of  two  steamers  from  near 
Fort  Moultrie,  one  of  them  towing  a 
schooner  (I  presume  an  armed  schooner), 
with  the  intention  of  cutting  us  off.  Our 
position  now  became  rather  critical,  as 
we  had  to  approach  Fort  Moultrie  within 
three-quarters  of  a  mile  before  we  could 
keep  away  for  Fort  Sumter.  A  steamer 
approaching  us,  with  an  armed  schooner 
in  tow,  and  the  battery  on  the  island 
firing  at  us  all  the  time,  and  having  no 
cannon  to  defend  ourselves  from  the  at 
tack  of  the  vessels,  we  concluded  that  to 
avoid  certain  capture  or  destruction  we 
would  endeavor  to  get  to  sea.  Conse 
quently  we  wore  round  and  steered  down 
the  channel,  the  battery  firing  upon  us 
until  the  shot  fell  short." 

Fort  Sumter,  in  the  mean  time,  had 
"  made  no  demonstration,  except  at  the 
port-holes,  where  the  guns  were  run  out, 
bearing  on  Morris  Island."  *  Major  An 
derson,  however,  at  once  dispatched  a 
letter  to  Governor  Pickens,  which,  with 
the  answer  and  rejoinder,  are  here 
given : 

"  To    His    EXCELLENCY    THE    GOVEBNOB    OF 

SOUTH  CABOLINA. 
"  SIR  :  Two   of  your   batteries  fired 


°  Charleston  Courier. 


THE   WAR   WITH  THE   SOUTH. 


this  morning  on  an  unarmed  vessel 
bearing  the  flag  of  my  Government. 
As  I  have  not  been  notified  that  war 
has  been  declared  by  South  Carolina 
against  the  United  States,  I  cannot  but 
think  this  a  hostile  act,  committed  with 
out  your  sanction  or  authority.  Under 
that  hope,  I  refrain  from  opening  a  fire 
on  your  batteries.  I  have  the  honor, 
therefore,  respectfully  to  ask  whether 
the  above-mentioned  act — one  which  I 
believe  without  parallel  in  the  history 
of  our  country  or  any  other  civilized 
government — was  committed  in  obe 
dience  to  your  instructions,  and  notify 
you,  if  it  is  not  disclaimed,  that  I  regard 
it  as  an  act  of  war,  and  I  shall  not,  after 
reasonable  time  for  the  return  of  my 
messenger,  permit  any  vessel  to  pass 
within  the  range  of  the  guns  of  my  fort. 
In  order  to  save,  as  far  as  it  is  in  my 
power,  the  shedding  of  blood,  I  beg  you 
will  take  due  notification  of  my  decision 
for  the  good  of  all  concerned.  Hoping, 
however,  your  answer  may  justify  a 
further  continuance  of  forbearance  on 
my  part,  1  remain,  respectfully, 

"  ROBERT  ANDERSON." 
Gov.  Pickens,  in  reply,  after  describing 
the  position  of  South  Carolina  toward 
the  States,  said  that  any  attempt  to  send 
United  States  troops  into  Charleston 
harbor,  to  reinforce  the  forts,  would  be 
regarded  as  an  act  of  hostility  ;  and  in 
conclusion,  added,  "that  any  attempt  to 
reinforce  the  troops  at  Fort  Sumter,  or 
to  retake  and  resume  possession  of  the 
forts  within  the  waters  of  South  Caro 
lina  which  Major  Anderson  abandoned, 
aftei  spiking  the  cam  on  and  doing  other 


damage,  cannot  be  regarded  by  the  au 
thorities  of  the  State  as  indicative  of 
any  other  purpose  than  the  coercion  of 
the  State  by  the  armed  force  of  the 
Government ;  special  agents,  therefore, 
have  been  off  the  bar  to  warn  approach 
ing  vessels,  armed  and  unarmed,  having 
troops  to  reinforce  Fort  Sumter  aboard, 
not  to  enter  the  harbor.  Special  orders 
have  been  given  the  commanders  at  the 
forts  not  to  fire  on  such  vessels  until 
a  shot  across  their  bows  should  warn 
them  of  the  prohibition  of  the  State. 
Under  these  circumstances  the  Star  of 
the  West,  it  is  understood,  this  morning 
attempted  to  enter  the  harbor  with 
troops,  after  having  been  notified  she 
could  not  enter,  and  consequently  she 
was  fired  into.  This  act  is  perfectly 
justified  by  me. 

"  In  regard  to  your  threat  about  ves 
sels  in  the  harbor,  it  is  only  necessary 
for  me  to  say,  you  must  be  the  judge  of 
your  responsibility.  Your  position  in 
the  harbor  has  been  tolerated  by  the 
authorities  of  the  State,  and  while  the 
act  of  which  you  complain  is  in  perfect 
consistency  with  the  rights  and  duties 
of  the  State,  it  is  not  perceived  how  far 
the  conduct  you  propose  to  adopt  can 
find  a  parallel  in  the  history  of  any 
country,  or  be  reconciled  with  any  other 
purpose  than  that  of  your  Government 
imposing  on  the  State  the  condition  of  a 
conquered  province. 

"F.  W.  PICKENS." 
"  To  His  EXCELLENCY  GOVERNOR  PICKENS. 

"  SIR  :  I  have  the  honor  to  acknowl 
edge  the  receipt  of  your  communication, 
and  say,  tint  under  the  circumstances  I 


SECEDING  STATES. 


85 


have  deemed  it  proper  to  refer  the  whole 
matter  to  my  Government,  and  intend 
deferring  the  course  I  indicated  in  my 
note  this  morning  until  the  arrival  from 
Washington  of  such  instructions  as  I 
may  receive. 

"  I  have  the  honor  also  to  express  the 
hope  that  no  obstructions  will  be  placed 
in  the  way,  and  that  you  will  do  me  the 
favor  of  giving  every  facility  for  the  de 
parture  and  return  of  the  bearer,  Lieu 
tenant  T.  Talbot,  who  is  directed  to 
make  the  journey. 

"  ROBERT  ANDERSON." 

There  were  other  evidences,  besides 
this  well-intentioned,  but  humble  and 
fruitless  attempt  to  reinforce  Major 
Anderson,  of  an  increased  indisposition 
on  the  part  of  the  Federal  Govern 
ment  to  continue  to  yield  unresistingly 
to  the  demands  and  encroachments  of 
the  secessionists.  Under  the  patriotic 
inspiration  of  the  new  secretary  of  war, 
Holt,  a  more  positive  assertion  of  Fed 
eral  authority  was  assumed.  Dignified 
words  at  least  were  spoken,  if  not  effect 
ive  measures  taken,  in  vindication  of  the 
Government.  To  the  Governor  of 
North  Carolina,  who,  after  restoring  the 
forts  of  that  State  to  the  authorities  of 
the  United  States,  had  asked  if  "  it  was 
the  purpose  of  the  administration  to 
coerce  the  Southern  States?"  the  sec 
retary  of  war  had  responded  somewhat 
equivocally,  but  still  in  words  more 
authoritative  than  the  Government  of 
Buchanan  had  yet  ventured  to  utter. 

"  In  reply  to  your  inquiry,"  wrote  the 
secretary,  "whether  it  is  the  purpose  of 
the  President  to  garrison  the  forts  of 


North  Carolina  during  his  administration, 
I  am  directed  to  say  that  they,  in  com 
mon  with  the  other  forts,  arsenals,  and 
other  property  of  the  United  States, 
are  in  the  charge  of  the  President,  and 
that  if  assailed,  no  matter  from  what 
quarter  or  under  what  pretext,  it  is  his 
duty  to  protect  them  by  all  the  means 
which  the  law  has  placed  at  his  disposal. 
It  is  not  his  purpose  to  garrison  the 
forts  to  which  you  refer  at  present, 
because  he  considers  them  entirely  safe, 
as  heretofore,  under  the  shelter  of  that 
law-abiding  sentiment  for  which  the 
people  of  North  Carolina  have  ever 
been  distinguished.  Should  they,  how 
ever,  be  attacked  or  menaced  with 
danger  of  being  seized  or  taken  from 
the  possession  of  the  United  States,  he 
could  not  escape  from  his  constitutional 
obligation  to  defend  and  preserve  them. 
The  very  satisfactory  and  patriotic  as 
surance  given  by  your  Excellency  justi 
fies  him,  however,  in  entertaining  the 
confident  expectation  that  no  such  con 
tingency  will  arise." 

The  cotton  States,  now,  had  got  be 
yond  the  influence  of  words  however 
fitly  spoken,  and  had  been  so  long  as 
sured  of  impunity,  that  they  did  not 
hesitate  in  their  career  of  insurrection. 
Mississippi  was  the  first  to  follow  South 
Carolina  in  seceding  from  the  jan. 
Union.  The  ordinance  of  seces-  9, 
sion  was  opposed  only  by  fifteen  mem 
bers  of  the  convention,  and  they  resisted 
but  a  day,  when  they,  too,  signed  with 
the  rest.  Florida  and  Alabama  jan, 
immediately  succeeded.  In  the  u» 
former  State  the  secession  ordinance 


86 


THE  WAR   WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


was  carried  by  a  vote  of  sixty-two  to 
seven.  In  the  latter,  though  there  was 
the  reputable  minority  of  thirty-nine 
members  of  the  convention  to  oppose 
the  prevailing  number  of  sixty-one, 
still  the  act  of  secession  was  hailed  with 
immense  enthusiasm.  Judge  Jones,  of 
the  United  States  District  Court,  an 
nounced  with  exulting  emphasis,  from 
the  windows  of  the  court-room  at 
Mobile,  that  the  United  States  Court  for 
the  Southern  District  of  Alabama  was 
"  adjourned  forever."  A  prodigal  se 
cessionist  of  the  same  city  gave  one 
hundred  cords  of  wood  for  the  use  of 
the  secession  garrison  in  occupation  of 
the  Federal  Fort  Morgan,  and  proffered 
twenty  negro  men  to  labor  on  the  works 
to  defend  the  harbor  against  the  United 
States. 

The  day  was  declared  to  be  ''the 
wildest  day  of 'excitement  in  the  annals 
of  Mobile."  On  receiving  the  news  of 
the  simultaneous  secession  of  Florida  an 
immense  crowd  collected  about  the 
"  secession  pole"  to  witness  the  raising 
of  the  "  Southern  flag,"  which  was 
hoisted  to  the  top  amid  the  "  shouts  of 
the  multitude  and  the  thunders  of  can 
non."  The  "Mobile  Cadets"  paraded 
the  streets  all  day  with  the  "splendid 
flag,  a  most  gorgeous  banner,"  which 
had  been  presented  to  them  by  "  sympa 
thetic  ladies."  At  night  the  houses 
were  illuminated  so  brilliantly,  and  tar- 
barrels  burnt  so  profusely,  that  "the 
broad  boulevard  of  Government  Street 
became  an  avenue  of  light."  To  crown 
this  exultant  display  of  secession  senti 
ment,  the  Federal  custom-house  was 


lighted  up  by  "patriotic  candles,"  thus 
affording  "a  choice  epicureanism  of 
triumph  and  rejoicing"  to  those  excited 
citizens  as  they  "piled  Ossas  of  insult 
on  Pelions  of  injury  to  Uncle  Sam."* 

On  the  passage  of  the  secession  ordi 
nance  by  Florida,  her  troops,  joined  by 
those  of  Alabama,  seized  upon  Fort 
Barrancas  and  the  navy-yard  at  jant 
Pensacola,  and  thus  became  pos-  !*• 
sessed  not  only  of  important  posts  of 
defence,  but  large  supplies  of  ordnance, 
ammunition,  and  stores.  "Having  no 
means  of  resistance,"  said  the  United 
States  officer  in  command  in  his  dispatch 
to  the  Government,  "  I  surrendered  and 
hauled  down  my  flag."  The  secession 
ists  of  Florida,  themselves,  telegraphed 
to  their  senators  in  Washington  :  "  This 
move  was  in  consequence  of  the  Govern 
ment  garrisoning  Fort  Pickens,  which  has 
before  remained  unoccupied."  "You 
will  propose  to  the  administration,"  they 
added,  with  insolent  dictation,  "to  re 
sume  the  status  quo  ante  helium,  and  we 
will  immediately  evacuate." 

Georgia  was  the  next  to  adopt  in  con 
vention  the  secession  ordinance  by  jan< 
a  vote  of  two  hundred  and  eight  19» 
against  eighty-nine.  Some  of  the  lead 
ing  politicians  of  the  State,  as  Alex 
ander  H.  Stephens  and  Herschel  Y. 
Johnson,  lately  a  candidate  for  Viee- 
President  of  the  United  States,  opposed 
this  hasty  action,  and  emphatic  manifest 
ations  of  dislike  were  exhibited  by  many 
of  the  people  at  being  thus  hurried 
out  of  the  Union.  The  usual  popular 
demonstrations,  however,  followed  the 

°  Mobile  Advertiser. 


FAREWELL   OF  JEFF.   DAVIS. 


87 


passage  of  the  ordinance  ;  sky-rockets 
were  let  off,  torches  burned,  and  mass 
meetings  gathered  and  were  stirred  by 
martial  music  and  jubilant  speech. 

In  a  week  after,  Louisiana  followed 
Jan.  Georgia,  the  convention  having,  by 
26-  a  vote  of  one  hundred  and  thirteen 
to  seventeen,  declared  her  out  of  the 
Union.  The  seizure  of  Federal  prop- 
Feb.  erty,  forts,  arsenals,  and  treasure 
!•  succeeded.  Texas,  checked  by  the 
obstinate  loyalty  of  Governor  Houston, 
was  less  precipitate,  but  finally  passed, 
in  convention,  an  ordinance  of  secession. 
This,  however,  was  on  the  condition  of 
its  approval  by  the  people,  to  whose 
suffrage  it  was  to  be  submitted  on  the 
23d  of  February,  and,  if  sanctioned,  to 
take  effect  on  the  3d  of  March.  Texas 
was  thus  far  the  only  State  which  had 
ventured  to  submit  the  question  of  se 
cession  to  popular  vote.  The  State 
finally  yielded,  and  declared  itself  out  of 
ihe  Union  on  the  4th  of  March. 

The  senators  of  these  various  seceding 
States  had  lingered  at  Washington  as 
long  as,  under  the  pretence  of  a  desire 
for  conciliation,  they  could,  by  intrig 
uing  with  their  confederates  at  the  cap 
ital,  promote  their  plans,  and  by  wheed 
ling  a  feeble  Executive,  embarrass  the 
action  of  government. 

They  now,  however,  threw  off  all  dis 
guise,  and  hi  the  Senate  of  the  United 
States  openly  confessed  their  designs 
and  defied  all  the  efforts  of  the  Federal 
authority  to  counteract  them.  Senator 
Benjamin,  of  Louisiana,  publicly  an 
nounced  his  intention  of  taking  farewell 
of  the  Senate  in  a  parting  "secession" 


speech.  A  large  crowd  gathered  to 
hear  him,  and  as  he  closed  with  the 
declaration  that  the  South  could  never 
be  subjugated,  a  shout  of  applause  rose 
from  the  galleries,  packed  with  his  sym 
pathizing  friends. 

Jefferson  Davis,  then  United   States 
senator  from  Mississippi,  afterwards  Con 
federate  States'  President,  with  an  un 
usual    mastery    of   his   impulsive    rhet 
oric,  thus  with  studied  deliberation  and 
cool  assurance  confessed  his  seces-  jan, 
sion  faith,  and  declared  his  readi-    21. 
ness  to  fight  for  it  : 

"  I  rise  for  the  purpose  of  announcing 
to  the  Senate  that  I  have  satisfactory 
evidence  that  the  State  of  Mississippi, 
by  solemn  ordinance  in  convention  as 
sembled,    has   declared   her   separation 
from  the  .United  States.     Under  these 
circumstances,   of  course,  my  functions 
terminate  here.     It  has  seemed  to  be 
proper  that  I  should  appear  in  the  Sen 
ate  and  announce  that  fact,  and  to  say 
something,  though  very  little,  upon  it. 
The  occasion  does  not  invite  me  to  go 
into  the  argument,  and  my  physical  con 
dition  will  not  permit  it,  yet  something 
would  seem  to  be  necessary  on  the  part 
of  the  State  I  here  represent,  on  an  oc 
casion  like  this.      It  is  known  to  sen 
ators  who  have  served  here,  that  I  have 
for  many  years  advocated,  as  an  essen 
tial  attribute  of  State  sovereignty,  the 
right   of  a   State   to   secede   from   the 
Union.     If,  therefore,  I  had  not  believed 
there   was   justifiable   cause — if  I   had 
thought  the   State  was  acting  without 
sufficient  provocation — still,    under  my 
theory  of  government,   I  should   have 


THE  WAR   WITH  THE   SOUTH. 


felt  bound  by  her  action.  I,  however, 
may  say  I  think  she  had  justifiable 
cause,  and  I  approve  of  her  acts.  I 
conferred  with  the  people  before  that 
act  was  taken,  and  counselled  them  that 
if  they  could  not  remain,  that  they 
should  take  the  act.  I  hope  none  will 
confound  this  expression  of  opinion  with 
the  advocacy  of  the  right  of  a  State  to 
remain  in  the  Union,  and  disregard  its 
constitutional  obligations  by  nullifica 
tion.  Nullification  and  secession  are  in 
deed  antagonistic  principles.  Nullifica 
tion  is  the  remedy  which  is  to  be  sought 
and  applied,  within  the  Union,  against 
an  agent  of  the  United  States,  when  the 
agent  has  violated  constitutional  obli 
gations,  and  the  State  assumes  for  itself, 
and  appeals  to  other  States  to  support 
it.  But  when  the  States  themselves, 
and  the  people  of  the  States,  have  so 
acted  as  to  convince  us  that  they  will 
not  regard  our  constitutional  rights, 
then,  and  then  for  the  first  time,  arises 
the  question  of  secession  in  its  practical 
application.  That  great  man  who  now 
reposes  with  his  fathers,  who  has  been 
so  often  arraigned  for  want  of  fealty  to 
the  Union,  advocated  the  doctrine  of 
nullification,  because  it  preserved  the 
Union.  It  was  because  of  his  deep- 
seated  attachment  to  the  Union  that 
Mr.  Calhoun  advocated  the  doctrine  of 
nullification,  which  he  claimed  would 
give  peace  within  the  limits  of  the 
Union,  and  not  disturb  it,  and  only  be 
the  means  of  bringing  the  agent  before 
the  proper  tribunal  of  the  States  for 
judgment.  Secession  belongs  to  a  dif 
ferent  class  of  rights,  and  is  to  be  justi 


fied  upon  the  basis  that  the  States  are 
sovereign.  The  time  has  been,  and  I 
hope  the  time  will  come  again,  when  a 
better  appreciation  of  our  Union  will 
prevent  an}*  one  denying  that  each  State 
is  a  sovereign  in  its  own  right.  There 
fore  I  say  I  concur  in  the  act  of  my 
State,  and  feel  bound  by  it.  It  is  by 
this  confounding  of  nullification  and  se 
cession  that  the  name  of  another  great 
man  has  been  invoked  to  justify  the  co 
ercion  of  a  seceding  State.  The  phrase 
'to  execute  the  law,'  as  used  by  Gen 
eral  Jackson,  was  applied  to  a  State 
refusing  to  obey  the  laws  and  still  re 
maining  in  the  Union.  I  remember 
well  when  Massachusetts  was  arraigned 
before  the  Senate.  The  record  of  that 
occasion  will  show  that  I  said,  if  Massa 
chusetts,  in  pursuing  the  line  of  steps, 
takes  the  last  step  which  separates  her 
from  the  Union,  the  right  is  hers,  and  I 
will  neither  vote  one  dollar  nor  one  man 
to  coerce  her,  but  I  will  say  to  her, 
'God  speed!"  Mr.  Davis  then  pro 
ceeded  to  argue  that  the  equality  spoken 
of  in  the  Declaration  of  Independence 
was  the  equality  of  a  class  in  political 
rights,  referring  to  the  charge  against 
George  III.  for  inciting  insurrection, 
as  proof  that  it  had  no  reference  to  the 
slaves.  "But  we  have  proclaimed  our 
independence.  This  is  done  with  no 
hostility  or  any  desire  to  injure  any  sec 
tion  of  the  country,  nor  even  for  our  pe 
cuniary  benefit,  but  from  the  high  and 
solid  foundation  of  defending  and  pro 
tecting  the  rights  we  inherited,  and 
transmitting  them  unshorn  to  our  pos 
terity.  I  know  I  feel  no  hostility  to 


NORTHERN   LOYALTY. 


89 


you  senators  here,  and  am  sure  there  is 
not   one    of  you,   whatever   may  have 
been  the  sharp  discussions  between  us,  to 
whom  I  cannot  now  say,  in  the  presence 
of  my  God,  I  wish  you  well.     And  such 
is  the  feeling,  I  am  sure,  the  people  I 
represent  feel  toward  those  whom  you 
represent.     I,  therefore,  feel  I  but  ex 
press  their  desire,  when  I  say  I  hope 
and  they  hope  for  those  peaceful  rela 
tions  with  you,  though  we  must  part, 
that  may  be  mutually  beneficial  to  us 
in  the  future.     There  will  be  peace  if 
you  so  will  it,  and  you  may  bring  dis 
aster  on  every  part  of  the  country,  if 
you  thus  will  have  it.     And  if  you  will 
have  it  thus,  we  will  invoke  the  God  of 
our  fathers,  who   delivered  them  from 
the  paw  of  the  lion,  to  protect  us  from 
the  ravages  of  the  bear  ;  and  thus  put 
ting  our  trust  in  God,  and  our  own  firm 
hearts  and  strong  arms,  we  will  vindi 
cate    and    defend  the  rights  we  claim. 
In  the  course  of  my  long  career  I  have 
met  with  a  great  variety  of  men  here, 
and  there  have  been  points  of  collision 
between  us.    Whatever  of  offence  there 
has  been  to  me,  I  leave  here.     I  carry  no 
hostile  feelings  away.     Whatever  of  of 
fence  I  have  given,  which  has  not  been 
redressed,  I  am  willing  to  say  to  sen 
ators,  in  this  hour  of  parting,  I  offer  you 
my  apology  for  anything  I  may  have  done 
in  the  Senate  ;  and  I  go  thus  released 
from  obligation,  remembering  no  injury 
I  have  received,  and  having  discharged 
what  I  deem  the  duty  of  man,  to  offer 
the   only   reparation   at   this   hour    for 
every  injury  I  have  ever  inflicted." 
As  the  senators  from  Florida,   Ala- 
12 


bama,  and  Mississippi — all  in  open  re 
bellion  against  the  United  States  Gov 
ernment — were  about  leaving  the  Sen 
ate  chamber,  most  of  their  fellow-sen 
ators,  even  those  of  the  North,  shook 
hands  with  them  ! 

The  Northern  people  were  slowly 
awaking  to  the  great  dangers  which  be 
set  the  Union,  and  gradually  rising  to 
the  efforts  necessary  to  protect  it.  Pros 
trated  in  sympathy  with  the  long  inert 
ness  of  the  Government  and  its  still  lan 
guid  action,  they  might  have  appeared 
to  a  casual  observer  indifferent  to  the 
great  issue.  There  were,  however,  al 
ready  indications  of  that  loyalty  to  the 
Union  which  afterwards  manifested  itself 
in  such  a  generous  outpouring  of  men 
and  money.  Large  meetings  were  held 
throughout  the  country  to  express  de 
votion  to  its  institutions  and  to  offer 
service  in  their  defence.  At  a  po/mlai 
gathering  at  Chicago,  in  Illinois,  jalu 
resolutions  were  adopted  express-  <»• 
ing  love  for  the  Union  ;  declaring  that 
every  attempt  to  rend  it  was  the  basest, 
treason  and  most  insane  folly  ;  that  th<} 
Constitution  of  the  United  States  formed 
a  union  between  the  people  of  the  sev 
eral  States,  and  was  intended  to  be  per 
petual  ;  that  every  attempt  by  a  State 
to  secede  or  annul  the  laws  of  the  United 
States  was  not  only  a  usurpation  of  the 
powers  of  the  General  Government,  but 
an  aggression  upon  the  equal  rights  of 
the  other  States  ;  that  peaceable  seces 
sion,  if  possible,  must  necessarily  be  a 
matter  of  agreement  between  the  States, 
and  until  such  an  agreement  be  made,  the 
existing  Government  had  no  choice  but 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


to  enforce  the  law  and  protect  the  prop 
erty  of  the  nation  ;  that  in  view  of  what 
was  occurring  in  the  Southern  States, 
of  threats  to  prevent  the  inauguration 
of  a  President  constitutionally  elected, 
it  was  incumbent  upon  the  loyal  people 
of  the  several  States  to  be  prepared  to 
render  all  their  aid,  military  and  other 
wise,  to  the  enforcement  of  the  Federal 
laws,  and  that  Major  Anderson  deserved 
the  thanks  of  the  country  for  the  course 
pursued  by  him. 

At  Cincinnati,  a  large  meeting  of 
workingmen  was  held,  at  which  resolu- 
Jaii,  tions  were  adopted  declaring  that 
5«  the  Union  must  be  preserved  in  its 
integrity  by  the  enforcement  of  the  laws 
in  every  part  of  the  country,  through 
whatever  means  might  be  necessary. 
At  Portland,  in  Maine,  also,  the  people 
gathered  in  a  "  mass  meeting,"  and 
passed  similar  resolutions. 

The  legislatures  of  various  Northern 
States  adopted  resolutions  in  favor  of 
the  Union,  and  offered  aid  to  the  Pres 
ident  to  sustain  the  Government.  New 
York  tendered  whatever  "aid  in  men 
or  money  might  be  required  to  enforce 
the  laws  and  uphold  the  authority  of  the 
Federal  Government."  Massachusetts 
did  the  same,  and  after  declaring  that 
South  Carolina  had  committed  an  act  of 
war,  passed  a  bill  authorizing  the  in 
crease  of  the  volunteer  military  of  the 
State. 

At  the  same  time,  it  is  true,  that  there 
were  meetings  of  Northern  citizens,  at 
which  there  was  a  disposition  to  treat 
the  recreant  States  with  more  tender 
ness.  These,  however,  indicated  no  less 


the  Union  sentiment  of  the  country, 
though  they  favored  more  conciliatory 
treatment.  In  New  Jersey,  resolutions 
were  reported  deploring  the  state  of 
the  country — advising,  as  a  means  of 
settling  differences,  the  adoption  by  the 
people  of  the  Crittenden  resolutions,  or 
some  other  pacific  measures,  with  such 
modifications  as  might  be  deemed  expe 
dient  ;  recommending  the  Legislature  of 
New  Jersey  to  pass  a  law  to  take  a  vote 
of  the  people,  yes  or  no,  on  these  ;  ap 
proving  of  the  course  of  Virginia  in  ap 
pointing  a  commission  to  go  to  Wash 
ington,  and  counselling  the  Legislature 
to  do  the  same. 

It  was  the  Union  sentiment,  more 
over,  however  rudely  expressed,  which 
prompted  some  of  the  citizens  of  Roch 
ester  to  break  up  an  abolitionist  meet 
ing  with  noisy  shouts  for  General  Scott 
and  Major  Anderson,  and  others  to  re 
sist  with  violence  the  hanging  across  the 
streets  of  a  banner  bearing  the  inscrip 
tion,  "No  compromise  with  slavery." 
It  was  the  same  feeling,  doubtless,  which 
urged  the  crowd  to  overwhelm  the  dis 
union  declarations  of  Wendell  Phillips 
at  Boston  with  noisy  demonstrations  of 
dissatisfaction,  and  hustle  him  in  the 
streets  until  he  was  forced  to  take  ref 
uge  with  a  squad  of  policemen. 

In  the  mean  time,  some  alarm  was 
excited  in  regard  to  the  safety  of  Wash 
ington,  which  was  known  to  be  filled 
with  secessionists.  It  was  rumored  that 
plots  had  been  laid  and  military  com 
panies  organized  in  Maryland  and  Vir 
ginia,  to  seize  the  capital  and  prevent 
the  inauguration  of  Lincoln.  This  call 


GENERAL  ALARM. 


91 


to  arms  of  General  Carrington  is  a  mem 
orable  illustration  of  the  public  fearful- 
ness  begotten  by  the  general  suspicion. 

"To  THE  PUBLIC. 

"  Whereas  the  militia  of  the  district 
is  not  organized,  and  threats  have  been 
made  that  the  President-elect  shall  not 
be  inaugurated  in  Washington,  and  there 
is  reason,  therefore,  to  apprehend  that 
on  the  4th  of  March  next  our  city  may 
be  made  the  scene  of  riot,  violence,  and 
bloodshed  ;  and  whereas  the  under 
signed  believes  that  the  honor  of  the 
nation  and  our  city  demands  that  the 
President-elect  shall  be  inaugurated  in 
the  national  metropolis,  and  that  the 
young  men  of  Washington  city  are  de 
termined  not  to  desert  their  homes  in 
the  hour  of  danger,  but  to  maintain  their 
ground  and  defend  their  families  and 
friends,  in  the  Union  and  on  the  side  of 
the  Constitution  and  the  laws,  therefore 
the  undersigned  earnestly  invites  all  who 
concur  with  him  in  opinion,  and  who  are 
not  now  connected  with  some  military 
company,  to  join  with  him  in  forming  a 
temporary  military  organization,  with  a 
view  of  preserving  peace  and  order  in  our 
midst  on  the  4th  of  March  next,  or  when 
ever  the  emergency  requires  it — and  for 
that  purpose  to  unite  with  the  volunteer 
companies  of  our  city,  which  have,  in  a 
spirit  of  gallantry  and  patriotism  worthy 
of  our  imitation,  pledged  themselves  to 
the  cause  of  the  Union,  the  Constitution, 
and  the  laws.  It  is  proper  to  state  that 
I  take  this  step  after  consultation  with 
friends  in  whom  I  have  the  greatest  con 
fidence.  It  is  not  my  object  to  interfere 
with  my  brother  officers  of  the  militia  ; 


the  organization  proposed  is  to  be  purely 
volunteer,  for  the  purpose  above  stated, 
in  which  I  am  willing  to  serve  in  any 
capacity.  I  make  the  proposition,  not 
as  one  of  the  generals  of  the  militia,  but 
as  a  citizen  of  Washington,  who  is  pre 
pared  to  defend  his  home  and  his  honor 
at  the  peril  of  his  life. 

"  EDWARD  C.  CARRINGTON." 

Lieut.  General  Scott,  however,  the 
venerable  custodian  of  the  Union,  was 
on  guard,  and  by  his  prompt  military 
measures  of  defence  soon  relieved  the 
inquietude  at  the  capital. 

Even  in  New  York  a  suspicion  of  se 
cret  plots  arose,  and  excited  public  anx 
iety.  The  entire  force  at  the  Brooklyn 
navy-yard  was  put  under  arms,  the  guns 
of  the  frigate  North  Carolina  shotted, 
and  the  city  militia  mustered,  in  readi 
ness  to  resist  the  rumored  attack  of  a 
band  of  secession  conspirators. 

A  measure  of  obvious  duty,  though 
perhaps  not  of  technical  right,  tardily 
begun  and  but  ineffectively  carried  out, 
that  of  seizing,  by  the  police  of  New 
York,  arms  intended  for  the  seceded 
States,  excited  not  unnaturally  great  in 
dignation  at  the  South,  and  some  less 
expected  disfavor  even  at  the  North.  jan. 
The  mayor  of  the  city  of  New  York  24« 
eagerly  disclaimed  any  responsibility  for 
the  "outrage,"  and  declared  that  if  he 
had  the  power,  he  "would  summarily 
punish  the  authors  of  this  illegal  and  un 
justifiable  seizure  of  private  property." 
The  Governor  of  Georgia  retaliated  by 
seizing  some  New  York  vessels  in  the  har 
bor  of  Savannah,  which  were  held  until 
the  arms  claimed  by  him  were  restored. 


92 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


While  the  feeling  between  the  union 
ists  and  secessionists  was  thus  becom 
ing  daily  more  exasperated,  and  threat 
ening  a  collision  of  arms,  a  peace  con 


vention,  suggested  by  the  State  of  Vir 
ginia,  had  assembled  in  Washington  and 
been  organized,  with  ex-President  Tyler 
to  preside  over  it. 


CHAPTER    VIII. 

The  Meeting  of  the  General  Congress  of  the  Seceding  States  at  Montgomery. — Organization. — Formation  of  Provisional 
Government  and  Constitution. — No  Conciliation  or  Compromise. — Nature  of  the  New  Constitution.— Ita  Politic 
Clauses. — Election  of  President  and  Vice-President. — Good  Choice. — Extremists  and  Moderates  both  suited. — Life 
of  Jefferson  Davis. — His  Birth. — Parentage. — Military  Career. — Resignation. — Cotton  Planting. — Political  Career. — 
A  Volunteer  Officer  in  the  Mexican  War. — Turns  the  Tide  of  Battle  at  Buena  Vista. — Appointed  Brigadier-General. 
—Scruples  of  a  States  Rights  Man. — Senator  of  the  United  States. — Chairman  of  Committee  on  Military  Affairs.— 
Unsuccessful  Candidate  for  Governor. — Electioneering  for  Pierce. — Secretary  of  War,  and  services  in  that  office. — 
Personal  Character  and  Appearance. — Elected  President  of  the  Confederate  States. — Inaugural  Address. — Biography 
of  Alexander  H.  Stephens. — A  poor  Youth. — Educated  by  Charity. — Rapid  eminence  as  a  Lawyer. — Leader  of  the 
Whig  Party  in  Congress. — Retirement  from  Public  Life. — Disease.— Stirred  by  the  Secession  Movement. — Strong  for 
the  Union. — A  sudden  Conversion. — An  earnest  Proselyte. — Personal  Appearance  and  Character. — A  remarkable 
Speech. — The  Cabinet  of  President  Davis. — Robert  Toombs  :  his  Life  and  Character. — Charles  Gustavus  Memminger  : 
his  Life  and  Character. — Le  Roy  Pope  Walker  :  his  Life  and  Character. — Judah  P.  Benjamin  :  his  Life  and  Char 
acter. — Stephen  M.  Mallory  :  his  Life  and  Character. — John  H.  Reagan  :  his  Life  and  Character. 


1861. 


IN  accordance  with  a  proposition  of 
Alabama,  all  the  conventions  of  the  se 
ceding  States  sent  delegates  to  a 
general  congress,  which  met  at 
Montgomery  on  the  4th  of  February. 
In  a  few  days  after  its  organization,  the 
Feb,  form  of  a  provisional  government 
8»  and  a  constitution  were  unani 
mously  agreed  upon,  to  take  effect  im 
mediately.  No  suggestion  was  made 
for  the  restoration  of  harmony  with  the 
Union  from  which  the  States  repre 
sented  in  the  convention  had  separated. 
The  subjects  of  conciliation  and  com 
promise  were  waived  as  totally  obsolete. 
To  form  an  independent  nation  and 
provide  for  its  government  and  defence 
was  the  sole  object,  apparently,  of  the 
desire,  as  it  was  the  motive  of  the  action, 
of  the  members  of  the  convention. 


The  constitution  adopted  was  base< 
on  that  of  the  United  States,  with  mod 
ifications  peculiar  to  the  new  govern 
ment.  The  preamble  dwelt  especially  on 
the  separate  sovereignty  of  the  individ 
ual  States  of  the  new  confederacy,  and 
thus  strove  to  give  legal  sanction  to  that 
heresy  which  had  proved  so  fatal  to  the 
harmony  of  the  Union.  It  declared  : 

"  We,  the  deputies  of  the  sovereign 
and  independent  States  of  South  Caro 
lina,  Georgia,  Florida,  Alabama,  Missis 
sippi,  and  Louisiana,  invoking  the  favor 
of  Almighty  God,  do  hereby,  in  behalf 
of  these  States,  ordain  and  establish  this 
constitution  for  the  provisional  govern 
ment  of  the  same,  to  continue  one  year 
from  the  inauguration  of  the  President 
or  until  a  permanent  constitution  or  con 
federation  between  the  said  States  shall 


CONSTITUTION   OF   SOUTHERN   CONFEDERACY. 


93 


be  put  in  operation,  whichsoever  shall 
first  occur." 

To  conciliate  the  governments  of  Eu 
rope,  on  whose  interposition  in  behalf 
of  the  new  confederacy  great  calcula 
tions  were  made,  but  whose  policy  of 
abolishing  the  slave-trade  seemed  fatal 
to  an  alliance  with  any  state  which 
might  favor  that  cruel  commerce,  the 
following  article  was  adopted  : 

"  The  importation  of  African  negroes 
from  any  foreign  country  other  than  the 
slaveholding  States  of  the  United  States, 
is  hereby  forbidden,  and  Congress  is 
required  to  pass  such  laws  as  shall 
effectually  prevent  the  same." 

At  the  same  time,  to  give  full  protec 
tion  to  the  institution  as  it  existed  in  the 
slave  States  comprising  the  confederacy, 
«  stringent  fugitive  law  set  forth  that : 

"  A  slave  in  one  State  escaping  to 
another  shall  be  delivered  up  on  the 
claim  of  the  party  to  whom  said  slave 
may  belong,  by  the  executive  authority 
of  the  State  in  which  such  slave  may 
be  found  ;  and  in  case  of  any  abduction 
or  forcible  rescue,  full  compensation, 
including  the  value  of  the  slave,  and  all 
costs  and  expenses,  shall  be  made  to 
the  party  by  the  State  in  which  such 
abduction  or  rescue  shall  take  place." 

The  following  clause  was  ingeniously 
introduced  as  a  forcible  appeal  to  Vir 
ginia  and  other  border  States,  still  re 
luctant  to  leave  the  Union  and  try  the 
hazards  of  the  new  confederacy. 

"  Congress  shall  also  have  power  to 
prohibit  the  introduction  of  slaves  from 
any  State  not  a  member  of  this  confed 
eracy." 


In  the  clause  relating  to  the  tariff, 
the  favorite  Southern  doctrine  of  taxa 
tion  for  revenue,  and  not  for  protection, 
was  distinctly  enunciated  thus  : 

1  The  Congress  shall  have  power  to 
lay  and  collect  taxes,  duties,  imposts, 
and  excises  for  revenue  necessary  to  pay 
the  debts  and  carry  on  the  government 
of  the  confederacy,  and  all  duties,  im 
posts,  and  excises  shall  be  uniform 
throughout  the  confederacy." 

To  close  up  all  accounts  with  the  old 
Union  and  start  the  new  under  the  most 
favorable  auspices,  an  ostentatious  pro 
fusion  of  fairness  of  dealing  was  made 
in  an  article  declaring  that  "the  gov 
ernment  hereby  instituted  shall  take 
immediate  steps  for  the  settlement  of 
all  matters  between  the  States  forming 
it  and  their  late  confederates  of  the 
United  States,  in  relation  to  the  public 
property  and  public  debt  at  the  time  of 
their  withdrawal  from  them,  these  States 
hereby  declaring  it  to  be  their  wish  and 
earnest  desire  to  adjust  everything  per 
taining  to  the  common  property,  com 
mon  liabilities,  and  common  obligations 
of  that  union  upon  principles  of  right, 
justice,  equity,  and  good  faith." 

After  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution, 
the  Congress  proceeded  at  once  to  the 
election  of  a  provisional  President  and 
and  Vice-President.  Jefferson  Davis, 
of  Mississippi,  was  chosen  the  former, 
and  Alexander  H.  Stephens,  of  Georgia, 
the  latter.  No  better  appointments 
could  have  been  made  to  further  the 
purposes  of  the  new  confederacy.  Both 
were  experienced  statesmen  of  prac 
tised  executive  talents.  Davis,  who  had 


94 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE   SOUTH. 


been  long  known  as  an  advocate  of 
State  Eights,  served  to  give  assurance 
to  the  extremists  of  the  South  that  their 
special  interests  were  safe  in  his  keep 
ing,  while  Stephens,  whose  reluctant  se- 
cessionism  had  been  equally  conspicu 
ous,  gave  confidence  to  the  moderate 
men,  and  encouraged  them  to  give  in 
their  adherence  to  a  government  of 
which  he  was  a  prominent  executive 
officer. 

Jefferson  Davis  was  born  on  the  third 
of  June,  1808,  in  Christian,  now  Todd, 
County,  Kentucky.  His-  father,  who 
was  a  planter  and  an  officer  in  the  army 
of  Revolutionary  renown,  removed  to 
Mississippi  while  his  son  was  yet  a  child. 
After  a  sound  preliminary  academical 
discipline  at  school  and  college,  young 
Davis  was  admitted  a  cadet  at  West 
Point  in  1824.  In  1828  he  graduated, 
and  entered  into  active  military  service. 
In  the  Black  Hawk  war  he  earned  pro 
motion  by  his  gallantry,  and  being  raised 
to  a  first  lieutenantcy  of  dragoons,  served 
in  that  rank  in  various  expeditions 
against  the  Indian  tribes  of  the  West. 
In  1835  he  resigned  his  commission 
and  took  to  cotton  planting  in  Missis 
sippi.  He  was,  however,  soon  with 
drawn  from  his  retirement  by  the  polit 
ical  interests  of  the  country,  and  in 
1844  was  chosen  a  Presidential  elector 
of  Mississippi,  to  vote  for  Polk  and 
Dallas,  the  candidates  of  the  Democratic 
party,  for  which  Davis  had  early  shown 
his  partiality. 

In  1845,  Davis  was  chosen  a  member 
of  Congress,  and  at  once  assumed  a 
prominent  position,  as  a  debater,  on  the 


side  of  his  political  friends,  the  Demo 
crats.  The  Mexican  war  having  in  the 
mean  time  broken  out,  and  a  Mississippi 
regiment  having  elected  him  its  colonel, 
he  left  at  once  his  seat  in  the  House  of 
Representatives,  and  hastened  to  the 
scene  of  hostilities.  He  was  with  Taylor 
at  the  storming  of  Monterey,  and  at  the 
battle  of  Buena  Vista  came  up,  in  the 
nick  of  time,  at  the  head  of  his  Missis- 
sippians,  and  it  is  said  turned  the  tide  of 
battle  in  favor  of  the  American  troops. 
He  was  wounded  while  pertinaciously 
resisting  a  superior  force,  but  still  re 
mained  in  the  saddle  until  the  end  of  the 
battle.  General  Taylor  complimented 
him  highly  in  his  dispatch.  On  the  ex 
piration  of  the  term  of  service  of  his 
regiment  he  returned  home,  but  on  his 
way  he  was  met  with  a  commission  of 
brigadier-general  of  volunteers  from 
President  Polk.  This,  however,  with  a 
scrupulous  regard  for  the  "  sovereign" 
rights  of  his  State,  he  refused  to  accept, 
on  the  ground  that  the  Federal  author 
ity,  in  making  such  an  appointment, 
was  interfering  with  the  prerogative  of 
Mississippi. 

In  1847,  Davis  was  appointed  by  the 
Governor  of  Mississippi  senator  of  the 
United  States,  to  fill  a  casual  vacancy. 
In  the  next  year,  however,  he  was 
unanimously  elected  by  the  Legislature 
to  complete  the  term,  and  again  in 
1850  was  a  second  time  chosen.  He 
was  appointed  chairman  of  the  com 
mittee  on  military  affairs,  and  took  a 
prominent  part  in  the  debates  on  most 
important  questions,  but  especially  on 
those  which  bore  upon  the  interests  of 


PRESIDENT  DAVIS'  INAUGURAL. 


97 


interest  is  the  export  of  a  commodity 
required  in  every  manufacturing  coun 
try,  our  true  policy  is  peace,  and  the 
freest  trade  which  our  necessities  will 
permit.  It  is  alike  our  interest  and  that 
of  all  those  to  whom  we  would  sell  and 
from  whom  we  would  buy,  that  there 
should  be  the  fewest  practicable  re 
strictions  upon  the  interchange  of  com 
modities.  There  can  be  but  little  riv 
alry  between  ours  and  any  manufactur 
ing  or  navigating  community,  such  as 
the  northeastern  States  of  the  American 
Union.  It  must  follow,  therefore,  that 
mutual  interest  would  invite  good-will 
and  kind  offices.  If,  however,  passion 
or  lust  of  dominion  should  cloud  the 
judgment  or  inflame  the  ambition  of 
those  States,  we  must  prepare  to  meet 
the  emergency  and  maintain  by  the  final 
arbitrament  of  the  sword  the  position 
which  we  have  assumed  among  the  na 
tions  of  the  earth. 

"We  have  entered  upon  a  career  of 
independence,  and  it  must  be  inflexibly 
pursued  through  many  years  of  contro 
versy  with  our  late  associates  of  the 
Northern  States.  We  have  vainly  en 
deavored  to  secure  tranquility  and  ob 
tain  respect  for  the  rights  to  which  we 
were  entitled.  As  a  necessity,  not  a 
choice,  we  have  resorted  to  the  remedy 
of  separation,  and  henceforth  our  ener 
gies  must  be  directed  to  the  conduct  of 
our  own  affairs  and  the  perpetuity  of 
the  confederacy  which  we  have  formed. 
If  a  just  perception  of  mutual  interest 
shall  permit  us  peaceably  to  pursue  our 
separate  political  career,  my  most  earn 
est  desire  will  have  been  fulfilled.  But 

13 


if  this  be  denied  us,  and  the  integrity  of 
our  territory  and  jurisdiction  be  assailed, 
it  will  but  remain  for  us  with  firm  re 
solve  to  appeal  to  arms  and  invoke  the 
blessing  of*  Providence  on  a  just  cause. 

"  As  a  consequence  of  our  new  condi 
tion,  and  with  a  view  to  meet  antici 
pated  wants,  it  will  be  necessary  to 
provide  a  speedy  and  efficient  organiza 
tion  of  the  branches  of  the  Executive 
department  having  special  charge  of  for 
eign  intercourse,  finance,  military  affairs, 
and  postal  service.  For  purposes  of  de 
fence  the  Confederate  States  may,  un 
der  ordinary  circumstances,  rely  mainly 
upon  their  militia  ;  but  it  is  deemed  ad 
visable,  in  the  present  condition  of  af 
fairs,  that  there  should  be  a  well  in 
structed,  disciplined  army,  more  nu 
merous  than  would  usually  be  required 
on  a  peace  establishment.  I  also  sug 
gest  that,  for  the  protection  of  our  har 
bors  and  commerce  on  the  high  seas,  a 
navy  adapted  to  those  objects  will  be 
required.  These  necessities  have,  doubt 
less,  engaged  the  attention  of  Congress. 

"  With  a  constitution  differing  only 
from  that  of  our  fathers  in  so  far  as  it  is 
explanatory  of  their  well-known  intent, 
freed  from  sectional  conflicts,  which  have 
interfered  with  the  pursuits  of  the  gen 
eral  welfare,  it  is  not  unreasonable  to 
expect  that  the  States  from  which  we 
have  recently  parted  may  seek  to  unite 
their  fortunes  to  ours  under  the  govern 
ment  which  we  have  instituted.  For 
this  your  constitution  makes  adequate 
provision,  but  beyond  this,  if  I  mistake 
not,  the  judgment  and  will  of  the  people 
are,  that  union  with  the  States  from 


THE  WAR  WITH   THE  SOUTH. 


which  they  have  separated  is  neither 
practicable  nor  desirable.  To  increase 
the  power,  develop  the  resources,  and 
promote  the  happiness  of  the  confed 
eracy,  it  is  requisite  there  snould  be  so 
much  homogeneity  that  the  welfare  of 
every  portion  would  be  the  aim  of  the 
whole.  Where  this  does  not  exist,  an 
tagonisms  are  engendered  which  must 
and  should  result  in  separation. 

"  Actuated  solely  by  a  desire  to  pre 
serve  our  own  rights  and  to  promote 
our  own  welfare,  the  separation  of  the 
Confederate  States  has  been  marked  by 
no  aggression  upon  others,  and  followed 
by  no  domestic  convulsion.  Our  indus 
trial  pursuits  have  received  no  check, 
the  cultivation  of  our  fields  progresses 
as  heretofore,  and  even  should  we  be  in 
volved  in  war,  there  would  be  no  con 
siderable  diminution  in  the  production 
of  the  staples  which  have  constituted  our 
exports,  in  which  the  commercial  world 
has  an  interest  scarcely  less  than  our 
own.  This  common  interest  of  pro 
ducer  and  consumer  can  only  be  inter 
cepted  by  an  exterior  force  which  should 
obstruct  its  transmission  to  foreign  mar 
kets,  a  course  of  conduct  which  would 
be  detrimental  to  manufacturing  and 
commercial  interests  abroad. 

"Should  reason  guide  the  action  of 
the  government  from  which  we  have 
separated,  a  policy  so  detrimental  to  the 
civilized  world,  the  Northern  States  in 
cluded,  could  not  be  dictated  by  even 
a  stronger  desire  to  inflict  injury  upon 
us  ;  but  if  it  be  otherwise,  a  terrible  re 
sponsibility  will  rest  upon  it,  and  the 
suffering  of  millions  will  bear  testimony 


to  the  folly  and  wickedness  of  our  ag 
gressors.  In  the  mean  time  there  will 
remain  to  us,  besides  the  ordinary  rem 
edies  before  suggested,  the  well-known 
resources  for  retaliation  upon  the  com 
merce  of  an  enemy. 

"  Experience  in  public  stations  of  a 
subordinate  grade  to  this  which  your 
kindness  has  conferred,  has  taught  me 
that  care  and  toil  and  disappointments 
are  the  price  of  official  elevation.  You 
will  see  many  errors  to  forgive,  many 
deficiencies  to  tolerate,  but  you  shall  not 
find  in  me  either  want  of  zeal  or  fidelity 
to  the  cause  that  is  to  me  the  highest  in 
hope  and  of  most  enduring  affection. 
Your  generosity  has  bestowed  upon  me 
an  undeserved  distinction,  one  which 
I  neither  sought  nor  desired.  Upon 
the  continuance  of  that  sentiment,  and 
upon  your  wisdom  and  patriotism,  I 
rely  to  direct  and  support  me  in  the 
performance  of  the  duties  required  at 
my  hands. 

"We  have  changed  the  constituent 
parts,  but  not  the  system  of  our  gov 
ernment.  The  Constitution  formed  by 
our  fathers  is  that  of  these  Confederate 
States.  In  their  exposition  of  it,  and  in 
the  judicial  construction  it  has  received, 
we  have  a  light  which  reveals  its  true 
meaning.  Thus  instructed  as  to  the 
just  interpretation  of  that  instrument, 
and  ever  remembering  that  all  offices 
are  but  trusts  held  for  the  people,  and 
that  delegated  powers  are  to  be  strictly 
construed,  I  will  hope  by  due  diligence 
in  the  performance  of  my  duties,  though 
I  may  disappoint  your  expectation,  yet 
to  retain,  when  retiring,  something  of 


ALEXANDER   H.   STEPHENS. 


99 


the  good  will  and  confidence  which  will 
welcome  my  entrance  into  office. 

"  It  is  joyous  in  the  midst  of  perilous 
times  to  look  around  upon  a  people 
united  in  heart,  when  one  purpose  of 
high  resolve  animates  and  actuates  the 
whole — where  the  sacrifices  to  be  made 
are  not  weighed  in  the  balance  against 
honor,  right,  liberty,  and  equality.  Ob 
stacles  may  retard,  but  they  cannot  long 
prevent,  the  progress  of  a  movement 
sanctioned  by  its  justice  and  sustained 
by  a  virtuous  people.  Reverently  let 
us  invoke  the  God  of  our  fathers  to 
guide  and  protect  us  in  our  efforts  to 
perpetuate  the  principles  which  by  His 
blessing  they  were  able  to  vindicate,  es 
tablish,  and  transmit  to  their  posterity  ; 
and  with  a  continuance  of  His  favor  ever 
gratefully  acknowledged,  we  may  hope 
fully  look  forward  to  success,  to  peace, 
to  prosperity." 

Alexander  H.  Stephens,  the  Yice- 
President  of  the  new  Confederacy,  was 
born  in  Georgia  on  the  llth  of  Feb 
ruary,  1812.  His  parents  were  too  poor 
to  educate  him,  but  the  youth  showing 
an  early  quickness  of  parts,  attracted  the 
attention  of  some  neighbors,  who  chari 
tably  sent  him  to  school  and  college  and 
supported  him  until  he  was  able  to  make 
his  own  livelihood.  Choosing  the  law 
for  his  profession,  he  was  admitted  to 
the  bar  in  1834,  and  rose  rapidly  to  dis 
tinction.  In  1843  he  was  elected  by 
the  Whigs  a  member  of  Congress,  but 
on  the  dissolution  of  their  party,  he 
joined  the  Democrats,  and  became  one 
of  their  most  prominent  leaders.  In 
1858  he  refused  to  be  any  longer  a  can 


didate  for  Congress,  and  retired,  ap 
parently  forever,  to  private  life.  From 
early  youth  he  had  suffered  from  illness, 
and  now,  after  the  wearing  effects  of  a 
stirring  political  career,  he  seemed  in 
capable  of  further  activity  of  effort. 
He  was,  however,  roused  by  the  seces 
sion  movement  in  his  State,  and  came 
forward  to  resist  it.  He  voted  against 
the  secession  ordinance  passed  by  the 
convention  of  Georgia,  and  sustained  the 
cause  of  the  Union  so  manfully  in  a  re 
markable  speech,  that  he  was  hailed  by 
loyal  men  throughout  the  country  as 
their  great  Southern  champion.  It  was 
even  rumored  that  President  Lincoln 
had  offered  him  a  seat  in  his  proposed 
cabinet.  Stephens,  however,  did  not 
long  resist  the  prevailing  sentiment  of 
his  State,  but  giving  in  his  adherence  to 
the  secessionists,  exhibited  the  usual 
zeal  of  sudden  converts  by  surpassing 
the  veteran  apostles  of  secession  in  his 
defence  of  the  doctrine.  He  is  pictured 
thus  :  "  Wasted  to  a  shadow  by  a  pro 
tracted  disease,  the  Vice-President  of 
the  Confederacy  weighs  but  ninety-six 
pounds.  He  yet  seems,  in  spite  of  a  fee 
ble  body,  capable  of  great  mental  effort. 
Though  his  voice,  in  its  shrill  and  piping 
tones,  gives  manifestation  of  the  physical 
weakness  of  the  invalid,  he  yet  does  not 
hesitate  to  exercise  it  in  prolonged  ef 
forts  of  oratory,  which  not  seldom  rise 
to  the  power  of  true  eloquence." 

Eager,  apparently,  to  vindicate  him 
self  from  all  suspicion  of  the  sincerity  of 
his  conversion,  to  which  his  former  loyal 
ty  to  the  Union  might  have  exposed  him, 
he  manifested  an  ultraism  of  opinion  ii> 


100 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


favor  of  the  benefits  and  rights  of  slav 
ery,  which  few  even  of  the  most  vio 
lent  secessionists  had  ventured  to  assert. 
March  He  thus  held  forth  to  the  applause 
21«  of  his  fellow-citizens  of  Savannah, 
and  to  the  horror  of  the  Christian  world, 
in  a  speech  exposing  the  objects  of  the 
Southern  rebellion  : 

"The  new  Constitution  has  put  at  rest 
forever  all  the  agitating  questions  re 
lating  to  our  peculiar  institutions — Af 
rican  slavery  as  it  exists  among  us — the 
proper  status  of  the  negro  in  our  form 
of  civilization.  This  was  the  immediate 
cause  of  the  late  rupture  and  present 
revolution.  Jefferson,  in  his  forecast, 
had  anticipated  this  as  the  '  rock  upon 
which  the  old  Union  would  split.'  He 
was  right.  What  was  conjecture  with 
him,  is  now  a  realized  fact.  But  whether 
he  fully  comprehended  the  great  truth 
upon  which  that  rock  stood  and  stands, 
may  be  doubted.  The  prevailing  ideas 
entertained  by  him  and  most  of  the  lead 
ing  statesmen  at  the  time  of  the  forma 
tion  of  the  old  Constitution  were,  that 
the  enslavement  of  the  African  was  in 
violation  of  the  laws  of  nature  ;  that  it 
was  wrong  in  principle,  socially,  mor 
ally,  and  politically.  It  was  an  evil  they 
knew  not  well  how  to  deal  with,  but  the 
general  opinion  of  the  men  of  that  day 
was,  that  somehow  or  other,  in  the  or 
der  of  Providence,  the  institution  would 
be  evanescent  and  pass  away.  This 
idea,  though  not  incorporated  in  the 
Constitution,  was  the  prevailing  idea  at 
the  time.  The  Constitution,  it  is  true, 
secured  every  essential  guarantee  to  the 
institution  while  it  should  last,  and  hence 


no  argument  can  be  justly  used  against 
the  constitutional  guarantees  thus  se 
cured,  because  of  the  common  sentiment 
of  the  day.  Those  ideas,  however,  were 
fundamentally  wrong.  They  rested  upon 
the  assumption  of  the  equality  of  races. 
This  was  an  error.  It  was  a  sandy 
foundation,  and  the  idea  of  a  govern 
ment  built  upon  it ;  when  the  '  storm 
came  and  the  wind  blew,  it  fell.' 

"  Our  new  government  is  founded 
upon  exactly  the  opposite  idea  ;  its 
foundations  are  laid,  its  corner-stone 
rests,  upon  the  great  truth  that  the 
negro  is  not  equal  to  the  white  man. 
That  slavery — subordination  to  the  supe 
rior  race — is  his  natural  and  moral  con 
dition.  This,  our  new  government,  is  the 
first,  in  the  history  of  the  world,  based 
upon  this  great  physical  and  moral  truth. 
This  truth  has  been  slow  in  the  process 
of  its  development,  like  all  other  truths 
in  the  various  departments  of  science. 
It  has  been  so  even  among  us.  Many 
who  hear  me,  perhaps,  can  recollect 
well,  that  this  truth  was  not  generally 
admitted,  even  within  their  day.  The 
errors  of  the  past  generation  still  clung 
to  many  as  late  as  twenty  years  ago. 
Those  at  the  North  who  still  cling  to 
these  errors,  with  a  zeal  above  knowl 
edge,  we  justly  denominate  fanatics. 
****** 

"In  the  conflict  thus  far,  success  has 
been,  on  our  side,  complete  throughout 
the  length  and  breadth  of  the  Confed 
erate  States.  It  is  upon  this,  as  I  have 
stated,  our  actual  fabric  is  firmly  plant 
ed,  and  I  cannot  permit  myself  to  doubt 
the  ultimate  success  of  a  full  recogni- 


SLAVERY— A  CORNER-STONE. 


1C1 


tion   of  this   principle    throughout  the 
civilized  and  enlightened  world, 

"  As  I  have  stated,  the  truth  of  this 
principle  may  be  slow  in  development, 
as  all  truths  are,  and  ever  have  been  in 
the  various  branches  of  science.     It  was 
so    with   the   principles    announced   by 
Galileo  ;  it  was  so  with  Adam    Smith 
and  his  principles  of  political  economy  ; 
it  was  so  with  Harvey  and  his  theory  of 
the  circulation  of  the  blood.     It  is  stated 
that  not  a  single  one  of  the  medical  pro 
fession,   living  at  the   time   of  the   an 
nouncement  of  the  truths  made  by  him, 
admitted  them.     Now  they  are  univer 
sally  acknowledged.     May  we  not,  there 
fore,  look  with  confidence   to  the  ulti 
mate  universal  acknowledgment  of  the 
truths  upon  which  our  system  rests.     It 
is  the  first  government  ever  instituted 
upon  principles  of  strict  conformity  to 
nature,    and    the    ordination    of  Provi 
dence,  in   furnishing   the    materials   of 
human     society.       Many     governments 
have  been  founded  upon  the  principle 
of  certain  classes,  but  the  classes  thus 
enslaved  were  of  the  same  race,  and  in 
violation  of  the  laws  of  nature.      Our 
system    commits   no    such  violation  of 
nature's  laws.     The  negro,  by  nature, 
or  by  the  curse  against  Canaan,  is  fitted 
for  that  condition  which  he  occupies  in 
our  system.     The  architect,  in  the  con 
struction  of  buildings,  lays  the  founda 
tion    with    the    proper    materials,    the 
granite  ;  then  comes  the   brick  or  the 
marble.     The  substratum  of  our  society 
is  made  of  the  materials  fitted  by  na 
ture  for  it,  and  by  experience  we  know 
that  it  is  best,  not  only  for  the  superior, 


but  for  the  inferior  race,  that  it  should 
be  so.  It  is,  indeed,  in  conformity  with 
the  ordinance  of  the  Creator.  It  is  not 
for  us  to  inquire  into  the  wisdom  of  His 
ordinances,  or  to  question  them.  For 
His  own  purposes  he  has  made  one 
race  to  differ  from  another,  as  He  haa 
made  '  one  star  to  differ  from  another 
star  in  glory.' 

"The  great  objects  of  humanity  are 
best  attained  when  conformed  to  His 
laws  and  decrees,  in  the  formation  of 
governments,  as  well  as  in  all  things 
else.  Our  confederacy  is  founded  upon 
principles  in  strict  conformity  with  these 
laws.  This  stone  which  was  rejected  by 
the  first  builders  '  is  become  the  chief 
stone  of  the  corner'  in  our  new  edifice. 

"  The  progress  of  disintegration  in  the 
old  Union  may  be  expected  to  go  on 
with  almost  absolute  certainty.  We  are 
now  the  nucleus  of  a  growing  power, 
which,  if  we  are  true  to  ourselves,  our 
destiny,  and  high  mission,  will  become 
the  controlling  power  on  this  continent. 
To  what  extent  accessions  will  go  on  in 
the  process  of  time,  or  where  it  will  end, 
the  future  will  determine." 

With  President  Davis  and  Vice-Pres- 
ident  Stephens  were  associated  in  the 
executive  department  of  the  confederacy 
Robert  Toombs,  of  Georgia,  as  secre 
tary  of  state  ;  C.  S.  Memminger,  of 
South  Carolina,  as  secretary  of  the 
treasury  ;  Leroy  Pope  Walker,  of  Ala 
bama,  as  secretary  of  war  ;  Judah  P. 
Benjamin,  of  Louisiana,  as  attorney- 
general  ;  Stephen  M.  Mallory,  of  Flor 
ida,  as  secretary  of  the  navy  ;  and  John 
H.  Reagan  as  postmaster-general. 


I  •.••*::..:.*•*•••*' THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


Toombs  was  born  in  Wilkes  County, 
Georgia,  on  the  2d  of  July,  1810.  His 
early  education  was  received  in  his  na 
tive  State,  but  after  a  short  collegiate 
career  at  the  University  of  Georgia,  he 
was  transferred  to  Union  College,  at 
Schenectady,  in  New  York,  where  he 
graduated.  After  studying  for  the  bar, 
his  restless  hankering  for  adventure  in 
duced  him  to  volunteer  to  serve  in  the 
Creek  war,  and  he  was  chosen  captain. 
On  his  return  home  he  was  elected 
to  the  Legislature,  and  subsequently  a 
member  of  the  United  States  House  of 
Representatives  and  of  the  United  States 
Senate.  He  was  conspicuous  always  as 
an  intemperate  advocate  of  slavery  and 
of  the  sovereign  rights  of  the  Southern 
States.  It  was  he  who  boasted  that  he 
would  call  the  roll  of  his  slaves  at  the 
base  of  the  Bunker  Hill  Monument  in 
Boston.  He  was  among  the  first  to 
move  in  behalf  of  secession,  and  while 
still  a  senator  of  the  United  States,  did 
not  cease  to  conspire  and  stir  up  his 
fellow-citizens  in  rebellion  against  the 
Union.  Possessed  of  an  impulsive  tem 
per,  and  unscrupulous  in  the  use  of 
means  to  gratify  his  desire,  he  was  one 
of  the  most  audacious  and  active,  if  not 
the  most  capable,  of  the  confederate 
leaders. 

Charles  Gustavus  Memminger  was 
born  in  Wurtemburg,  Germany,  on  the 
7th  of  January,  1803.  At  the  age  of  two 
years  he  was  brought  to  Charleston  by 
his  mother,  a  poor  widow,  who  soon 
after  died  and  left  him  destitute. 
Found  a  vagrant  child  in  the  streets, 
he  was  sent  to  the  orphan  asylum  of 


the  city,  where  he  remained  until  he 
was  nine  years  old.  His  lively  parts 
attracted  the  notice  of  Governor  Thomas 
Bennett,  who  received  him  into  his  fam 
ily  and  sent  him  to  Columbia  College, 
the  university  of  the  State,  where  he 
graduated  in  1820.  He  now  studied 
law,  and  was  admitted  to  practice  in 
1825. 

His  first  political  action  was  as  an 
opponent  of  South  Carolina  nullifica 
tion,  which  he  resisted  strenuously  and 
so  conspicuously,  that  he  was  recognized 
a  leader  of  the  Union  party.  He  aided 
the  cause  with  pen  as  well  as  speech, 
and  not  only  wrote  against  nullification 
in  the  political  journals,  but  ridiculed  it 
in  a  work  entitled,  "  The  Book  of  Nulli 
fication,"  written  in  Scriptural  style. 

In  1836  he  was  first  elected  to  the 
Legislature,  and  continued  to  serve  un 
remittingly  until  1852.  Being  appointed 
chairman  of  the  committee  on  finance — • 
a  position  he  retained  for  many  years — • 
he  made  that  subject  an  especial  study. 
He  opposed  the  suspension  of  specie 
payment  by  the  banks  of  South  Caro 
lina  in  1839,  and  on  the  question  com 
ing  before  the  courts,  was  employed  to 
assist  the  attorney-general  in  the  prose 
cution  of  a  case.  Though  opposed  by 
the  ablest  counsel  of  the  State,  he  gained 
his  cause,  and  the  banks  were  declared 
to  have  forfeited  their  charters.  While  in 
the  Legislature,  he  advocated  the  adop 
tion  of  the  Sub-treasury  scheme,  and 
abandoning  his  early  opinions,  sustained 
the  peculiar  political  views  of  Calhoun. 

In  1852  he  retired  from  public  life, 
but  again  in  1854  sought  and  obtained 


THE  CONFEDERATE   CABINET. 


103 


his  election  to  the  Legislature,  with  the 
view  of  effecting  a  reform  in  the  system 
of  public  schools,  in  which  he  finally 
succeeded,  in  spite  of  an  obstinate  op 
position. 

In  1859  he  was  appointed  a  commis 
sioner  of  South  Carolina  to  the  State  of 
Virginia,  to  induce  co-operation,  on  the 
part  of  the  slave  States,  in  resistance  to 
the  abolitionists  of  the  North,  a  fear  of 
whom  had  been  awakened  by  the  insur 
rectionary  attempt  of  John  Brown  at 
Harper's  Ferry.  Previously  he  had  al 
ways  borne  the  character  of  an  upright 
man  in  private  life,  though  for  a  long  time 
his  political  integrity  was  suspected  by 
the  constant  disunionists,  as  they  recalled 
his  early  efforts  in  favor  of  the  Union  and 
his  tardy  conversion  to  the  doctrine  of 
State  Rights.  His  active  interest  in  the 
Episcopal  Church,  to  whose  general  con 
vention  he  was  frequently  a  delegate,  and 
his  earnest  efforts  to  advance  the  public 
education  and  improve  the  charitable  in 
stitutions  of  his  city  and  State,  had  given 
him  a  character  for  piety  and  benevo 
lence  which  few  were  disposed  to  ques 
tion.  His  practised  capacity  as  a  finan 
cier,  and  his  general  accomplishments, 
made  him  one  of  the  most  efficient  of 
President  Davis'  cabinet. 

Leroy  Pope  Walker  was  born  in  Ala 
bama  in  the  year  1816.  His  family  is 
one  of  note  ;  his  father  was  a  man  of 
wealth  and  some  military  distinction  ; 
one  of  his  brothers  was  a  member  of 
Congress,  another  a  judge,  both  being 
prominent  men  in  the  late  confederacy. 
Prominent  as  a  politician,  he  was  always 
known  as  a  Southern  Democrat,  esoe- 


cially  devoted  to  the  interests  of  the 
slave  States.  He  stood  high  as  a  law 
yer,  and  man  of  eloquence  and  capacity 
in  business,  and  was  among  the  first  and 
most  ardent  to  espouse  the  cause  of  se 
cession  in  his  State. 

The  attorney-general,  Judah  P.  Ben 
jamin,  attained  to  great  eminence  as  a 
jurist  and  an  advocate  in  Louisiana. 
While  a  senator  of  the  United  States,  he 
was  a  professed  Whig,  but  always  a  State 
Rights'  partisan.  Being  a  brilliant  rhet 
orician,  a  subtle  lawyer,  a  man  skilled 
in  political  intrigue,  and  unscrupulous  in 
the  use  of  means  to  effect  the  objects  of 
party  or  to  reach  the  aim  of  his  personal 
ambition,  he  proved  an  able  adviser. 

Stephen  M.  Mallory  was  for  a  long 
period  a  United  States  senator  from 
Florida,  and  though  unobtrusive,  bore 
the  character  of  a  useful  member  of  the 
upper  house  of  Congress.  He  was  al 
ways  considered  a  conservative  man  in 
his  political  views,  and  supposed  to  be 
strongly  attached  to  the  Union.  He  is 
thought  to  have  linked  his  fortunes  to 
secession  rather  from  the  force  of  cir 
cumstances,  than  from  any  personal 
predilections  for  the  cause.  He  was 
probably  appointed  secretary  of  the 
navy  of  the  Confederate  States  in  con 
sequence  of  his  presumed  experience 
obtained  as  chairman  of  the  committee 
of  the  United  States  Senate  on  naval 
affairs. 

John  H.  Reagan,  the  postmaster  of 
the  Confederate  States,  was  but  little 
known  beyond  the  boundaries  of  his 
own  State,  although  he  had  served  sev 
eral  terms  in  the  national  Congress. 


104: 


THE  WAR   WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


CHAPTER     IX. 

Abraham  Lincoln  and  Hannibal  Hamlin  declared  duly  elected  President  and  Vice-President  of  the  United  States. — 
Opening  of  Electoral  Votes. — The  reading  of  the  Vote  of  South  Carolina. — Concentration  of  public  attention  upon 
Lincoln.—  The  Siege  of  Springfield. — Throng  of  Visitors. —Insatiable  Curiosity. — Lincoln  Photographed. — House 
and  Furniture  minutely  described. — Habits  and  Personal  Appearance  of  the  new  President  taken  off. — Social  Free 
dom  and  Political  Reticence. — A  Newspaper  Interpreter. — Lincoln  speaking  for  himself. — A  grave  Farewell. — Com 
mencement  of  a  triumphal  Journey. — Speeches. — Homely  Oratory. — A  clever  Illustration. — A  Night  Surprise. — An 
unexpected  Visitor. — Portentous  Intelligence. — A  Tragic  Plot. — Who  were  the  Conspirators  ? — The  effect  of  the 
intelligence  upon  Lincoln  and  his  Friends. — A  sudden  and  mysterious  Movement. — Lincoln  safe  in  Washington. — 
Indignation  at  Baltimore. — Exposition  of  the  Plot,  and  how  it  was  ferreted  out. — Congressional  Debates. — Critten- 
den  Compromise. — Adjournment  of  Peace  Conference. — The  Product. — Hopefulness  of  the  North. — Speculations  in 
regard  to  Lincoln's  Policy. — The  Inauguration. — The  Ceremonies. — Novel  Additions. — Thirty-four  young  Ladies  hi 
loving  Union.— A  strong  Military  Force  in  Ambush. — Reading  of  the  Message. — The  Notables. — The  Crowd. — The 
Message  of  Lincoln. 


ON  the  14th  of  February,  Abraham 
Lincoln,  of  Illinois,  and  Hannibal  Ham 
lin,  of  Maine,  were  declared  "duly 

ISIil 

elected"  President  and  Vice-Pres 
ident  of  the  United  States  for  the  four 
years  commencing  on  the  4th  of  March, 
1861.  The  senators  and  members  of 
Congress  having  been  assembled  in  the 
House  of  Representatives,  and  Vice- 
President  Breckinridge  having  taken  his 
seat  at  the  right  of  the  speaker,  he,  in 
accordance  with  the  Constitution,  opened 
the  packages  containing  the  electoral 
votes  of  the  several  States,  and  the  re 
sult  was  announced.  The  reading  of 
the  vote  of  South  Carolina  was  received 
with  an  exhibition  of  good-humored  hi 
larity. 

Immediately  after  the  election  of  Lin 
coln,  and  before  it  was  constitutionally 
announced,  all  the  attention  of  the  pub 
lic  was  concentrated  upon  the  future 
President.  Eager  office-seekers,  news 
paper  gossip-mongers,  insatiate  photog 
raphers,  aspiring  politicians,  and  civic 


deputations  thronged  the  little  town  of 
Springfield,  in  Illinois,  and  beset  Mr. 
Lincoln  in  his  humble  home.  With  his 
usual  readiness  of  welcome,  he  had  a 
hand  to  shake  with  all  comers,  and  none 
went  away  without  a  good-natured  word 
and  an  impression  of  the  unpretending 
amiability  and  simple  honesty  of  the  new 
President.  His  visitors,  with  a  desire  to 
satisfy  the  insatiable  curiosity  of  the 
public,  concentrated  their  powers  of  ob 
servation  upon  him,  and  took  care  to 
describe  with  photographic  minuteness 
his  every  feature,  word,  movement,  and 
local  surrounding.  Through  his  wicket 
gate,  open  to  every  comer,  they  walked, 
unbidden,  into  his  residence,  noting  each 
clap-board  of  its  shingly  structure,  and 
reproduced  in  print  and  picture  the 
"good-sized  house  of  wood,  simply  but 
tastefully  furnished,  surrounded  by  trees 
arid  flowers."  Having  a  free  run  from 
kitchen  to  garret,  they  strolled  into  the 
library,  cataloguing  his  law-books,  and 
inspecting  his  accounts,  informed  the 


LINCOLN   PHOTOGRAPHED. 


105 


world  that  "  he  owes  no  man  a  dollar  ;" 
they  lounged  in  the  parlor  and  took  an 
inventory  of  Brussels  carpet,  sofa,  pi 
ano,  and  of  Mrs.  Lincoln,  in  her  newest 
silk.  They  dogged  Mr.  Lincoln  every 
where,  from  his  breakfast,  through  the 
town  to  his  daily  round  of  business,  and 
back  again  to  his  dining-table,  duly  re 
porting  that  "  he  loves  a  good  dinner, 
and  eats  with  the  appetite  which  goes 
with  a  great  brain,  but  his  food  is  plain 
and  nutritious  ;  he  never  drinks  intox 
icating  liquors  of  any  sort." 

Meanwhile,  they  had  fixed  every  line 
and  tint,  every  light  an£  shadow,  of  the 
man  upon  their  memorandum-books  and 
photographic  plates.  Thus  his  fellow- 
citizens  throughout  the  country  could 
see  at  a  glance  that ' '  his  features,  though 
they  are  those  of  a  man  of  mark,  are  not 
such  as  belong  to  a  handsome  man  ;  that 
his  eyes  are  "  dark  grey,  and  fine  when 
lighted  up  ;"  his  hair  black  and,  though 
thin,  wiry  ;  "  his  head  sits  well  on  his 
shoulders,  but  beyond  that,  defies  de 
scription  ;"  that  his  "head  is  unlike 
either  Webster  or  Clay's,  but  is  very 
large  and  phrenologically  well  propor 
tioned,  betokening  power  in  all  its  de 
velopments  ;"  that  he  has  "  a  slightly 
Roman  nose,  a  wide-cut  mouth,  and  a 
dark  complexion,  with  the  appearance 
of  having  been  weather-beaten." 

There  was,  however,  notwithstanding 
the  free  exposition  of  Mr.  Lincoln  to  his 
inquisitive  visiters  on  most  points,  a  res 
olute  reticence  in  regard  to  his  future 
action  toward  the  secession  States  of  the 
South.  To  the  "  hundreds  of  people" 
who  had  flocked  to  Springfield  and  met 

14 


him  at  a  public  reception  in  the  town- 
hall,  he  frankly  declared  that  the  time 
had  not  come  for  a  definition  of  the 
policy  of  his  administration,  and  tha 
they  must  be  satisfied  for  the  present 
with  a  hearty  greeting,  which  he  pro 
ceeded  to  give  by  "shaking  hands  with 
most  of  the  attendants."* 

Public  curiosity  was  aroused  to  the 
highest  pitch,  and  although  Lincoln  res 
olutely  kept  silence,  some  of  the  news 
papers,  unable  to  resist  the  universal 
eagerness  for  an  oracular  response,  spoke 
for  him  :  "I  will  suffer,"  said  his  news 
paper  interpreter  in  behalf  of  Lincoln, 
"  death  before  I  will  consent,  or  will  ad 
vise  my  friends  to  consent,  to  any  con 
cession  or  compromise  which  looks  like 
buying  the  privilege  of  taking  possession 
of  this  government,  to  which  we  have  a 
constitutional  right,  because  whatever  I 
might  think  of  the  merit  of  the  various 
propositions  before  Congress,  I  should 
regard  any  concession  in  the  face  of 
menace  the  destruction  of  the  Govern 
ment  itself,  and  a  consent  on  all  hands 
that  our  system  shall  be  brought  down 
to  a  level  with  the  existing  disorgan 
ized  state  of  affairs  in  Mexico.  But  this 
thing  will  hereafter  be  as  it  is  now,  in 
the  hands  of  the  people  ;  and  if  they 
desire  to  call  a  convention  to  remove 
any  grievances  complained  of,  or  to 
give  new  guarantees  for  the  perma 
nence  of  vested  rights,  it  is  not  mine  to 
oppose." 

When  his  election  was,  however,  duly 
declared,  Mr.  Lincoln  ventured  to  speak 
for  himself.  On  the  llth  of  February 

•  New  York  Times,  Feb.  4th,  1861. 


IOC 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


he  bade  fare  well  to  his  fellow-citizens  at 
Springfield  in  these  grave  words  : 

"  MY  FRIENDS  :  No  one  not  in  my  po 
sition  can  appreciate  the  sadness  I  feel  at 
this  parting.  To  this  people  I  owe  all 
that  I  am.  Here  I  have  lived  more 
than  a  quarter  of  a  century,  here  my 
children  were  born,  and  here  one  of 
them  lies  buried.  I  know  not  how  soon 
I  shall  see  you  again.  A  duty  devolves 
upon  me  which  is,  perhaps,  greater  than 
that  which  has  devolved  upon  any  other 
man  since  the  days  of  Washington.  He 
never  would  have  succeeded  except  for 
the  aid  of  Divine  Providence,  upon 
which  he  at  all  times  relied.  I  feel  that 
I  cannot  succeed  without  the  same  Di 
vine  aid  which  sustained  him  ;  and  in 
the  same  Almighty  Being  I  place  my 
reliance  for  support,  and  I  hope  you, 
my  friends,  will  all  pray  that  I  may  re 
ceive  that  Divine  assistance,  without 
which  I  cannot  succeed,  but  with  which 
success  is  certain.  Again  I  bid  you  all 
an  affectionate  farewell." 

This  solemn  leave-taking  brought  tears 
into  his  eyes  and  those  of  his  fellow-cit 
izens.  He  now  commenced  a  triumphant 
journey  toward  Washington.  Crowds 
of  people,  with  civic  deputations  at  their 
head,  met  and  welcomed  him  on  his 
passage  through  the  large  cities.  His 
speeches,  which  were  frequent,  showed 
an  amiable  desire,  though  not  always 
gracefully  expressed,  to  conciliate  his 
political  opponents  by  yielding  his  par 
tisanship  to  the  general  interests  of  the 
country,  but  evinced  a  resolute  deter 
mination  to  uphold  the  Federal  au 
thority  against  the  attacks  of  its  ene 


mies.  His  homely  oratory  was  taken 
generally  in  good  part  by  those  who 
listened  to  it,  and  it  occasionally,  by  an 
apt  illustration,  struck  a  chord  of  pop 
ular  sympathy.  "In  their  [the  seces 
sionists]  view,"  he  said  happily  at  In 
dianapolis,  "  the  Union,  as  a  family 
relation,  would  seem  to  be  no  regular 
marriage,  but  rather  a  sort  of  free-love 
arrangement,  to  be  maintained  on  pas 
sional  attraction." 

After  passing  through  Cincinnati,  In 
dianapolis,  Columbus,  Pittsburg,  New 
York,  and  Trenton,  he  finally  reached 
Philadelphia.  Here,  to  the  usual  pro 
gramme  of  military  parade,  public  re 
ception,  speech-making,  and  shaking  of 
hands,  was  added  that  of  raising  the 
American  flag  upon  Independence  Hall, 
the  ancient  seat  of  Congress,  on  Fri 
day,  the  22d  of  February,  the  anniver 
sary  of  Washington's  birthday. 

On  the  night  previous,  Mr.  Lincoln, 
after  having  gone  to  bed  in  the  hotel, 
was  aroused  and  informed  that  a  visitor 
desired  to  see  him  on  "  a  matter  of  life 
and  death."  He  was  refused  admission, 
unless  he  gave  his  name,  which  he  did, 
and  as  it  was  one  that  carried  with  it 
an  authority*  that  Mr.  Lincoln  was  not 
disposed  to  pass  unheeded,  he,  while 
"  yet  disrobed,"  received  the  visitor. 

The  object  of  this  mysterious,  noc 
turnal  visit  was  to  inform  Mr.  Lincoln 
of  the  organization  of  a  body  of  men 
who  had  determined  that  he  should  not 
be  inaugurated  President,  and  to  effect 
their  purpose,  were  ready  to  capture 


°  The  visitor  was,  it  is  believed,  the  son  of  Mr.  Lincoln's 
secretary  of  state. 


LINCOLN  SAFE  IN   WASHINGTON. 


107 


him  or  to  take  his  life  on  his  way  to 
Washington.  Some  influential  persons 
in  the  interests  of  the  secessionists  were 
Fell,  supposed  to  be  implicated  in  the 
2Bi  plot.  The  morning's  telegram  came 
with  this  startling  announcement : 

"Statesmen  laid  the  plan,  bankers  in 
dorsed  it,  and  adventurers  were  to  carry 
it  into  effect.  As  they  understood  Mr. 
Lincoln  was  to  leave  Harrisburg  at  nine 
o'clock  this  morning  by  special  train, 
the  idea  was,  if  possible,  to  throw  the 
cars  from  the  road  at  some  point  where 
they  would  rush  down  a  steep  embank 
ment  and  destroy  in  a  moment  the  lives 
of  all  on  board.  In  case  of  the  failure 
of  this  project,  their  plan  was  to  sur 
round  the  carriage  on  the  way  from 
depot  to  depot  in  Baltimore,  and  assas 
sinate  him  with  dagger  or  pistol-shot." 

Whatever  may  have  been  the  exact 
nature  of  the  revelation,  it  was  suffi 
ciently  serious  to  induce  his  wife  and 
friends  to  persuade  the  reluctant  Mr. 
Lincoln  to  forego  the  continuance  of  his 
triumphal  progress  of  public  reception, 
flag-raising,  speech-making,  and  hand 
shaking. 

"  Mr.  Lincoln  did  not  want  to  yield," 
says  the  telegraph  reporter,  "and  Col. 
Sumner  actually  cried  with  indignation  ; 
but  Mrs.  Lincoln,  seconded  by  Mr.  Judd 
,,  and  Mr.  Lincoln's  original  inform- 
23.  ant,  insisted  upon  it,  and  at  nine 
o'clock  Mr.  Lincoln  left  on  a  special  train. 
He  wore  a  Scotch  plaid  cap  and  a  very 
long  military  cloak,  so  that  he  was  en 
tirely  unrecognizable.  Accompanied  by 
Superintendent  Lewis  and  one  friend, 
he  started,  while  all  the  town,  with  the 


xception  of  Mrs.  Lincoln,  Col.  Sumner, 
Mr.  Judd,  and  two  reporters,  who  were 
sworn  to  secresy,  supposed  him  to  be 
asleep. 

"  The  telegraph  wires  were  put  be 
yond  the  reach  of  any  one  who  might 
desire  to  use  them." 

At  the  same  moment  that  the  world 
was  excited  by  this  alarming  intelli 
gence,  its  agitation  was  composed  by 
the  welcome  statement  that  Mr.  Lin 
coln  had  arrived  safe  atWillard's  Hotel, 
in  Washington,  and  on  the  same  day, 
"  accompanied  by  Mr.  Seward,  had  paid 
his  respects  to  President  Buchanan"  at 
the  White  House. 

The  press  and  people  of  Baltimore 
supposed  to  be  friendly  to  secession  ex 
pressed  great  disappointment  and  indig 
nation  that  Lincoln  and  his  friends 
should  have  manifested  any  distrust  of 
their  hospitality.  Those,  however,  who 
were  unquestionably  loyal  to  the  Union, 
confessed  to  a  riotous  intent  on  the  part 
of  some  of  the  people  of  Baltimore,  and 
declared  that  Lincoln's  proceeding  was 
"  a  simple  and  practical  avoidance  of 
what  might  have  been  an  occasion  of 
disorder  and  of  mortification  to  all  inter 
ested  in  the  preservation  of  the  good 
name  of  the  city."* 

A  detailed,  and  apparently  authentic 
exposition  of  the  formation  of  the  plot, 
the  agents  employed,  and  the  means 
used  to  thwart  it,  appeared  in  one  of  the 
Northern  journals. f 

"  Some  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  friends  having 
heard  that  a  conspiracy  existed  to  as 
sassinate  him  on  his  way  to  Washington, 


0  Biiltimore  American. 


f  Albany  Evening  Journal. 


108 


THE   WAR  WITH   THE   SOUTH. 


set  on  foot  an  investigation  of  the 
matter.  For  this  .  purpose  they  em 
ployed  a  detective  of  great  experience, 
who  was  engaged  at  Baltimore  in  the 
business  some  three  weeks  prior  to 
Mr.  Lincoln's  expected  arrival  there, 
employing  both  men  and  women  to 
assist  him.  Shortly  after  his  coming 
to  Baltimore,  the  detective  discovered 
a  combination  of  men  banded  together 
under  a  most  solemn  oath  to  assas 
sinate  the  President-elect.  The  leader 
of  the  conspirators  was  an  Italian  refu 
gee,  a  barber,  well-known  in  Balti 
more,  who  assumed  the  name  of  Orsini, 
as  indicative  of  the  part  he  was  to  per 
form.  The  assistants  employed  by  the 
detective,  who,  like  himself,  were  stran 
gers  in  Baltimore  city,  by  assuming  to 
be  secessionists  from  Louisiana  and 
other  seceding  States,  gained  the  con 
fidence  of  some  of  the  conspirators,  and 
were  intrusted  with  their  plans.  It  was 
arranged  in  case  Mr.  Lincoln  should 
pass  safely  over  the  railroad  to  Balti 
more,  that  the  conspirators  should 
mingle  with  the  crowd  which  might  sur 
round  his  carriage,  and  by  pretending  to 
be  his  friends,  be  enabled  to  approach 
his  person,  when,  upon  a  signal  from 
their  leader,  some  of  them  would  shoot 
at  Mr.  Lincoln  with  their  pistols,  and 
others  would  throw  into  his  carriage 
hand-grenades  filled  with  detonating 
powder,  similar  to  those  used  in  the 
attempted  assassination  of  the  Emperor 
Louis  Napoleon.  It  was  intended  that 
in  the  confusion  which  should  result 
from  this  attack,  the  assailants  should 
escape  to  a  vessel  which  was  waiting  in 


the  harbor  to  receive  them,  and  be 
carried  to  Mobile,  in  the  seceding  State 
of  Alabama. 

"  Upon  Mr.  Lincoln's  arrival  in  Phila 
delphia  upon  Thursday,  the  21st  of 
February,  the  detective  visited  Philadel 
phia,  and  submitted  to  certain  friends  of 
the  President-elect  the  information  he 
had  collected  as  to  the  conspirators  and 
their  plans.  An  interview  was  immedi 
ately  arranged  between  Mr.  Lincoln  and 
the  detective.  The  interview  took  place 
in  Mr.  Lincoln's  room,  in  the  Conti 
nental  Hotel,  where  he  was  staying  dur 
ing  his  visit  in  Philadelphia. 

"Mr.  Lincoln,  having  heard  the  officer's 
statement,  informed  him  that  he  had 
promised  to  raise  the  American  flag  on 
Independence  Hall  on  the  next  morning 
—the  morning  of  the  anniversary  of 
Washington's  birthday — and  that  he 
had  accepted  the  invitation  of  the 
Pennsylvania  Legislature  to  be  publicly 
received  by  that  body  in  the  afternoon 
of  the  same  day.  '  Both  of  these  en 
gagements,'  said  he,  with  emphasis,  'I 
will  keep  if  it  costs  me  my  life.  If, 
however,  after  I  shall  have  concluded 
these  engagements,  you  can  take  me  in 
safety  to  Washington,  I  will  place  my 
self  at  your  disposal,  and  authorize  you 
to  make  such  arrangements  as  you  may 
deem  proper  for  that  purpose. 

"  On  the  next  day,  in  the  morning, 
Mr.  Lincoln  performed  the  ceremony  of 
raising  the  American  flag  on  Indepen 
dence  Hall,  in  Philadelphia,  according 
to  his  promise,  and  arrived  at  Harrisburg 
on  the  afternoon  of  the  same  day,  where 
he  was  formally  welcomed  by  the  Penn- 


THE  ASSASSINS'  PLOT. 


109 


sylvania  Legislature.  After  the  recep 
tion,  he  retired  to  his  hotel,  the  Jones 
House,  and  withdrew  with  a  few  con 
fidential  friends  to  a  private  apartment. 
Here  he  remained  until  nearly  six  o'clock 
in  the  evening,  when,  in  company  with 
Colonel  Lamon,  he  quietly  entered  a 
carriage  without  observation,  and  was 
driven  to  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad, 
where  a  special  train  for  Philadelphia 
was  waiting  for  him.  Simultaneously 
with  his  departure  from  Harrisburg,  the 
telegraph  wires  were  cut,  so  that  his 
departure,  if  it  should  become  known, 
might  not  be  communicated  at  a  dis- 

o 

tance. 

"The  special  train  arrived  in  Phila 
delphia  at  a  quarter  to  eleven  at  night. 
Here  he  was  met  by  the  detective,  who 
had  a  carriage  in  readiness  into  which 
the  party  entered,  and  were  driven  to 
the  depot  of  the  Philadelphia,  Wil 
mington,  and  Baltimore  Railroad. 

"  They  did  not  reach  the  depot  until 
a  quarter  past  eleven  ;  but,  fortunately 
for  them,  the  regular  train,  the  hour  of 
which  for  starting  was  eleven,  had  been 
delayed.  The  party  then  took  berths 
in  the  sleeping  car,  and  without  change 
of  cars  passed  directly  through  to 
Washington,  where  they  arrived  at  the 
usual  hour,  half-past  six  o'clock,  on  the 
morning  of  Saturday  the  23d.  Mr. 
Lincoln  wore  no  disguise  whatever,  but 
journeyed  in  an  ordinary  traveling 
dress. 

"  It  is  proper  to  state  here  that,  prior 
to  Mr.  Lincoln's  arrival  in  Philadelphia, 
General  Scott  and  Senator  Seward,  in 
Washington,  had  been  apprised,  from 


independent  sources,  that  imminent  dan 
ger  threatened  Mr.  Lincoln  in  case  he 
should  publicly  pass  through  Baltimore  ; 
and  accordingly  a  special  messenger, 
Mr.  Frederick  W.  Seward,  a  son  of  Sena 
tor  Seward,  was  dispatched  to  Philadel 
phia,  to  urge  Mr.  Lincoln  to  come  direct 
to  Washington,  in  a  quiet  manner.  The 
messenger  arrived  in  Philadelphia  late 
on  Thursday  night,  and  had  an  interview 
with  the  President-elect,  immediately 
subsequent  to  his  interview  with  the 
detective.  He  was  informed  that  Mr. 
Lincoln  would  arrive  by  the  early  train 
on  Saturday  morning,  and,  in  accord 
ance  with  this  information,  Mr.  Wash- 
burn,  member  of  Congress  from  Illinois, 
awaited  the  President-elect  at  the  depot 
in  Washington,  whence  he  was  taken  in 
a  carriage  to  Willard's  Hotel,  where 
Senator  Seward  stood  ready  to  receive 
him. 

"The  detective  traveled  with  Mr.  Lin 
coln  under  the  name  of  E.  J.  Allen,  which 
name  was  registered  with  the  President 
elect's  on  the  book  at  Willard's -Hotel. 
Being  a  well-known  individual,  he  was 
speedily  recognized,  and  suspicion  nat 
urally  arose  that  he  had  been  instru 
mental  in  exposing  the  plot  which  caused 
Mr.  Lincoln's  hurried  journey.  It  was 
deemed  prudent  that  he  should  leave 
Washington  two  days  after  his  arrival, 
although  he  had  intended  to  remain 
and  witness  the  ceremonies  of  inaugu 
ration. 

"The  friends  of  Mr.  Lincoln  do  not 
question  the  loyalty  and  hospitality  of 
the  people  of  Maryland,  bat  they  were 
aware  that  a  few  disaffected  citizens 


110 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


who  sympathized  warmly  with  the  se 
cessionists,  were  determined  to  frus 
trate,  at  all  hazards,  the  inauguration 
of  the  President-elect,  even  at  the  cost 
of  his  life. 

"  The  characters  and  pursuits  of  the 
conspirators  were  various.  Some  of 
them  were  impelled  by  a  fanatical  zeal 
which  they  termed  patriotism,  and  they 
justified  their  acts  by  the  example  of 
Brutus,  in  ridding  his  country  of  a  ty 
rant.  One  of  them  was  accustomed  to 
recite  passages  put  into  the  mouth  of 
the  character  of  Brutus,  in  Shakspeare's 
play  of  "Julius  Caesar."  Others  wrere 
stimulated  by  the  offer  of  pecuniary  re 
ward.  These,  it  was  observed,  staid 
away  from  their  usual  places  of  work 
for  several  weeks  prior  to  the  intended 
assault.  Although  their  circumstances 
had  previously  rendered  them  depend 
ent  on  their  daily  labor  for  support, 
they  were  during  this  time  abundantly 
supplied  with  money,  which  they  squan 
dered  in  bar-rooms  and  disreputable 
places. 

"  After  the  discovery  of  the  plot,  a 
strict  watch  was  kept  by  the  agents  of 
detection  over  the  movements  of  the 
conspirators,  and  efficient  measures  were 
adopted  to  guard  against  any  attack 
which  they  might  meditate  upon  the 
President-elect  until  he  was  installed  in 
office. 

"  Mr.  Lincoln's  family  left  Harrisburg 
for  Baltimore,  on  their  way  to  Wash 
ington,  in  the  special  train  intended  for 
him.  And  as,  before  starting,  a  mes 
sage  announcing  Mr.  Lincoln's  depart 
ure  and  arrival  at  Washington  had  been 


telegraphed  to  Baltimore  over  the  wires, 
which  had  been  repaired  that  morning, 
the  passage  through  Baltimore  was  safely 
effected. 

"The  remark  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  during 
the  ceremony  of  raising  the  flag  on  In 
dependence  Hall  on  Friday  morning, 
that  he  would  assert  his  principles  on 
his  inauguration,  although  he  were  to 
be  assassinated  on  the  spot,  had  evident 
reference  to  the  communication  made  to 
him  by  the  detective  on  the  night  pre 
ceding. 

"  The  names  of  the  conspirators  will 
not  at  present  be  divulged  ;  but  they 
are  in  possession  of  responsible  parties, 
including  the  President. 

"The  number  originally  ascertained 
to  be  banded  together  for  the  assassina 
tion  of  Mr.  Lincoln  was  twenty ;  but 
the  number  of  those  who  were  fully  ap 
prised  of  the  details  of  the  plot  became 
daily  smaller  as  the  time  for  executing 
it  drew  near. 

"  Some  of  the  women  employed  by 
the  detective  went  to  serve  as  waiters, 
seamstresses,  etc.,  in  the  families  of  the 
conspirators,  and  a  record  was  regularly 
kept  of  what  was  said  and  done  to  fur 
ther  their  enterprise.  A  record  was 
also  kept  by  the  detective  of  their  de 
liberations  in  secret  conclave,  but,  for 
sufficient  reasons,  it  is  withheld  for  the 
present  from  publication.  The  detec 
tive  and  his  agents  regularly  contributed 
money  to  pay  the  expenses  of  the  con 
spiracy." 

In  the  mean  time,  while  the  tri 
umphal  progress  of  Mr.  Lincoln  was 
brought  to  so  inglorious  a  close  by  his 


THE  PEACE   CONFERENCE. 


Ill 


forced  flight  to  the  capital,  and  the 
country  was  rejoicing  at  his  escape  from 
his  enemies,  the  Senate  was  busily  at 
work  striving,  by  excited  debate  and 
discordant  motions,  to  compose  the 
country.  The  "  Crittenden  Comprom 
ise"  continued  to  be  the  main  subject 
of  discussion,  which  promised  to  be  in 
definitely  protracted  by  the  perplexing 
amendments  of  the  secessionists  on  the 
one  hand,  and  the  Republicans  on  the 
other.  The  "Peace  Conference,"  too, 
Feb.  was  m  constant  session,  and  after  a 
27.  long  labor  finally  adjourned  sine 
die,  after  having  brought  forth  a  propo 
sition  of  compromise  which  was  destined 
to  prove,  like  the  rest,  but  an  abortive 
attempt  to  conciliate  discordant  factions. 
The  more  important  points  of  this  plan 
were  embraced  in  these  two  sections  of 
the  thirteenth  article  : 

"  Sec.  1.  In  all  the  present  territory 
of  the  United  States  north  of  the  par 
allel  of  36  degrees  30  minutes  of  north 
latitude,  involuntary  servitude,  except 
as  punishment  of  crime,  is  prohibited. 
In  all  the  present  territory  south  of  that 
line  the  status  of  persons  held  to  service 
or  labor,  as  it  now  exists,  shall  not  be 
changed.  Nor  shall  any  law  be  passed 
by  Congress  or  the  territorial  legis 
lature  to  hinder  or  prevent  the  taking 
of  such  persons  from  any  of  the  States 
of  the  Union  to  said  territory,  nor  to 
impair  the  rights  arising  from  said  rela 
tion.  But  the  same  shall  be  subject 
to  judicial  cognizance  in  the  Federal 
courts,  according  to  the  course  of  the 
common  law.  When  any  territory, 
north  or  south  of  said  line,  with  such 


boundary  as  Congress  may  prescribe, 
shall  contain  a  population  equal  to  that 
required  for  a  member  of  Congress,  it 
shall,  if  its  form  of  government  be  re 
publican,  be  admitted  into  the  Union 
on  an  equal  footing  with  the  original 
States,  with  or  without  involuntary  serv 
itude,  as  the  constitution  of  such  State 
may  provide. 

"  Sec.  2.  Territory  shall  not  be  ac 
quired  by  the  United  States,  unless  by 
treaty  ;  nor,  except  for  naval  and  com 
mercial  stations  and  depots,  unless  such 
treaty  shall  be  ratified  by  four-fifths  of 
all  the  members  of  the  Senate." 

The  other  articles  prohibited  Con 
gress  from  abolishing  slavery  in  the  Dis 
trict  of  Columbia  without  the  consent 
of  Maryland  and  of  the  owners,  and 
without  making  due  compensation  ;  from 
abolishing  slavery  in  the  United  States 
dock-yards  ;  and  from  taxing  slaves  high 
er  than  land.  One  article  prohibited  the 
slave-trade  forever  ;  and  another  aimed 
at  a  more  thorough  execution  of  the 
Fugitive  Slave  law. 

These  propositions  of  the  peace  con 
ference  seemed  to  meet  with  no  more 
favor  than  the  other  attempts  to  har 
monize  the  discordant  opinions  of  the 
Senate.  The  people  of  the  North,  how 
ever,  were  still  hopeful,  though  they 
despaired  of  the  efficacy  of  congres 
sional  action.  It  was  to  the  future  Pres 
ident  that  the  universal  attention  was 
directed.  Various  speculations  were  in 
dulged  in,  in  regard  to  his  policy  j  but 
while  some  believed  that  it  would  be 
conciliatory  or  conservative,  as  they 
termed  it,  and  others,  that  it  would 


112 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


be  in  strict  conformity  with  his  party 
pledges  and  fatal  to  all  hopes  of  com 
promise,  none  doubted  that  the  power 
of  the  Federal  authority  would  be  as 
serted  by  the  new  President  with  more 
firmness  than  it  had  been  by  his  prede 
cessor. 

The  day  for  the  inauguration  of  the 
new  President  came.  The  usual  cere- 
March  monies  were  observed,  with  the 
^h.  addition,  however,  of  some  de 
tails  peculiar  to  the  times.  While  "  thir 
ty-four  young  ladies  in  white,  seated  in 
a  van,  labeled  Constitution,"  ostenta 
tiously  represented  the  sisterly  union  of 
the  thirty-four  States  in  the  public  pro 
cession,  a  considerable  force  of  regulars 
and  militia  had,  by  the  cautious  previ 
sion  of  the  veteran  commander-in-chief, 
Lieutenant-General  Scott,  been  secretly 
disposed,  so  as  to  be  in  readiness  to  sup 
press  any  hostile  attempt  to  disturb  the 
national  programme. 

Mr.  Lincoln  having  reached,  in  com 
pany  with  President  Buchanan,  the  plat 
form  on  the  portico  of  the  Capitol,  where 
the  judges  of  the  Supreme  Court,  the 
senators,  and  members  of  the  House  of 
Representatives,  the  foreign  ambassa 
dors,  and  other  notable  persons  had  as 
sembled,  was  formally  introduced  to  the 
twenty-five  thousand  people  gathered 
below,  and  in  "  a  clear,  strong  voice" 
proceeded  to  read  his  inaugural : 
"  FELLOW-CITIZENS  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES  : 

"  In  compliance  with  a  custom  as  old 
as  the  Government  itself,  I  appear  be 
fore  you  to  address  you  briefly,  and  to 
take,  in  your  presence,  the  oath  pre 
scribed  by  the  Constitution  of  the  United 


States  to  be  taken  by  the  President  be 
fore  he  enters  on  the  execution  of  his 
office. 

"I  do  not  consider  it  necessary,  at 
present,  for  me  to  discuss  those  matters 
of  administration  about  which  there  is 
no  special  anxiety  or  excitement.  Ap 
prehension  seems  to  exist  among  the 
people  of  the  Southern  States  that,  by 
the  accession  of  a  Republican  adminis 
tration,  their  property,  and  their  peace, 
and  personal  security  are  to  be  endan 
gered.  There  has  never  been  any  rea 
sonable  cause  for  such  apprehension. 
Indeed,  the  most  ample  evidence  to  the 
contrary  has  all  the  while  existed  and 
been  open  to  their  inspection.  It  is 
found  in  nearly  all  the  published  speeches 
of  him  who  now  addresses  you.  I  do 
but  quote  from  one  of  those  speeches, 
when  I  declare  that  '  I  have  no  pur 
pose,  directly  or  indirectly,  to  interfere 
with  the  institution  of  slavery  in  the 
States  where  it  exists.'  I  believe  I 
have  no  lawful  right  to  do  so,  and  I 
have  no  inclination  to  do  so.  Those 
who  nominated  and  elected  me,  did  so 
with  the  full  knowledge  that  I  had  made 
this,  and  made  many  similar  declara 
tions,  and  had  never  recanted  them. 
And  more  than  this,  they  placed  in  the 
platform,  for  my  acceptance,  and  as  a 
law  to  themselves  and  to  me,  the  clear 
and  emphatic  resolution  which  I  now 
read : 

"  '  Resolved,  That  the  maintenance  in 
violate  of  the  rights  of  the  States,  and 
especially  the  right  of  each  State  to  or 
der  and  control  its  own  domestic  insti- 
tions  according  to  its  own  judgment  ex- 


LINCOLN   ON  FUGITIVE   SLAVES. 


113 


clusively,  is  essential  to  that  balance  of 
power  on  which  the  perfection  and  en 
durance  of  our  political  fabric  depend  ; 
and  we  denounce  the  lawless  invasion 
by  armed  force  of  the  soil  of  any  State 
or  Territory,  no  matter  under  what  pre 
text,  as  among  the  gravest  of  crimes.' 

"  I  now  reiterate  these  sentiments  ; 
and  in  doing  so  I  only  press  upon  the 
public  attention  the  most  conclusive  evi 
dence  of  which  the  case  is  susceptible, 
that  the  property,  peace,  and  security 
of  no  section  are  to  be  in  anywise  en 
dangered  by  the  now  incoming  admin 
istration. 

"I  add,  too,  that  all  the  protection 
which,  consistently  with  the  Constitu 
tion  and  the  laws,  can  be  given,  will  be 
cheerfully  given  to  all  the  States  when 
lawfully  demanded,  for  whatever  cause, 
as  cheerfully  to  one  section  as  to  an 
other. 

"  There  is  much  controversy  about  the 
delivering  up  of  fugitives  from  service 
or  labor.  The  clause  I  now  read  is  as 
plainly  written  in  the  Constitution  as 
any  other  of  its  provisions  : 

"  'No  person  held  to  service  or  labor 
in  one  State  under  the  laws  thereof, 
escaping  into  another,  shall,  in  conse 
quence  of  any  law  or  regulation  therein, 
be  discharged  from  such  service  or 
labor,  but  shall  be  delivered  up  on 
claim  of  the  party  to  whom  such  service 
or  labor  may  be  due.' 

"It  is  scarcely  questioned  that  this 
provision  was  intended  by  those  who 
made  it  for  the  reclaiming  of  what  we 
call  fugitive  slaves  ;  and  the  intention 
of  the  lawgiver  is  the  law. 


"All  members  of  Congress  swear 
their  support  to  the  whole  Constitution 
— to  this  provision  as  well  as  any  other. 
To  the  proposition,  then,  that  slaves 
whose  cases  come  within  the  terms  of 
this  clause  'shall  be  delivered  up,'  their 
oaths  are  unanimous.  Now,  if  they 
would  make  the  effort  in  good  temper, 
could  they  not,  with  nearly  equal  unan 
imity,  frame  and  pass  a  law  by  means 
of  which  to  keep  good  that  unanimous 
oath? 

"  There  is  some  difference  of  opinion 
whether  this  clause  should  be  enforced 
by  national  or  by  state  authority  ;  but 
surely  that  difference  is  not  a  very 
material  one.  If  the  slave  is  to  be  sur 
rendered,  it  can  be  of  but  little  conse 
quence  to  him  or  to  others  by  which 
authority  it  is  done  ;  and  should  any 
one,  in  any  case,  be  content  that  this 
oath  shall  go  unkept  on  a  merely  un 
substantial  controversy  as  to  how  it  shall 
be  kept? 

"  Again,  in  any  law  upon  this  subject, 
ought  not  all  the  safeguards  of  liberty 
known  in  the  civilized  and  humane  ju 
risprudence  to  be  introduced,  so  that  a 
free  man  be  not,  in  any  case,  surren 
dered  as  a  slave  ?  And  might  it  not  be 
well  at  the  same  time  to  provide  by  law 
for  the  enforcement  of  that  clause  in  the 
Constitution  which  guaranties  that  '  the 
citizens  of  each  State  shall  be  entitled 
to  all  the  privileges  and  immunities  of 
citizens  in  the  several  States  ?' 

"  I  take  the  official  oath  to-day  with 
no  mental  reservations,  and  with  no 
purpose  to  construe  the  Constitution  or 
laws  by  any  hypercritical  rules ;  and 


114 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE   SOUTH 


while  I  do  not  choose  now  to  specify 
particular  acts  of  Congress  as  proper  to 
be  enforced,  I  do  suggest  that  it  will  be 
much  safer  for  all,  both  in  official  and 
private  stations,  to  conform  to  and  abide 
by  all  those  acts  which  stand  unrepealed, 
than  to  violate  any  of  them,  trusting  to 
find  impunity  in  having  them  held  to  be 
unconstitutional. 

"It  is  seventy-two  years  since  the 
first  inauguration  of  a  President  under 
our  national  Constitution.  During  that 
period  fifteen  different  and  very  distin 
guished  citizens  have  in  succession  ad 
ministered  the  executive  branch  of  the 
Government.  They  have  conducted  it 
through  many  perils,  and  generally  with 
great  success.  Yet,  with  all  this  scope 
for  precedent,  I  now  enter  upon  the 
eame  task,  for  the  brief  constitutional 
term  of  four  years,  under  great  and 
peculiar  difficulties. 

"A  disruption  of  the  Federal  Union, 
heretofore  only  menaced,  is  now  formi 
dably  attempted.  I  hold  that  in  the  con 
templation  of  universal  law  and  of  the 
Constitution,  the  union  of  these  States 
is  perpetual.  Perpetuity  is  implied,  if 
not  expressed,  in  the  fundamental  law 
of  all  national  governments.  It  is  safe 
to  assert  that  no  government  proper 
ever  had  a  provision  in  its  organic  law 
for  its  own  termination.  Continue  to 
execute  all  the  express  provisions  of  our 
national  Constitution,  and  the  Union 
will  endure  forever,  it  being  impossible 
to  destroy  it  except  by  some  action  not 
provided  for  in  the  instrument  itself. 

"  Again  :  if  the  United  States  be  not 
a  government  proper,  but  an  association 


of  States  in  the  nature  of  a  contract 
merely,  can  it,  as  a  contract,  be  peace 
ably  unmade  by  less  than  all  the  parties 
who  made  it  ?  One  party  to  a  contract 
may  violate  it — break  it,  so  to  speak  ; 
but  does  it  not  require  all  to  lawfully 
rescind  it?  Descending  from  these  gen 
eral  principles,  we  find  the  proposition 
that  in  legal  contemplation  the  Union  is 
perpetual,  confirmed  by  the  history  of 
the  Union  itself. 

"  The  Union  is  much  older  than  the 
Constitution.  It  was  formed,  in  fact,  by 
the  Articles  of  Association  in  1774.  It 
was  matured  and  continued  in  the  Dec 
laration  of  Independence  in  1776.  It 
was  further  matured,  and  the  faith  of 
all  the  then  thirteen  States  expressly 
plighted  and  engaged  that  it  should  be 
perpetual,  by  the  Articles  of  Confedera 
tion,  in  1778  ;  and,  finally,  in  1787,  one 
of  the  declared  objects  for  ordaining  and 
establishing  the  Constitution  was  to  form 
a  more  perfect  Union.  But  if  the  de 
struction  of  the  Union  by  one  or  by  a 
part  only  of  the  States  be  lawfully  pos 
sible,  the  Union  is  less  than  before,  the 
Constitution  having  lost  the  vital  ele 
ment  of  perpetuity. 

"It  follows  from  these  views  that  no 
State,  upon  its  own  mere  motion,  can 
lawfully  get  out  of  the  Union  ;  that  re 
solves  and  ordinances  to  that  effect  are 
legally  void  ;  and  that  acts  of  violence 
within  any  State  or  States  against  the 
authority  of  the  United  States,  are  in 
surrectionary  or  revolutionary,  accord 
ing  to  circumstances. 

"  I  therefore  consider  that  in  view  of 
the  Constitution  and  the  laws,  the  Union 


WHAT  LINCOLN    WILL  DO. 


Ill 


is  unbroken,  and,  to  the  extent  of  my  abil 
ity,  I  shall  take  care,  as  the  Constitution 
itself  expressly  enjoins  upon  me,  that 
the  laws  of  the  Union  shall  be  faithfully 
executed  in  all  the  States.  Doing  this, 
which  I  deem  to  be  only  a  simple  duty 
on  my  part,  I  shall  perfectly  perform 
it,  so  far  as  is  practicable,  unless  my 
rightful  masters,  the  American  people, 
shall  withhold  the  requisition,  or  in 
some  authoritative  manner  direct  the 
contrary. 

"  I  trust  this  will  not  be  regarded  as 
a  menace,  but  only  as  the  declared  pur 
pose  of  the  Union  that  it  will  constitu 
tionally  defend  and  maintain  itself. 

"  In  doing  this  there  need  be  no 
bloodshed  nor  violence,  and  there  shall 
be  none,  unless  it  is  forced  upon  the  na 
tional  authority. 

"  The  power  confided  to  me  will  be 
used  to  hold,  occupy,  and  possess  the  prop 
erty  and  places  belonging  to  the  Govern 
ment,  and  collect  the  duties  and  im 
posts  ;  but  beyond  what  may  be  neces 
sary  for  these  objects,  there  will  be  no 
invasion,  no  using  of  force  against  or 
among  the  people  anywhere. 

"  Where  hostility  to  the  United  States 
shall  be  so  great  and  so  universal  as  to 
prevent  competent  resident  citizens  from 
holding  the  Federal  offices,  there  will  be 
no  attempt  to  force  obnoxious  strangers 
among  the  people  that  object.  While 
the  strict  legal  right  may  exist  of  the 
Government  to  enforce  the  exercise  of 
these  offices,  the  attempt  to  do  so  would 
be  so  irritating,  and  so  nearly  impracti 
cable  withal,  that  I  deem  it  better  to  fore 
go  for  the  time  the  uses  of  such  offices. 


"  The  mails,  unless  repelled,  will  con 
tinue  to  be  furnished  in  all  parts  of  the 
Union. 

"  So  far  as  possible,  the  people  every 
where  shall  have  that  sense  of  perfect 
security  which  is  most  favorable  to  calm 
thought  and  reflection. 

"The  course  here  indicated  will  be 
followed,  unless  current  events  and  ex 
perience  shall  show  a  modification  or 
change  to  be  proper ;  and  in  every  case 
and  exigency  my  best  discretion  will  be 
exercised  according  to  the  circumstances 
actually  existing,  and  with  a  view  and 
hope  of  a  peaceful  solution  of  the  na 
tional  troubles,  and  the  restoration  of 
fraternal  sympathies  and  affections. 

"  That  there  are  persons,  in  one  sec 
tion  or  another,  who  seek  to  destroy  the 
Union  at  all  events,  and  are  glad  of  any 
pretext  to  do  it,  I  will  neither  affirm  nor 
deny.  But  if  there  be  such,  I  need  ad 
dress  no  word  to  them. 

"To  those,  however,  who  really  love 
the  Union,  may  I  not  speak,  before  en 
tering  upon  so  grave  a  matter  as  the 
destruction  of  our  national  fabric,  with 
all  its  benefits,  its  memories,  and  its 
hopes  ?  Would  it  not  be  well  to  ascer 
tain  why  we  do  it  ?  Will  you  hazard  so 
desperate  a  step  while  any  portion  of 
the  ills  you  fly  from  have  no  real  exist 
ence  ?  Will  you — while  the  certain  ills 
you  fly  to  are  greater  than  all  the  real 
ones  you  fly  from — will  you  risk  the 
commission  of  so  fearful  a  mistake  ? 
All  profess  to  be  content  in  the  Union 
if  all  constitutional  rights  can  be  main 
tained.  Is  it  true,  then,  that  any  right, 
plainly  written  in  the  Constitution,  has 


THE  WAR   WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


been  denied  ?  I  think  not.  Happily 
the  human  mind  is  so  constituted,  that 
no  party  can  reach  to  the  audacity  of 
doing  this. 

"  Think,  if  you  can,  of  a  single  in 
stance  in  which  a  plainly  written  pro 
vision  of  the  Constitution  has  ever  been 
denied.  If,  by  the  mere  force  of  num 
bers,  a  majority  should  deprive  a  mi 
nority  of  any  clearly  written  constitu 
tional  right,  it  might,  in  a  moral  point 
of  view,  justify  revolution  ;  it  certainly 
would  if  such  right  were  a  vital  one. 
But  such  is  not  our  case. 

' '  All  the  vital  rights  of  minorities  and 
of  individuals  are  so  plainly  assured  to 
them  by  affirmations  and  negations,  guar 
antees  and  prohibitions  in  the  Constitu 
tion,  that  controversies  never  arise  con 
cerning  them.  But  no  organic  law  can 
ever  be  framed  with  a  provision  specif 
ically  applicable  to  every  question  which 
may  occur  in  practical  administration. 
No  foresight  can  anticipate,  nor  any  doc 
ument  of  reasonable  length  contain,  ex 
press  provisions  for  all  possible  questions. 
Shall  fugitives  from  labor  be  surrendered 
by  national  or  by  State  authorities  ?  The 
Constitution  does  not  expressly  say. 
Must  Congress  protect  slavery  in  the 
Territories  ?  The  Constitution  does  not 
expressly  say.  From  questions  of  this 
class  spring  all  our  constitutional  con 
troversies,  and  we  divide  upon  them  into 
majorities  and  minorities. 

"  If  the  minority  will  not  acquiesce, 
the  majority  must,  or  the  Government 
must  cease.  There  is  no  alternative  for 
continuing  the  Government  but  acqui 
escence  on  the  one  side  or  the  other. 


If  a  minority  in  such  a  case  will  secede 
rather  than  acquiesce,  they  make  a  pre 
cedent  which  in  turn  will  ruin  and  di 
vide  them,  for  a  minority  of  their  own 
will  secede  from  them  whenever  a  ma 
jority  refuses  to  be  controlled  by  such 
a  minority.  For  instance,  why  not  any 
portion  of  a  new  confederacy,  a  year  or 
two  hence,  arbitrarily  secede  again,  pre 
cisely  as  portions  of  the  present  Union 
now  claim  to  secede  from  it?  All  who 
cherish  disunion  sentiments  are  now 
being  educated  to  the  exact  temper  of 
doing  this.  Is  there  such  perfect  iden 
tity  of  interests  among  the  States  to 
compose  a  new  Union  as  to  produce 
harmony  only,  and  prevent  renewed 
secession  ?  Plainly  the  central  idea  of 
secession  is  the  essence  of  anarchy. 

"  A  majority  held  in  restraint  by  con 
stitutional  check  and  limitation,  and 
always  changing  easily  with  deliberate 
changes  of  popular  opinions  and  senti 
ments,  is  the  only  true  sovereign  of  a 
free  people.  Whoever  rejects  it,  does, 
of  necessity,  fly  to  anarchy  or  to  despot 
ism.  Unanimity  is  impossible  ;  the  rule 
of  a  majority,  as  a  permanent  arrange 
ment,  is  wholly  inadmissible.  So  that, 
rejecting  the  majority  principle,  anarchy 
or  despotism  in  some  form  is  all  that  is 
left. 

"  I  do  not  forget  the  position  assumed 
by  some,  that  constitutional  questions 
are  to  be  decided'  by  the  Supreme  Court, 
nor  do  I  deny  that  such  decisions  must 
be  binding  in  any  case  upon  the  parties 
to  a  suit  as  to  the  object  of  that  suit, 
while  they  are  also  entitled  to  very  high 
respect  and  consideration  in  all  parallel 


IMPOSSIBILITY  OF  SEPARATION. 


117 


cases  by  all  other  departments  of  the 
Government ;  and  while  it  is  obviously 
possible  that  such  decision  may  be  erro 
neous  in  any  given  case,  still  the  evil 
effect  following  it,  being  limited  to  that 
particular  case,  with  the  chance  that  it 
may  be  overruled  and  never  become  a 
precedent  for  other  cases,  can  better  be 
borne  than  could  the  evils  of  a  different 
practice. 

' '  At  the  same  time  the  candid  citizen 
must  confess  that  if  the  policy  of  the 
Government  upon  the  vital  questions 
affecting  the  whole  people  is  to  be  irre 
vocably  fixed  by  the  decisions  of  the 
Supreme  Court,  the  instant  they  are 
made,  as  in  ordinary  litigation  between 
parties  in  personal  actions,  the  people 
will  have  ceased  to  be  their  own  masters, 
unless  having  to  that  extent  practically 
resigned  their  government  into  the 
hands  of  that  eminent  tribunal. 

."  Nor  is  there  in  this  view  any  assault 
upon  the  court  or  the  judges.  It  is  a 
duty  from  which  they  may  not  shrank, 
to  decide  cases  properly  brought  before 
them ;  and  it  is  no  fault  of  theirs  if 
others  seek  to  turn  their  decisions  to 
political  purposes.  One  section  of  our 
country  believes  slavery  is  right  and 
ought  to  be  extended,  while  the  other 
believes  it  is  wrong  and  ought  not  to  be 
extended  ;  and  this  is  the  only  substan 
tial  dispute ;  and  the  fugitive  slave 
clause  of  the  Constitution,  and  the  law 
for  the  suppression  of  the  foreign  slave- 
trade,  are  each  as  well  enforced,  perhaps, 
as  any  law  can  ever  be  in  a  community 
where  the  moral  sense  of  the  people 
imperfectly  supports  the  law  itself.  The 


great  body  of  the  people  abide  by  the 
dry  legal  obligation  in  both  cases,  and  a 
few  break  over  in  each.  This,  I  think, 
cannot  be  perfectly  cured,  and  it  would 
be  worse  in  both  cases  after  the  separa 
tion  of  the  sections  than  before.  The 
foreign  slave  trade,  now  imperfectly 
suppressed,  would  be  ultimately  revived, 
without  restriction,  in  one  section  ; 
while  fugitive  slaves,  now  only  partially 
surrendered,  would  not  be  surrendered 
at  all  by  the  other. 

"Physically  speaking,  we  cannot  sepa 
rate — we  cannot  remove  our  respective 
sections  from  each  other,  nor  build  an 
impassable  wall  between  them.  A  hus 
band  and  wife  may  be  divorced,  and  go 
out  of  the  presence  and  beyond  the 
reach  of  each  other,  but  the  different 
parts  of  our  country  cannot  do  this. 
They  cannot  but  remain  face  to  face ; 
and  intercourse,  either  amicable  or 
hostile,  must  continue  beiween  them. 
Is  it  possible,  then,  to  madm  that  inter 
course  more  advantageous  cwmore  satis 
factory  after  separation  toan  before? 
Can  aliens  make  treaties  easier  than 
friends  can  make  laws?  Can  treaties 
be  more  faithfully  enforced  between 
aliens  than  laws  can  among  friends? 
Suppose  you  go  to  war,,  you  cannot  fight 
always  ;  and  when,  after  much  loss  on 
both  sides  and  no  gain  on  either,  you 
cease  fighting,  the  identical  questions  as 
to  terms  of  intercourse  are  again  upon 
you. 

"  This  country,  with  its  institutions, 
belongs  to  the  rjeople  who  inhabit  it. 
Whenever  they  shall  grow  weary  of  the 
existing  government,  they  can  exercise 


118 


THE  WAR   WITH   THE  SOUTH. 


their  constitutional  right  of  amending, 
or  their  revolutionary  right  to  dis 
member  or  overthrow  it.  I  cannot  be 
ignorant  of  the  fact  that  many  worthy 
and  patriotic  citizens  are  desirous 
of  having  the  national  Constitution 
amended.  While  I  make  no  recom 
mendation  of  amendment,  I  fully  recog 
nize  the  full  authority  of  the  people 
over  the  whole  subject,  to  be  exercised 
in  either  of  the  modes  prescribed  in  the 
instrument  itself,  and  I  should,  under 
existing  circumstances,  favor,  rather 
than  oppose,  a  fair  opportunity  being 
afforded  the  people  to  act  upon  it. 

"I  will  venture  to  add,  that  to  me 
the  convention  mode  seems  preferable, 
in  that  it  allows  amendments  to  orig 
inate  with  the  people  themselves,  in 
stead  of  only  permitting  them  to  take 
or  reject  propositions  originated  by  oth 
ers  not  especially  chosen  for  the  pur 
pose,  and  which  might  not  be  precisely 
such  as  they  would  wish  either  to  ac 
cept  or  refuse.  I  understand  that  a 
proposed  amendment  to  the  Constitu 
tion  (which  amendment,  however,  I 
have  not  seen)  has  passed  Congress,  to 
the  effect  that  the  Federal  Government 
shall  never  interfere  with  the  domestic 
institutions  of  States,  including  that  of 
persons  held  to  service.  To  avoid  mis 
construction  of  what  I  have  said,  I  de 
part  from  my  purpose  not  to  speak  of 
particular  amendments,  so  far  as  to  say 
that,  holding  such  a  provision  to  now 
be  implied  constitutional  law,  I  have  no 
objection  to  its  being  made  express  and 
irrevocable. 

"  The  chief  magistrate  derives  all  his 


authority  from  the  people,  and  they 
have  conferred  none  upon  him  to  fix 
the  terms  for  the  separation  of  the 
States.  The  people  themselves,  also, 
can  do  this  if  they  choose,  but  the  Ex 
ecutive,  as  such,  has  nothing  to  do  with 
it.  His  duty  is  to  administer  the  pres 
ent  Government  as  it  came  to  his  hands, 
and  to  transmit  it  unimpaired  by  him  to 
his  successor.  Why  should  there  not  be 
a  patient  confidence  in  the  ultimate  jus 
tice  of  the  people  ?  Is  there  any  better 
or  equal  hope  in  the  world  ?  In  our 
present  differences,  is  either  party  with 
out  faith  of  being  in  the  right  ?  If  the 
Almighty  Ruler  of  nations,  with  his  eter 
nal  truth  and  justice,  be  on  your  side 
of  the  North,  or  on  yours  of  the  South, 
that  truth  and  that  justice  will  surely 
prevail  by  the  judgment  of  this  great 
tribunal,  the  American  people.  By  the 
frame  of  the  Government  under  which 
we  live,  this  same  people  have  wisely 
given  their  public  servants  but  little 
power  for  mischief,  and  have  with  equal 
wisdom  provided  for  the  return  of  that 
little  to  their  own  hands  at  very  short 
intervals.  While  the  people  retain  their 
virtue  and  vigilance,  no  administration, 
by«any  extreme  wickedness  or  folly,  can 
very  seriously  injure  the  Government  in 
the  short  space  of  four  years. 

"  My  countrymen,  one  and  all,  think 
calmly  and  well  upon  this  whole  sub 
ject.  Nothing  valuable  can  be  lost  by 
taking  time. 

"  If  there  be  an  object  to  hurry  any 
of  you,  in  hot  haste,  to  a  step  which  you 
would  never  take  deliberatelv.  that  ob- 

•/   ' 

ject  will  be  frustrated  by  taking  time  ; 


EFFECT   OF  LINCOLN'S  MESSAGE. 


but  no  good  object  can  be  frustrated 
by  it. 

"  Such  of  you  as  are  now  dissatisfied 
still  have  the  old  Constitution  unim 
paired,  and  on  the  sensitive  point,  the 
laws  of  your  own  framing  under  it ; 
while  the  new  administration  will  have 
no  immediate  power,  if  it  would,  to 
change  either. 

"If  it  were  admitted  that  you  who 
are  dissatisfied  hold  the  right  side  in  the 
dispute,  there  is  still  no  single  reason 
for  precipitate  action.  Intelligence,  pa 
triotism,  Christianity,  and  a  firm  reli 
ance  on  Him  who  has  never  yet  forsaken 
this  favored  land,  are  still  competent  to 
adjust,  in  the  best  way,  all  our  present 
difficulties. 

"  In  your  hands,  my  dissatisfied  fel 
low-countrymen,  and  not  in  mine,  is  the 


The 


momentous    issue    of   civil   war. 
Government  will  not  assail  you. 

'  You  can  have  no  conflict  without 
being  yourselves  the  aggressors.  You 
have  no  oath  registered  in  heaven  to 
destroy  the  Government,  while  I  shall 
have  the  most  solemn  one  to  "preserve, 
protect,  and  defend"  it. 

"  I  am.  loth  to  close.  We  are  not 
enemies,  but  friends.  We  must  not  be 
enemies.  Though  passion  may  have 
strained,  it  must  not  break  our  bonds 
of  affection. 

"The  mystic  cords  of  memory,  stretch 
ing  from  every  battle-field  and  patriot 
grave  to  every  living  heart  and  hearth 
stone  all  over  this  broad  land,  will  yet 
swell  the  chorus  of  the  Union,  when 
again  touched,  as  surely  they  will  be, 
by  the  better  angels  of  our  nature." 


CHAPTER    X. 

The  opinion  of  the  Secessionists  on  the  Message. — The  opinion  of  the  Unionists. — Unanimous  satisfaction  at  the  exit 
of  Buchanan. — The  fate  of  Buchanan. — A  Nation's  Reproach. — Difficulty  of  forming  a  Judgment. — What  were  the 
Motives  of  his  conduct. — A  fatal  Administration. — Life  of  Buchanan. — Birth. — Origin. — Early  Education. — Political 
Career. — Member  of  the  Legislature. — .Minister  to  Russia. — United  States  Senator.— Adherent  of  General  Jackson. — 
Opposed  to  Nullification. — Political  friend  of  Van  Buren. — Supporter  of  his  Policy. — Rallies  to  the  support  of  Tyler. 
— In  favor  of  the  Recognition  of  Texas. — An  advocate  of  the  War  with  Mexico. — Secretary  of  State  under  Polk. — 
Retirement  to  Private  Life. — Opposed  to  the  Wilmot  Proviso. — Advocates  Compromises. — Ambassador  to  Great 
Britain. — The  famous  Ostend  Conference. — Its  Manifesto. — Return  to  the  United  States. — Candidate  for  President. — 
Elected  President. — Public  Confidence. — His  conduct  in  regard  to  Kansas. — Charged  with  Partisanship. — Secession 
of  Six  States  from  the  Union. — Historic  importance  uf  Buchanan. — Could  Buchanan  have  checked  the  Rebellion  ? — 
Why  he  did  not. — Last  act  of  his  Administration. — Opinion  of  Free  Traders  of  his  signing  the  Morrill  Tariff. — The 
two  Patriots  in  his  Cabinet. — Lincoln's  Cabinet. — Its  party  character. — William  H.  Seward.— His  Life.— Education. 
— Political  Career. — Character  and  Personal  Appearance.— Salmon  Portland  Chase.— His  Birth.— Education. — Pro 
fessional  success. — Opinions  on  Slavery.— Political  Career. — Character.— Simon  Cameron.— His  Origin. — Influence 
in  Pennsylvania. — His  Character.— Gideon  Welles  :  his  Career  and  Character. — Montgomery  Blair  :  his  Career  and 
Character.— Edward  Bates  :  his  Career  and  Character.— Caleb  B.  Smith  :  his  Career  and  Character. 


WHILE  the  secessionists  pronounced 
the  message  of  President  Lincoln  war 
like,  and  affected  great  indignation,  and 


even  in  Baltimore  some  of  the  daily 
journals  declared  it  "  sectional  and  mis 
chievous,"  the  unionists  accepted  the 


120 


THE   WAR   WITH  THE   SOUTH. 


document  as  firm,  but  conservative. 
Those  in  North  Carolina  who  were  still 
clear  of  the  heresy  of  secession,  wel 
comed  it  as  a  hopeful  indication  of  the 
peace  policy  of  the  administration  ;  and 
while  in  Missouri  the  exponent  of  one 
party  declared  that  it  "  met  the  highest 
expectations  of  the  country,  both  in  point 
of  statesmanship  and  patriotism,"  that 
of  another  expressed  its  disappointment 
at  not  having  "  a  more  conservative  and 
conciliatory  expression  of  sentiments." 

Whatever  may  have  been  the  differ 
ence  of  opinion  in  regard  to  Lincoln, 
there  was  a  unanimous  feeling  of  satis 
faction,  among  all  who  continued  loyal 
to  the  Union,  that  Buchanan  was  no 
longer  President.  It  was  said  of  him 
at  this  time  that  "  whatever  may  be  his 
hope  of  justification  by  posterity,  he  must 
resign  himself  for  the  present  to  the 
reproach  of  an  afflicted  people.  With 
his  administration  will  always  be  asso 
ciated  those  complicated  ills  of  factious 
and  corrupt  government,  vacillating  and 
contemned  authority,  to  which  are  owing 
the  present  civil  strife  and  the  arrested 
progress  of  the  country.  (  It  would  be 
difficult  in  the  heat  of  war  and  under 
the  pressure  of  national  suffering  to  as 
sume  that  equanimity  of  temper  or  reach 
that  elevated  height  necessary  to  a  broad 
and  dispassionate  judgment  of  the  de 
gree  of  responsibility  to  be  attached  to 
the  head  of  an  administration  which  has 
proved  so  fatal  to  the  country. 

"  Whether  his  conduct  is  to  be  attrib 
uted  to  habitual  partisanship,  evil  coun 
sel,  corrupt  motive,  or  senile  weakness, 
cannot  be  easily  determined.  To  the 


direful  results  of  his  administration, 
however,  President  Buchanan  can  tri 
umphantly  oppose  a  previous  career  of 
prosperous  statesmanship  and  a  private 
life  of  unquestioned  purity.  " 

James  Buchanan,  the  fifteenth  Presi 
dent  of  the  United  States,  was  born  at 
Stony  Batter,  in  Franklin  County,  Penn 
sylvania,  on  the  22d  of  April,  1791. 
His  father  was  an  Irishman  who  emi 
grated  to  America  in  1783.  His  mother, 
however,  Elizabeth  Spear,  was  the 
daughter  of  a  Pennsylvania  farmer.  In 
spite  of  the  poverty  of  his  parents,  their 
son  was  sent  to  Dickinson  College,  where 
he  graduated  with  the  honors  of  his 
class.  In  1812  he  began  to  practice 
law  at  Lancaster,  and  with  such  success, 
that  he  retired,  at  the  age  of  forty,  with 
a  fair  competence.  At  twenty-three 
years  of  age  he  was  elected  a  member 
of  the  Legislature.  In  1820  he  first 
entered  Congress,  and  continued  to 
serve  until  1831,  when  he  resigned,  and 
was  appointed  minister  to  Russia  by 
President  Jackson,  to  whom  he  was  a 
faithful  adherent.  In  1833  he  returned, 
and  was  elected  United  States  senator 
from  Pennsylvania,  and  continued  a  firm 
supporter  of  Jackson's  policy.  He  stood 
firmly  by  the  President  in  his  successful 
conflicts  with  the  United  States  Bank 
and  the  nullification  of  South  Carolina. 
During  the  agitation  in  1835  of  the 
question  of  the  abolition  of  slavery  in 
the  District  of  Columbia,  he  advocated 
the  reception  by  Congress  of  petitions 
in  its  favor,  but  strove  to  resist  their 
effect  by  the  introduction  of  an  act  de 
claring  that  Congress  had  no  power  to 


LIFE   OF   BUCHANAN. 


121 


legislate  upon  the  subject.  Buchanan 
gave  to  President  Van  Buren  the  same 
uncompromising  political  support  that 
he  had  given  to  his  predecessor. 

On  the  change  of  policy  effected  by 
President  Tyler,  after  the  death  of  Har 
rison,  Buchanan  rallied  to  the  support 
of  the  administration  ;  he  advocated  the 
recognition  of  the  independence  of  Texas, 
as  he  subsequently  did  its  admission  into 
the  Union  and  the  consequent  war  with 
Mexico.  Under  President  Polk  he  be 
came  secretary  of  state,  and  at  the  ex 
piration  of  the  Presidential  term  retired 
to  private  life.  He,  however,  used  his 
great  political  influence  in  opposition  to 
the  Wilmot  proviso,  and  in  favor  of  an 
extension  to  the  Pacific  Ocean  of  the 
Missouri  Compromise  line  of  latitude 
36  degrees  30  minutes  north.  On  the 
accession  of  Pierce  to  the  Presidency, 
Buchanan  was  appointed  ambassador  to 
Great  Britain.  It  was  while  thus  serv 
ing  that  he  joined  with  the  United  States 
minister  to  Paris,  and  Pierre  Soule,  the 
minister  to  Madrid,  in  forming  the  no 
table  Ostend  Conference,  the  object  of 
which  was  tojnduce  Spain  to  sell  Cuba. 

A  memorandum  of  the  proceedings 
of  the  conference  was  published,  and 
has  been  dignified  with  the  title  of  a 
protocol.  This  set  forth  the  import 
ance  of  Cuba,  commercially  and  de 
fensively,  to  the  United  States  ;  the 
advantage  to  Spain  in  consenting  to 
receive  compensation  for  a  possession 
the  prolonged  tenure  of  which  was  so 
uncertain,  and  the  necessity — in  case  the 
island  should  fall  under  the  control,  like 
St.  Domingo,  of  its  African  population- 
is 


of  the  interference  of  the  United  States 
to  secure  the  Southern  slave  States  from 
so  dangerous  a  neighborhood  of  free 
negroes. 

Mr.  Buchanan  returned  to  the  United 
States  in  the  spring  of  1856,  and  in  the 
following  June  was  unanimously  nom 
inated,  by  the  Democratic  Convention 
at  Cincinnati,  candidate  for  President. 
In  November  he  was  elected  by  the 
electoral  vote  of  nineteen  States.  Upon 
his  accession  to  office  there  was  a  gen 
eral  willingness  to  concede  to  him  a  dis 
position  to  repress  sectional  differences 
and  to  administer  the  Government  with 
a  national  spirit.  His  administration, 
however,  served  only  to  reinvigorate 
factious  dispute,  and  the  Republican 
party  attacked  him  with  great  animosity 
for  his  partisan  efforts  to  secure  the  ad 
mission  of  Kansas  as  a  slave  State. 

The  most  momentous  event,  however, 
during  Buchanan's  administration,  was 
the  secession  of  six  States  from  the  Union. 
This  will  always  give  him  an  historic 
importance,  and  serve  to  make  his  char 
acter  and  conduct  subjects  of  the  deep 
est  interest  to  the  investigator  of  the 
causes  of  the  civil  war  initiated  during 
his  Presidency. 

"  That  Buchanan  could  have  checked 
the  fatal  movement  [the  rebellion],  no 
one  can  affirm  ;  but  that  it  was  his  duty 
to  make  the  effort,  few  will  deny.  That 
he  did  not  do  so,  is  attributed  by  some 
to  corrupt  connivance  with  the  conspir 
ators  who  shared  his  counsels  ;  by  some, 
to  the  timidity  of  enfeebled  age  ;  and  by 
others,  to  the  conviction  that  neither 
right  nor  expediency  would  justify  an 


122 


THE   WAR   WITH   THL   SOUTH. 


attempt  to  repress  the  rising  rebellion. 
His  irreproachable  personal  character, 
his  previous  career  of  reputable  states 
manship,  and  his  honored  position  as 
President,  forbid  the  imputation  of  trea 
sonable  design  or  corrupt  motive.  It  is 
more  reasonable  to  attribute  his  conduct 
to  the  influence  of  unworthy  but  unsus 
pected  counsellors  acting  upon  an  in 
firm  judgment  and  unsteady  moral 
courage."* 

The  last  act  of  President  Buchanan's 
administration  was  the  signing  of  the 
Morrill  tariff.  This  sanction  of  high 
protective  custom  dues  was  contrary  to 
his  professed  opinion  that  duties  should 
be  levied  only  for  revenue.  The  advo 
cates  of  free  trade,  both  in  the  United 
States  and  Europe,  condemn  this  act  as 
one  of  the  most  unworthy  of  his  admin 
istration,  while  the  protectionists  doubt 
less  commend  it  as  the  best. 

Within  a  few  weeks  of  the  close  of  his 
term  of  office,  Buchanan  had  called  to 
his  aid  in  the  cabinet  two  statesmen 
whose  energetic  action,  inspired  by  the 
truest  patriotism,  had  served  to  redeem, 
to  some  degree,  an  administration  which 
had  proved  so  fatal  to  the  country. 
These  men  were  Joseph  H.  Holt,  of 
Kentucky,  and  John  A.  Dix,  of  New 
York,  the  former  the  secretary  of  war, 
and  the  latter  secretary  of  the  treasury. 
It  was  hoped  that  Lincoln  would  have 
waived  so  far  his  party  predilections  as 
to  have  retained  these  statesmen,  who 
had  won  the  confidence  of  the  nation  by 
their  loyal  firmness  in  sustaining  the 
dignity  and  power  of  the  Federal  au- 

<*  Manuscript  work,  by  the  author. 


thority  against  the  menace  of  disaffec 
tion  and  the  attack  of  treason. 

The  new  President,  however,  in  ac 
cordance  with  traditional  practice,  chose 
his  cabinet  from  that  party  to  which  he 
was  indebted  for  his  own  elevation.  Wm. 
H.  Seward,  of  New  York,  was  appointed 
secretary  of  state  ;  Salmon  P.  Chase,  of 
Ohio,  secretary  of  the  treasury  ;  Simon 
Cameron,  of  Pennsylvania,  secretary  of 
war  ;  Gideon  Welles,  of  Connecticut, 
secretary  of  the  navy ;  Montgomery 
Blair,  of  Maryland,  postmaster-general ; 
Edward  Bates,  of  Missouri,  attorney- 
general  ;  and  Caleb  B.  Smith,  of  In 
diana,  secretary  of  the  interior. 

Some  of  these  were  known  to  the 
country  as  prominent  statesmen  ;  others, 
possessed  only  of  local  fame,  were  com 
paratively  obscure,  but  all  had  been 
active  promoters  of  the  "  Republican" 
cause.  The  most  distinguished  was  the 
secretary  of  state. 

William  H.  Seward  was  born  in  the 
village  of  Florida,  Orange  County,  in 
the  State  of  New  York,  on  the  16th  day 
of  May,  1801.  After  a  good  elementary 
schooling  he  was  sent  to  Union  College, 
at  Schenectady,  where  he  received  his 
academic  degree  with  the  honors  of  his 
class.  In  1820  he  became  a  student  at 
law  in  the  office  of  John  Anthon,  Esq., 
an  eminent  counsellor  of  the  city  of  New 
York,  but  completed  his  studies  under 
the  guidance  of  Ogden  Hoffman,  then 
district  attorney.  In  1822  he  was  ad 
mitted  to  the  bar  at  Goshen,  in  Orange 
County,  but  soon  after  removed  to  Au 
burn,  where  he  formed  a  partnership 
with  Judge  Miller,  whose  daughter  he 


LIFE   OF   SEWARD. 


123 


subsequently  married.  His  success  as  a 
lawyer  was  rapid  and  well  assured,  and 
he  soon  ranked  among  the  most  honored 
members  of  the  profession. 

His  first  political  step  was  as  a  warm 
partisan  of  the  anti-masonic  cause,  but 
in  1823  he  appeared  as  a  youthful  leader 
in  the  canvass  for  the  re-election  of 
John  Quincy  Adams  to  the  Presidency. 
Elected  senator  of  his  State  in  1830,  he 
soon  became  prominent  as  an  advocate 
of  measures  of  reform. 

After  four  years'  service  in  the  Sen 
ate  of  New  York,  he  was  nominated  the 
Whig  candidate  for  Governor,  but  was 
defeated  by  his  veteran  Democratic  op 
ponent,  William  L.  Marcy.  Again  a 
candidate  at  the  succeeding  election,  he 
triumphed  over  his  old  competitor,  and 
was  elected  Governor  by  the  large  ma 
jority  of  ten  thousand.  In  1840  he 
was  a  third  time  a  candidate  and  once 
more  successful,  being  chosen  as  a  rep 
resentative  of  the  party  which  had  tri 
umphantly  carried  the  election  of  Pres 
ident  Harrison,  of  whom  he  had  proved 
himself  in  the  canvass  an  energetic 
supporter.  In  1848  he  advocated  the 
nomination  of  General  Zachary  Taylor, 
and  strove  zealously  in  behalf  of  his 
election.  The  successful  Whig  party  of 
the  New  York  State  Legislature  soon 
after  elected  Seward  senator  of  the 
United  States.  On  the  death  of  Taylor 
and  the  accession  of  Fillmore,  Seward 
was  suddenly  deprived  of  that  leader 
ship  upon  which  he  had  not  unnaturally 
presumed.  His  supposed  extreme  opin 
ions  on  the  subject  of  slavery  were  un 
doubtedly  averse  to  his  being  accepted, 


by  Fillmore,  as  an  exponent  of  the  pol 
icy  of  his  conciliatory  administration. 
Seward  opposed  emphatically  the  com 
promise  measures  of  1850. 

"I  feel  assured,"  said  he,  in  his  speech 
on  the  question,  "  that  slavery  must  give 
way,  and  will  give  way  to  the  salutary 
instructions  of  economy  and  to  the  ripen 
ing  influences  of  humanity  ;  that  eman 
cipation  is  inevitable  and  is  near ;  that 
it  may  be  hastened  or  hindered ;  that 
all  measures  which  fortify  slavery  or 
extend  it  tend  to  the  consummation  of 
violence  ;  all  that  check  its  extension 
and  abate  its  strength  tend  to  its  peace 
ful  extirpation.  But  I  will  adopt  none 
but  lawful,  constitutional,  and  peaceful 
means  to  secure  even  that  end  ;  and 
none  such  can  I  or  will  I  forego." 

In  1852,  Seward  was  an  advocate  for 
the  election  of  General  Scott  as  Pres 
ident,  though  he  did  not  concur  with 
the  concessions  made  to  the  slave  in 
terests  of  the  South  in  the  manifesto  of 
his  party.  In  the  Senate  he  at  the  same 
time  continued  his  persistent  opposition 
to  the  extension  of  slavery,  and  em 
phatically  denounced  the  Kansas-Ne 
braska  bill. 

After  the  dissolution  of  the  Whig 
party,  and  the  formation  of  the  new 
Republican  combination,  of  which  he 
was  one  of  the  prominent  founders  and 
leaders,  he  was  a  candidate  for  nomina 
tion  as  President.  He,  however,  was 
forced  to  yield  to  the  superior  "  avail 
ability"  of  Colonel  Fremont,  for  whose 
election,  notwithstanding,  he  canvassed 
vigorously. 

During  the  summer  of  1859,  Mr.  Sew- 


124 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


ard  visited  Europe,  and  extended  his 
tour  to  Syria  and  Egypt.  His  reception 
was  everywhere  studiously  courteous  in 
deference  to  his  recognized  position  as 
a  distinguished  and  leading  statesman  in 
his  own  country. 

In  1860,  Seward  was  forced  again  to 
yield  his  presumed  claims  to  a  compara 
tively  obscure  man.  At  the  Repub 
lican  Convention  which  met  at  Chicago, 
Seward  was  the  leading  candidate  for 
nomination  as  President,  but  after  sev 
eral  obstinate  ballots  gave  way  to  Mr. 
Lincoln,  who  was  chosen,  and  whose 
subsequent  triumphant  election  to  office 
was  greatly  due  to  the  zealous  efforts 
of  his  late  rival. 

Notwithstanding  his  previous  persist 
ent  resistance  to  the  encroachments  of, 
and  his  apparent  readiness  for,  the  "ir 
repressible  conflict"  with  slavery,  Sew 
ard  is  considered  to  have  been  the  most 
conciliatory  of  Lincoln's  cabinet.  Though 
some  doubted  his  possession  of  that  mor 
al  grandeur  which  was  so  necessary  to  the 
important  office  he  had  to  administer, 
none  questioned  the  secretary's  mental 
capacity  to  master  the  ordinary  tech 
nical  difficulties  of  his  office.  A  man  of 
refined  culture  and  tact,  his  speeches 
and  writings  possess  a  dignity  of  tone 
and  a  completeness  of  literary  finish 
which  are  rarely  to  be  discovered  in  the 
effusions  of  our  extemporized  speakers 
and  writers. 

Judging  him  from  the  rapid  flashes 
of  speech,  struck  off  in  the  course  of  a 
heated  political  canvass,  there  are  some, 
especially  in  Europe,  who  affect  to  think 
that  Seward  is  more  eager  to  captivate 


the  undiscerning  many  than  to  convince 
the  judicious  few. 

In  appearance,  Mr.  Seward,  with  his 
slight  figure  of  medium  size,  his  heavy 
features,  and  his  worn  expression,  is  not 
imposing.  His  eyes,  however,  brighten 
with  excitement,  and  his  face  not  seldom 
assumes  an  attractive  vivacity. 

The  secretary  of  the  treasury,  Salmon 
Portland  Chase,  was  born  at  Cornish, 
in  New  Hampshire,  on  the  13th  of  Jan 
uary,  1808.  Two  years  after  the  death 
of  his  father,  and  at  the  age  of  twelve, 
he  was  placed  under  the  charge  of  his 
uncle,  Bishop  Chase,  of  Ohio,  with  whom 
he  removed  from  Worthington  to  Cin 
cinnati,  and  there  entered  the  college  ot 
which  the  bishop  had  been  appointed 
president.  Here,  however,  he  remained 
but  a  year,  when  he  returned  +o  his 
mother's  home  in  Keene,  New  iamp- 
shire.  In  1824  he  was  admitte(  a,  stu 
dent  of  Dartmouth  College,  wl  .^re  he 
received  his  degree  after  two  years' 
study.  After  graduating,  he  op  med  a 
school  at  Washington,  arid  numbered 
among  his  pupils  the  sons  of  Henry 
Clay,  William  Wirt,  and  Samuel  L. 
Southard.  In  the  mean  time,  he  studied 
law  under  the  direction  of  Wirt,  and  in 
1829,  quitting  his  school,  he  was  ad 
mitted  to  the  bar  at  Washington. 

In  1830,  Mr.  Chase  removed  to  Cin 
cinnati,  where  he  strove  to  establish 
himself  as  a  lawyer.  While  waiting  for 
practice,  he  published  an  edition  of  the 
Statutes  of  Ohio,  with  original  notes, 
and  a  prefatory  sketch  of  the  history 
of  the  State.  This  work  served  to  bring 
him  into  notice,  and  add  to  his  legal 


SALMON   P.   CHASE. 


125 


business.  He  now  became  a  thriving 
practitioner,  and  was  appointed  solicitor 
of  two  of  the  banks. 

Being  employed  in  1837  in  behalf  of 
a  negro  woman  who  was  claimed  to  bo  a 
fugitive  slave,  Mr.  Chase  argued  that 
Congress  had  not  the  right  to  impose 
upon  State  magistrates  any  duty  or  con 
fer  any  power  in  such  cases. 

Again,  soon  after,  while  defending 
James  E.  Birny,  who  had  been  arrested 
for  harboring  a  negro  slave,  he  held 
that  slavery  is  local,  and  dependent  for 
its  legality  upon  State  law,  and  that 
therefore  a  slave  who  made  his  escape 
into  Ohio  became  free,  and  might  be 
harbored  with  impunity. 

In  1846,  Mr.  Chase,  together  with 
William  H.  Seward,  was  defendant's 
counsel  in  the  Van  Zandt  case,  before 
the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States. 
In  an  elaborate  argument,  he  contended 
that,  by  the  ordinance  of  1787,  no  fu 
gitive  from  service  could  be  reclaimed 
from  Ohio  unless  there  had  been  an  es 
cape  from  one  of  the  original  States  ; 
that  it  was  the  clear  understanding  of 
the  framers  of  the  Constitution,  and  of 
the  people  who  adopted  it,  that  slavery 
was  to  be  left  exclusively  to  the  dis 
posal  of  the  several  States,  without 
sanction  or  support  from  the  National 
Government ;  and  that  the  clause  in  the 
Constitution  relating  to  persons  held  to 
service  was  one  of  compact,  and  con 
ferred  no  power  of  legislation  on  Con 
gress. 

Other  cases  ensued  in  which  Mr. 
Chase  defended  the  same  positions,  and 
thus  became  identified  with  those  who 


resisted    all    national    recognition     of 
slavery. 

Devoted  to  his  professional  pursuits, 
Mr.  Chase  avoided  for  a  long  time  all 
positive  alliances  with  political  parties, 
but  had  voted  sometimes  with  the  Dem 
ocrats,  and  at  other  times  and  more  fre 
quently  with  the  Whigs  In  1841,  how 
ever,  he  became  one  of  the  originators 
of  the  "Liberty"  party  of  Ohio,  and  was 
the  author  of  their  address  to  the  peo 
ple.  In  1843  he  was  a  member  of  the 
convention  of  this  party  which  met  at 
Buffalo.  While  one  of  a  committee 
nominated  by  said  convention,  he  op 
posed  the  resolution,  "to  regard  and 
treat  the  third  clause  of  the  Constitu 
tion,  whenever  applied  to  the  case  of  a 
fugitive  slave,  as  utterly  null  and  void, 
and  consequently  as  forming  no  part  of 
the  Constitution  of  the  United  States, 
whenever  we  are  called  upon  or  sworn  to 
support  it."  This  resolution  was  accord 
ingly  rejected  by  the  committee,  and  not 
reported,  although  it  was  afterward  re 
newed  by  its  original  mover,  and  adopted 
by  the  convention.  When  twitted  in 
the  United  States  Senate  by  Senator 
Butler,  of  South  Carolina,  for  the  men 
tal  reservation  seemingly  sanctioned  by 
this  resolution,  Chase  responded  :  "I 
have  only  to  say,  I  never  proposed  the 
resolution  ;  I  never  would  propose  or 
vote  for  such  a  resolution.  I  hold  no 
doctrine  of  mental  reservation.  Every 
man,  in  my  judgment,  should  speak  just 
as  he  thinks,  keeping  nothing  back,  here 
or  elsewhere."* 

0  The  New  American  Cyclopedia.      New   York  :   D. 

Appleton  &  Co. 


126 


THE  WAR   WITH  THE   SOUTH. 


In  1845,  a  convention,  at  the  sug 
gestion  of  Mr.  Chase,  met  in  Cincinnati, 
of  "all  who,  believing  that  whatever  is 
worth  preserving  in  republicanism  can 
be  maintained  only  by  uncompromising 
war  against  the  usurpations  of  the  slave 
power,  and  are  therefore  resolved  to  use 
all  constitutional  and  honorable  means 
to  effect  the  extinction  of  slavery  within 
their  respective  States,  and  its  reduction 
to  its  constitutional  limits  in  the  United 
States."  The  gathering  was  large,  con 
sisting  of  two  thousand  delegates  and 
four  thousand  interested  visiters.  The 
address — the  main  burden  of  which  was 
opposition  to  the  extension  of  slavery — 
was  written  by  Mr.  Chase,  and  was 
widely  circulated.  When  the  second 
convention  met,  in  1847,  Mr.  Chase  op 
posed  the  making  of  Federal  nomina 
tions,  believing  that  the  general  agita 
tion  throughout  the  country  in  regard 
to  the  Wilmot  proviso  would  extend  the 
basis  of  the  movement  against  slavery 
extension,  and  aiford  a  less  restricted 
foundation  for  a  party. 

In  1848,  however,  distrusting  the 
Whig  and  Democratic  parties,  Mr. 
Chase  again  called  a  convention  in  fa 
vor  of  free  territory.  It  was  largely 
attended,  but  it  merged  itself  in  the 
National  Convention,  which  met  at  Buf 
falo  in  August  of  the  same  year,  and 
nominated  Martin  Van  Buren  for  Pres 
ident.  The  Democratic  party  of  Ohio 
laving  now  adopted  the  free-soil  views 
of  Mr.  Chase,  he  accepted  their  nom 
ination  for  the  United  States  Senate, 
and  in  1849  was  elected  He  continued 
to  act  with  the  Democrats  of  his  State 


until  1852,  when,  upon  the  nomination 
of  Pierce,  they  accepted  the  platform 
of  the  Baltimore  Convention,  approving 
of  the  compromise  acts  of  1850,  and 
denouncing  the  further  agitation  of  the 
question  of  slavery  extension.  Having 
abandoned  his  old  allies,  he  gave  in  his 
adherence  to  the  Independent  Demo 
cratic  Convention,  assembled  at  Pitts- 
burg  in  1852,  which  adopted  a  manifesto 
mainly  prepared  by  Mr.  Chase. 

When  the  Nebraska  bill  agitated  the 
country,  and  induced  the  formation  of 
the  Republican  party,  Mr.  Chase,  find 
ing  its  principles  in  consonance  with  his 
long  established  views,  eagerly  joined 
it,  and  became  one  of  its  leaders. 

In  1855,  Mr.  Chase  was  nominated  as 
Governor  of  Ohio,  and  being  elected, 
was  inaugurated  in  January  of  the  suc 
ceeding  year.  He  gave  proof,  in  his 
new  office,  of  a  moderation  and  discre 
tion  which  many  were  disposed  to  ques 
tion,  in  consequence  of  his  supposed 
extreme  opinions  on  slavery.  At  the 
close  of  his  first  term  he  was  disposed 
to  retire,  but  was  so  urgently  pressed  to 
accept  a  re-nomination,  that  he  was  pre 
vailed  upon  and  re-elected  Governor. 

After  the  expiration  of  his  second 
term  he  was  again  elected  senator  of 
the  United  States,  but  resigned  his  seat 
to  accept  the  office  of  secretary  of  the 
treasury  in  the  cabinet  of  Mr.  Lincoln, 
of  which  he  was  considered  not  only  one 
of  the  ablest,  but  firmest  members. 

Simon  Cameron,  a  man  of  humble 
origin,  successively  a  printer's  appren 
tice,  printer,  journalist,  a  local  politician, 
a  United  States  senator,  and  afterward 


SIMON   CAMERON. 


127 


secretary  of  war,  was  born  in  Penn 
sylvania.  He  has  been  for  a  long  time 
one  of  the  most  influential  men  in  that 
State,  and  the  success  of  the  Republican 
party  there  was  greatly  indebted  to  his 
efforts.  Wielding  a  large  capital  act 
ively  employed  in  railroads,  mining 
operations,  and  other  active  enterprises 
in  Pennsylvania,  he  was  enabled  to  ex 
ercise  a  wide  influence,  which  was  owing 
not  less  to  his  financial  than  to  his 
political  ability.  His  executive  talents, 
thoroughly  exercised  by  his  extensive 
business  relations,  were  calculated  to 
make  him  an  effective  officer  in  the 
busy  department  of  which  he  was  the 
chief. 

Gideon  Welles  was  originally  a  prin 
ter,  and  subsequently  editor  of  the 
Hartford  Times,  in  the  skilful  conduct 
of  which  he  has  acquired  all  his  political 
fame.  His  reputation  had,  however, 
hardly  extended  beyond  the  limits  of 
his  native  State  of  Connecticut,  when 
he  was  called  to  a  position  in  Lincoln's 
cabinet,  at  the  earnest  solicitation,  it  is 
believed,  of  his  brother-in-law,  Vice- 
President  Hamlin.  As  the  editor  of  the 
Hartford  Times,  he  was  considered  one 
of  the  most  forcible  exponents  of  the 
Democratic  policy.  Warmly  espousing 
the  doctrine  of  non-extension  of  slavery, 
he  soon  identified  himself  with  the  Re 
publican  party,  of  which  he  was  an 
ardent  supporter.  He  has  frequently 
represented  his  State  in  its  own  Legisla 
ture  and  Senate,  but  never  in  the  Fed 
eral  councils.  It  may  be  doubted  whe 
ther,  with  his  reflective  habits  as  a 
political  thinker  and  writer,  and  his 


restricted  experience  of  the  business  of 
state,  he  had  the  scope  of  view  and 
energy  of  action  necessary  to  the  chief 
of  the  naval  department  during  a  great 
war. 

Montgomery  Blair,  a  son  of  the  vig 
orous  Democratic  journalist,  Francis 
Preston  Blair,  the  founder  and  editor  of 
the  Washington  G-lobe,  was  born  in 
Kentucky.  Like  his  father,  he  is  a 
valiant  defender  of  the  Republican 
cause,  and  is  supposed  to  have  been 
one  of  the  most  emphatic  of  the  cab 
inet  to  urge  the  full  exercise  of  the 
Federal  authority  in  checking  treason, 
as  he  was  among  the  most  resolute  in 
favor  of  vigorously  waging  war  against 
rebellion.  His  energy  of  will  and  san- 
guineness  of  temperament  rendered  him 
a  spirited  coadjutor  of  the  executive  in 
the  stir  of  conflict ;  but  in  the  quiet  of 
peace,  his  fitness  for  office,  and  especially 
that  practical  one  which  he  holds,  might 
be  more  questionable. 

Edward  Bates,  the  attorney-general, 
was  born  in  G-oochland  County,  in 
Virginia,  in  1791.  Having  been  care 
fully  educated  by  a  relative  of  high 
culture,  he  emigrated  with  a  brother  to 
Missouri,  where  he  began  to  practice 
law.  He  soon  acquired  eminence  as  a 
jurist.  Although  he  served  in  the 
Legislature  of  Missouri,  and  represented 
that  State  in  Congress,  his  life  had  been 
mostly  devoted  to  the  pursuits  of  his 
profession.  In  1847,  however,  he  was 
a  member  of  the  convention  which  met 
at  Chicago  for  the  advancement  of 
internal  improvements,  where  he  com 
manded  attention  by  a  brilliant  speech 


128 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE   SOUTH. 


and  his  impressive  character.  Efforts 
were  made  to  induce  him  to  give  to  the 
State  the  benefit  of  his  acknowledged 
powers,  but  he  refused  office  in  Missouri 
and  resisted  the  offer  of  a  place  in  the 
cabinet  of  President  Fillmore.  His 
early  political  bias  was  shown  by  his 
support  of  Henry  Clay  and  John  Quincy 
Adams,  with  whose  views  of  public 
policy  he  generally  accorded.  At  a 
later  period  he  opposed  the  repeal  of 
the  Missouri  Compromise  act,  and  the 
admission  of  Kansas  as  a  State  under 


the  Lecompton  Constitution,  and  other 
wise  exhibited  his  sympathy  with  the 
free-soil  party.  An  accomplished  jurist, 
he  filled  satisfactorily  the  office  of  attor 
ney-general,  and  a  man  of  dignified  per 
sonal  character,  he  gave  increased  weight 
to  Mr.  Lincoln's  cabinet. 

Caleb  B.  Smith,  of  Indiana,  the  secre 
tary  of  the  interior,  had  brought  with 
him  from  his  own  State  a  high  reputa 
tion  for  ability  and  integrity,  and  he  was 
also  considered  an  effective  member  of 
the  Government. 


CHAPTER    XI. 

Action  of  the  Confederate  States. — Organization  of  an  Army. — Its  composition. — Officers. — Resignations  in  the  United 
States  Army. — Buchanan's  sanction  of  Treason. — A  change  of  conduct  under  Secretary  Holt. — The  Treason  of 
Twiggs. — His  Expulsion  from  the  Army. — His  Surrender  of  Government  Property  to  the  Authorities  of  Texas. — Its 
Character  arid  Value. — Military  Career  of  General  Twiggs. — His  motives  for  Seceding.  —Treachery. — Encouragement 
of  the  Confederate  States. — Defiant  Tone  and  Attitude. — Commissioners  to  Washington.— Their  Letter  to  the  Sec 
retary  of  State. — A  polite  Rebuff. — The  Commissioners  linger  in  Washington. — Career  of  Independent  Government 
of  the  Confederate  States. — A  new  Flag. — A  Political  Blunder. — The  influence  of  a  bit  of  Bunting. — The  motive  for 
adopting  a  new  Flag. — The  Confederate  Flag  described. — Active  preparation  for  War.— General  Beauregard  sent  to 
Charleston. — Call  upon  the  Confederate  States  for  Militia. — Progress  of  the  Works  in  the  Harbor  of  Charleston. — 
Soldiers  and  Negroes.— Floating  Battery. — Ardent  Gentlemen  as  Privates. —Statesmen  in  the  Ranks. — Rumored 
Evacuation  of  Fort  Sumter. — Courteous  relations  between  Major  Anderson  and  Citizens  of  Charleston. — Messengers 
from  the  Federal  Government. — Vigilance  of  the  Batteries. — An  Eastern  Schooner  driven  out  of  the  Harbor. —Per 
plexities  of  Lincoln  and  his  Cabinet. — A  Decision  at  last. — A  Demonstration  to  be  made  in  favor  of  Major  Anderson. 
— Preparations.— A  Special  Messenger  sent  to  the  Authorities  of  Charleston. — The  purport  of  his  Message. — The 
effect  upon  the  Southern  Confederacy. — Excitement  at  Charleston.— Appeal  to  Arms. — Departure  of  the  Confederate 
Commissioners  from  Washington. — Their  parting  Defiance. — Correspondence  between  Beauregard  and  the  Secretary 
of  War  of  the  Confederates. — Correspondence  between  Beauregard  and  Anderson. 


1861. 


THE  "  Confederate  States"  having  or 
ganized  a  government,  proceeded 
to  prepare  to  sustain  it  by  the 
formation  of  a  military  establishment. 
This  was  composed  of  one  corps  of 
engineers,  one  corps  of  artillery,  six 
regiments  of  infantry,  one  regiment  of 
cavalry,  and  of  a  staff  department, 
making  in  all  ten  thousand  seven  hun 


dred  and  forty-five  officers  and  men. 
Those  who  had  abandoned  the  United 
States  for  the  Confederate  service  gave 
the  new  army  a  large  supply  of  highly 
educated  and  experienced  officers.  This 
number  was  daily  increasing. 

The  government  of  Buchanan  had 
at  first  sanctioned  the  disloyalty  of  many 
of  our  officers  by  accepting  their  resig- 


THE  FLAG  OF  THE  CONFEDERACY. 


131 


American  people.  The  secretary  of 
state,  therefore,  avows  to  Messrs.  For 
syth  and  Crawford  that  he  looks  pa 
tiently  but  confidently  for  the  cure  of 
evils  which  have  resulted  from  proceed 
ings  so  unnecessary,  so  unwise,  so  un 
usual,  and  so  unnatural,  not  to  irregular 
negotiations,  having  in  view  new  and 
untried  relations  with  agencies  unknown 
to  and  acting  in  derogation  of  the  Con 
stitution  and  laws,  but  to  regular  and 
considerate  action  of  the  people  in 
those  States,  in  co-operation  with  their 
brethren  in  the  other  States,  through 
the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  and 
such  extraordinary  conventions,  if  there 
shall  be  need  thereof,  as  the  Federal 
Constitution  contemplates  and  author 
izes  to  be  assembled. 

"It  is,  however,  the  purpose  of  the 
secretary  of  state,  on  this  occasion,  not 
to  invite,  or  engage  in,  any  discussion  of 
these  subjects,  but  simply  to  set  forth 
his  reasons  for  declining  to  comply  with 
the  request  of  Messrs.  Forsyth  and 
Crawford. 

"  On  the  4th  of  March  inst.,  the  newly 
elected  President  of  the  United  States, 
in  view  of  all  the  facts  bearing  on  the 
present  question,  assumed  the  executive 
administration  of  the  Government,  first 
delivering,  in  accordance  with  an  early, 
honored  custom,  an  inaugural  address 
to  the  people  of  the  United  States. 
The  secretary  of  state  respectfully  sub 
mits  a  copy  of  this  address  to  Messrs. 
Forsyth  and  Crawford. 

"  A  simple  reference  to  it  will  be  suffi 
cient  to  satisfy  those  gentlemen  that  the 
secretary  of  state,  guided  by  the  princi 


ples  therein  announced,  is  prevented 
altogether  from  admitting  or  assuming 
that  the  States  referred  to  by  them 
have,  in  law  or  in  fact,  withdrawn  from 
the  Federal  Union,  or  that  they  could 
do  so  in  the  manner  described  by 
Messrs.  Forsyth  and  Crawford,  or  in 
any  other  manner  than  with  the  consent 
and  concert  of  the  people  of  the  United 
States,  to  be  given  through  a  national 
convention,  to  be  assembled  in  conform 
ity  with  the  provisions  of  the  Consti 
tution  of  the  United  States.  Of  course 
the  secretary  of  state  cannot  act  upon 
the  assumption,  or  in  any  way  admit 
that  the  so-called  Confederate  States 
constitute  a  foreign  power,  with  whom 
diplomatic  relations  ought  to  be  estab 
lished." 

The  commissioners,  in  spite  of  this  re 
buff,  or  encouraged  probably  by  the 
courteous  style  in  which  it  was  con 
veyed,  still  lingered  at  the  capital 
awaiting  the  issue  of  events. 

The  Confederate  States  continued  to 
pursue  with  vigor  their  career  of  inde 
pendent  government.  Having  set  up  a 
constitution  and  an  administration  of 
their  own,  they  now  adopted  a  flag.  In 
this  respect  they  acted  with  less  than 
their  usual  discretion.  Presuming,  as 
they  still  did  undoubtedly,  however 
justly  or  unjustly,  upon  a  strong  sym 
pathy  in  the  border  and  middle  States 
with  their  movement,  it  was  not  politic 
in  them  to  disregard  the  revered  sym 
bol  of  the  united  glory  of  the  country. 
They  thought,  doubtless,  that  it  was 
merely  a  matter  of  a  bit  of  bunting 
with  more  or  less  colored  stripes  and 


132 


THE   WAR   WITH   THE   SOUTH. 


stars,  but  they  forgot  how  such  trifles 
are  endeared  to  the  heart  of  a  nation 
when  they  have  once  become  associated 
with  its  history. 

The  committee  to  whom  was  referred 
the  subject  of  the  Confederate  flag, 
seemed  not  altogether  unconscious  of 
the  influence  of  the  stars  and  stripes 
upon  the  national  sentiment,  and  in. 
their  report  thus  ingeniously  strove 
to  weaken  it:  "Whatever  attachment 
may  be  felt,  from  association,  for  the 
'  stars  and  stripes'  (an  attachment 
which,  your  committee  may  be  per 
mitted  to  say,  they  do  not  all  share),  it 
is  manifest  that  in  inaugurating  a  new 
government,  we  cannot,"  said  the  com 
mittee,  "retain  the  flag  of  the  govern 
ment  from  which  we  have  withdrawn, 
with  any  propriety,  or  without  encount 
ering  very  obvious  practical  difficulties. 
There  is  no  propriety  in  retaining  the 
ensign  of  a  government  which,  in  the 
opinion  of  the  States  composing  this 
confederacy,  had  become  so  oppressive 
and  injurious  to  their  interests  as  to  re 
quire  their  separation  from  it.  It  is 
idle  to  talk  of  '  keeping'  the  flag  of  the 
United  States  when  we  have  voluntarily 
seceded  from  them.  It  is  superfluous 
to  dwell  upon  the  practical  difficulties 
which  would  flow  from  the  fact  of  two 
distinct  and  probably  hostile  govern 
ments,  both  employing  the  same  or  very 
similar  flags.  It  would  be  a  political 
and  military  solecism.  It  would  pro 
duce  endless  confusion  and  mistakes. 
It  would  lead  to  perpetual  disputes. 
As  to  'the  glories  of  the  old  flag,'  we 
urist  bear  in  mind  that  the  battles  of 


the  Revolution,  about  which  our  fond 
est  and  proudest  memories  cluster,  were 
not  fought  beneath  its  folds  ;  and 
although  in  more  recent  times — in  the 
war  of  1812  and  in  the  war  with  Mexico 
—the  South  did  win  her  fair  share  of 
glory,  and  shed  her  full  measure  of 
blood  under  its  guidance  and  in  its 
defence,  we  think  the  impartial  page  of 
history  will  preserve  and  commemorate 
the  fact  more  imperishably  than  a  mere 
piece  of  striped  bunting.  When  the 
colonies  achieved  their  independence  of 
the  '  mother  country'  (which  up  to  the 
last  they  fondly  called  her),  they  did  not 
desire  to  retain  the  British  flag  or  any 
thing  at  all  similar  to  it.  Yet  under 
that  flag  they  had  been  planted,  and 
nurtured,  and  fostered.  Under  that 
flag  they  had  fought  in  their  infancy  for 
their  very  existence  against  more  than 
one  determined  foe.  Under  it  they  had 
repelled  and  driven  back  the  relentless 
savage,  and  carried  it  farther  and  farther 
into  the  decreasing  wilderness  as  the 
standard  of  civilization  and  religion. 
Under  it  the  youthful  Washington  won 
his  spurs,  in  the  memorable  and  un 
fortunate  expedition  of  Braddock,  and 
Americans  helped  to  plant  it  on  the 
Heights  of  Abraham,  where  the  im 
mortal  Wolfe  fell,  covered  with  glory, 
in  the  arms  of  victory.  But  our  fore 
fathers,  when  they  separated  themselves 
from  Great  Britain — a  separation  not 
on  account  of  their  hatred  of  the  En 
glish  constitution  or  of  English  institu 
tions,  but  in  consequence  of  the  tyran 
nical  and  unconstitutional  rule  of  Lord 
North's  administration,  and  because 


PREPARATIONS  AT  CHARLESTON. 


J33 


their  destiny  beckoned  them  on  to  in 
dependent  expansion  and  achievement 
— -cast  no  lingering,  regretful  looks  be 
hind.  They  were  proud  of  their  race 
and  lineage,  proud  of  their  heritage  in 
the  glories,  and  genius,  and  language  of 
Old  England,  but  they  were  influenced 
by  the  spirit  of  the  motto  of  the  great 
Hampden,  '  Vestigia  nulla  retrorsum.' 
They  were  determined  to  build  up  a 
new  power  among  the  nations  of  the 
world.  They  therefore  did  not  attempt 
'to  keep  the  old  flag.'  We  think  it 
good  to  imitate  them  in  this  compara 
tively  little  matter,  as  well  as  to  emu 
late  them  in  greater  and  more  import 
ant  ones." 

The  committee  (of  which  it  may  not  be 
impertinent  to  say  that  a  South  Carolinian 
was  chairman,  who,  from  the  traditional 
disloyalty  of  his  native  State,  was 
less  likely  to  sympathize  with  the  rev 
erence  of  the  nation  for  the  symbol  of 
its  union)  therefore  recommended  a  new  | 
flag  for  the  Confederate  States,  which 
was  adopted,  "  consisting  of  a  red 
field  with  a  white  space  extending  hori 
zontally  through  the  centre  and  equal 
in  width  to  one  third  the  width  of  the 
flag,  the  red  spaces  above  and  below 
being  of  the  same  width  as  the  white  ; 
the  union  blue  extends  down  through 
the  white  space,  but  terminates  at  the 
lower  red  one.  In  the  blue  are  stars 
corresponding  in  number  to  the  States 
of  the  confederacy.  The  three  co~- 
ors,  red,  white,  and  blue,  are  the  true 
republican  colors.  In  heraldry  they  are 
emblematic  of  the  three  great  virtues, 
of  valor,  purity,  and  truth,"  reported  the 


committee,  while  they  added,  "the  col 
ors  constrast  admirably,  and  are  lasting." 
The  Confederate  Government  began 
to  prepare  actively  for  war.     The  gov 
ernors  of  the  several  States  having  been 
ordered  by  President  Davis,  issued  pro 
clamations,  calling  upon  the  militia  to 
muster.     General  Beauregard,  formerly 
a  major  in  the  United  States  engineer 
corps,    was    dispatched    to   take  March 
command  of  the  works  and  forces      5- 
at  Charleston.     In  the  mean   time   the 
South  Carolinians  had  made  great  pro 
gress    in    strengthening    and    manning 
their  defences.     The  people  of  Charles 
ton  were  becoming  each  day  more  ex 
cited  as  they  contemplated  the  flag  of 
the   Union  persistingly  raised  in  their 
harbor.       "The    fate   of    the   Southern 
Confederacy  hangs,"  they  said,  "  by  the 
ensign  halliards  of  Fort  Sumter."     The 
Governor  of  South  Carolina  made   re 
peated  calls  for  troops,  until  seven  thou 
sand  men  had  been  gathered,  and  im 
mense   gangs  of  negro   slaves   brought 
from  the  plantations  in  the  interior  and 
set   to    work    upon    the    fortifications. 
The  floating  batteries,  which  had  been 
in  course  of  construction   for   months, 
were  now  finished,   mounted,   manned, 
and   anchored   in  the  harbor.     Ardent 
gentlemen    of    South    Carolina   volun 
teered  as  privates,   among  whom  there 
was  a  large  number  of  the  members  of 
the    convention,   which    had   lately  ad 
journed.      Senators    and    members    of 
Congress  from  Carolina   and  other  se 
ceded  States  had  offered  their  services, 
and  while  some,  like  Senator  Wigfall,  of 
Texas,  received  appointments  on  General 


134 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE   SOUTH. 


Beauregard's  staff,  others  were  con 
strained  to  take  their  places  in  the 
ranks. 

In  the  mean  time,  however,  there 
were  still  rumors  that  a  conflict  would 
be  avoided  by  the  evacuation  of  Fort 
Sumter  by  Major  Anderson,  with  whom 
there  continued  to  be  preserved  a  court 
eous  relation  by  the  citizens  of  Charles 
ton,  who  not  unfrequently  had  him  to 
dinner,  or  supplied  him  with  delicacies 
from  their  tables  and  madeira  from  their 
cellars.  Messengers  traveling  by  land 
passed  between  the  Federal  Govern 
ment  and  the  fort,  with  the  concurrence 
of  the  authorities  of  South  Carolina. 
The  batteries  in  the  harbor,  however, 
abated  not  a  jot  of  their  vigilance,  and 
were  determined  not  to  let  a  vessel 
enter  under  the  flag  of  the  United 
States.  A  trading  schooner  of  Boston, 
laden  with  ice,  having  drifted  in  a  dense 
fog  over  the  Charleston  bar,  close  to  the 
fort  on  Morris  Island,  was  fired  at.  The 
captain  hoisted  the  stars  and  stripes,  but 
this  only  increased  the  intensity  of  the 
attack  ;  and  he  was  glad  finally  to  make 
his  escape  to  sea,  after  having  received 
several  thirty-two-pounder  shots  in  his 
rigging. 

At  Washington,  the  President  and 
cabinet  were  supposed  to  be  a  long 
time  perplexed  how  to  act  in  regard  to 
Fort  Sumter,  but  finally  came  to  a  de 
cision.  It  was  determined  to  make  a 
demonstration  at  least  of  sustaining 
Major  Anderson.  A  fleet  was  hurriedly 
fitted  out  for  the  purpose,  and  prepared 
to  sail,  the  destination  of  which  it  was 
not  doubted  was  Charleston,  although 


not  publicly  announced.  At  the  same 
time  a  special  messenger  was  sent  by 
the  United  States  Government  to  the 
authorities  at  Charleston,  bearing  the 
message  that  a  peaceable  effort  would 
be  made  to  supply  the  garrison  of  Fort 
Sumter  with  provisions,  and  that  if  this 
were  not  permitted,  force  would  be  tried. 

The  Southern  Confederacy  accepted 
this  as  a  menace  of  hostility.  The 
people  of  Charleston  were  roused  to  a 
high  degree  of  excitement.  "We  have 
patiently  submitted,"  they  said,  "  to  the 
insolent  military  domination  of  a  hand 
ful  of  men  in  our  bay  for  over  three 
months  after  the  declaration  of  our  in 
dependence  of  the  United  States.  The 
object  of  that  self-humiliation  has  been 
to  avoid  the  effusion  of  blood  while 
such  preparation  was  making  as  tc 
render  it  causeless  and  useless. 

"  It  seems  we  have  been  unable,  by 
discretion,  forbearance,  and  preparation, 
to  effect  the  desired  object,  and  that  now 
the  issue  of  battle  is  to  be  forced  upon 
us.  The  gage  is  thrown  down,  and  we 
accept  the  challenge.  We  will  meet  the 
invader,  and  the  God  of  battles  must 
decide  the  issue  between  the  hostile 
hirelings  of  Abolition  hate  and  Northern 
tyranny,  and  the  people  of  South  Car 
olina  defending  their  freedom  and  their 
homes.  We  hope  such  a  blow  will  be 
struck  in  behalf  of  the  South,  that 
Sumter  and  Charleston  harbor  will  be 
remembered  at  the  North  as  long  as 
they  exist  as  a  people.'"1 

The  commissioners  of  the  Con-  April 
federate  States  now  left  Washing-     *• 


°  Charleston  Mercury. 


SURRENDER   OF   FORT  3UMTER  DEMANDED. 


135 


ton,  after  sending  a  defiant  missive  to  the 
secretary  of  state  :  "  It  is  proper,  how 
ever,  to  advise  you,"  they  said  in  their 
dispatch  to  Mr.  Seward,  "  that  it  were 
well  to  dismiss  the  hopes  you  seem  to 
entertain,   that,   by  any  of  the  modes 
indicated,  the  people  of  the  Confeder 
ate  States  will  ever  be  brought  to  sub 
mit  to  the  authority  of  the  Government 
of  the  United  States.     You  are  dealing 
with  delusions,  too,  when  you  seek  to 
separate  our  people  from  our  Govern 
ment,  and  to  characterize  the  deliberate, 
sovereign  act  of  the  people  as  a  'per 
version  of  a  temporary  and  partisan  ex 
citement.'     If  you  cherish  these  dreams, 
you  will  be  awakened  from  them,  and 
find  them  as  unreal  and  unsubstantial 
as  others  in  which  you  have   recently 
indulged.     The  undersigned  would  omit 
the    performance    of    an   obvious   duty 
were  they  to  fail  to  make  known  to  the 
Government  of  the  United  States,  that 
the   people  of  the   Confederate    States 
have  declared  their  independence  with 
a  full  knowledge  of  all  the  responsibil- 
ties  of  that  act,  and  with  as  firm  a  de 
termination  to  maintain  it   by  all   the 
means  with  which  nature  has  endowed 
them,    as    that   which    sustained    their 
fathers  when  they  threw  off  the  author 
ity  of  the  British  crown." 

As  soon  as  it  was  suspected  at 
Charleston  that  there  was  an  intention 
on  the  part  of  the  Federal  authorities 
to  make  an  effort  to  sustain  Major 
Anderson  and  his  garrison,  all  communi 
cation  between  the  people  and  the  fort 
was  at  once  stopped.  Upon  the  arrival 
of  the  Federal  messenger,  Beauregard 


announced  the  fact  by  telegraph  to  the 
secretary  of  war  of  the  Confederate 
States,  Leroy  P.  Walker. 

"  An  authorized  messenger  from  Pres 
ident  Lincoln  just  informed  Gover- 
nor  Pickens  and  myself,"  wrote  8« 
Beauregard,  "  that  provisions  will  be 
sent  to  Fort  Sumter  peaceably,  or  other 
wise  by  force." 

To  this  the  secretary  answered  : 

"If  you  have  no  doubt  of  the  author 
ized  character  of  the  agent  who 
communicated  to  you  the  intention 
of  the  Washington  Government,  to  sup 
ply  Fort  Sumter  by  force,  you  will  ?t 
once  demand  its  evacuation,  and  if  this 
is  refused,  proceed  in  such  a  manner  as 
you  may  determine  to  reduce  it.  An 
swer." 

Beauregard    briefly   responded  :  ^prj| 
"The    demand   will    be   made    at    10* 
twelve  o'clock." 

The  secretary,  in  his  impatience,  again 
replied:  "Unless  there  are  especial 
reasons  connected  with  your  own  con 
dition,  it  is  considered  proper  that  you 
should  make  the  demand  at  an  early 
hour." 

"The  reasons  are  special  for  twelve 
o'clock,"  was  the  positive  response  \^r\\ 
of  the  General.  W, 

Accordingly  Beauregard  made  his  de 
mand  on  the  llth  of  April,  which  led 
to  the  following  correspondence  : 

'HEADQUARTERS,  PROVISIONAL  ARMY,  C. S.  A.  i 
CHARLESTON,  S.  C.,  April  11,  1861 — 2  P.M.    ) 
"  SIR  :  The  Government  of  the  Con 
federate   States    has    hitherto    forborne 
from  any  hostile  demonstration  against 
Fort  Sumter,  in  the  hope  that  the  Gov- 


136 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE   SOUTH. 


eminent  of  the  United  States,  with  a 
view  to  the  amicable  adjustment  of  all 
questions  between  the  two  governments, 
and  to  avert  the  calamities  of  war, 
would  voluntarily  evacuate  it.  There 
was  reason  at  one  time  to  believe 
that  such  would  be  the  course  pursued 
by  the  Government  of  the  United 
States  ;  and  under  that  impression,  my 
Government  has  refrained  from  making 
any  demand  for  the  surrender  of  the  fort. 

"  But  the  Confederate  States  can  no 
longer  delay  assuming  actual  possession 
of  a  fortification  commanding  the  en 
trance  of  one  of  their  harbors,  and 
necessary  to  its  defence  and  security. 

"  I  am  ordered  by  the  Government 
of  the  Confederate  States  to  demand 
the  evacuation  of  Fort  Sumter.  My 
aids,  Colonel  Chesnut  and  Captain  Lee, 
are  authoized  to  make  such  demand  of 
you.  All  proper  facilities  will  be  af 
forded  for  the  removal  of  yourself  and 
command,  together  with  company  arms 
and  property,  and  all  private  property, 
to  any  post  in  the  United  States  which 
you  may  elect.  The  flag  which  you 
have  upheld  so  long  and  with  so  much 
fortitude,  under  the  most  trying  circum 
stances,  may  be  saluted  by  you  on  taking 
it  down. 

"  Colonel  Chesnut  and  Captain  Lee 
will,  for  a  reasonable  time,  await  your 
answer. 

"  I  am,  sir,  very  respectfully, 

"Your  obedient  servant, 

"  G.  T.  BEATJREGARD, 
"Brigadier-General  Commanding. 

"Major  ROBEBT  ANDERSON,  commanding  at 
Fort  Sumter,  Charleston  Harbor,  S.  C." 


"  HEADQUARTERS,  FORT  SUMTER,  S.  C.,  ) 
April  11,  1861.  f 

"  GENERAL  :  I  have  the  honor  to  ac 
knowledge  the  receipt  of  your  communi 
cation  demanding  the  evacuation  of  this 
fort  ;  and  to  say  in  reply  thereto,  that 
it  is  a  demand  with  which  I  regret  that 
my  sense  of  honor  and  of  my  obliga 
tions  to  my  Government  prevent  my 
compliance. 

"  Thanking  you  for  the  fair,  manly, 
and  courteous  terms  proposed,  and  for 
the  high  compliment  paid  me, 

"I  am,  General,  very  respectfully, 
"  Your  obedient  servant, 

"ROBERT  ANDERSON, 
"Major  U.  S.  Army,  Commanding. 

"  To  Brigadier-General  G.  T.  BEAUREGARD, 
commanding  Provisional  Army,  C.  S.  A." 

"  MONTGOMERY,  April  11. 
"  Gen.  BEAUREGARD,  Charleston  : 

"  We  do  not  desire  needlessly  to  bom 
bard  Fort  Sumter,  if  Major  Anderson 
will  state  the  time  at  which,  as  indicated 
by  him,  he  will  evacuate,  and  agree  that, 
in  the  mean  time,  he  will  not  use  his 
guns  against  us,  unless  ours  should  be 
employed  against  Fort  Sumter.  You 
are  thus  to  avoid  the  effusion  of  blood. 
If  this  or  its  equivalent  be  refused,  re 
duce  the  fort  as  your  judgment  decides 
to  be  most  practicable. 

"L.  P.  WALKER,  Sec.  of  War." 

"HEADQUARTERS,  PROVISIONAL  ARMY,  C. S.  A.  ) 

CHARLESTON,  April  11,  1861 — 11  P.M.         f 

"  MAJOR  :  In  consequence  of  the  verbal 

observations  made  by  you  to  my  aids, 

Messrs.  Chesnut  and  Lee,  in  relation  to 

the  conditon  of  your  supplies,  and  that 

you  would  in  a  few  days  be  starved  out 


CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN  BEAUREGARD  AND  ANDERSON. 


137 


if  our  guns  did  not  batter  you  to  pieces 
— or  words  to  that  effect — and  desiring 
no  useless  effusion  of  blood,  I  communi 
cated  both  the  verbal  observation  and 
your  written  answer  to  my  communica 
tion  to  my  Government. 

' '  If  you  will  state  the  time  at  which 
you  will  evacuate  Fort  Sumter,  and 
agree  that  in  the  mean  time  you  will 
not  use  your  guns  against  us,  unless 
ours  shall  be  employed  against  Fort 
Sumter,  we  will  abstain  from  opening 
fire  upon  you.  Colonel  Chesnut  and 
Captain  Lee  are  authorized  by  me  to 
enter  into  such  an  agreement  with  you. 
You  are  therefore  requested  to  com 
municate  to  them  an  open  answer. 
"  T  remain,  Major,  very  respectfully, 
"Your  obedient  servant, 

"  G.  T.  BEAUREGARD, 
"  Brigadier-General  Commanding. 

"  Major  ROBERT  ANDERSON,  commanding  at 
Fort  Sumter,  Charleston  Harbor,  S.  C." 

"  HEADQUARTERS,  FORT  SUMTER,  S.  C.,  ) 
2.30  A.M.,  April  12,  1861.  ) 

"  GENERAL  :  I  have  the  honor  to  ac 
knowledge  the  receipt  of  your  second 
communication  of  the  llth  hist.,  by 
Colonel  Chesnut,  and  to  state,  in  reply, 
that  cordially  uniting  with  you  in  the 
desire  to  avoid  the  useless  effusion  of 
blood,  I  will,  if  provided  with  the  proper 
and  necessary  means  of  transportation, 
evacuate  Fort  Sumter  by  noon  on  the 
15th  instant,  should  I  not  receive,  prior 
to  that  time,  controlling  instructions 

1ft 


from  my  Government,  or  additional 
supplies  ;  and  that  I  will  not,  in  the 
mean  time,  open  my  fire  upon  your 
forces,  unless  compelled  to  do  so  by 
some  hostile  act  against  this  fort  or  the 
flag  of  my  Government,  by  the  forces 
under  your  command,  or  by  some  por 
tion  of  them,  or  by  the  perpetration  of 
some  act  showing  a  hostile  intention  on 
your  part  against  this  fort,  or  the  flag  it 
bears. 

"  I  have  the  honor  to  be,  General, 
"  Your  obedient  servant, 

"ROBERT  ANDERSON, 
"  Major  U.  S.  A.  Commanding. 

"To   Brigadier-General  G.  T.  BIAUREGARD, 
commanding  Provisional  Army,  C.  3.  A." 


"  FORT  SUMTER,  S.  C., 
April  12,  1861,  3.20  A.M. 

"Sra:  By  authority  of  Brigadier- 
General  Beauregard,  commanding  the 
Provisional  forces  of  the  Confederate 
States,  we  have  the  honor  to  notify  you 
that  he  will  open  the  fire  of  his  batteries 
on  Fort  Sumter  in  one  hour  from  this 
time. 

"  We  have  the  honor  to  be,  very  re 

spectfully, 

"Your  obedient  servants, 
"  JAMES  CHESNUT,  Jr., 

"  Aid-de-Camp. 
"  STEPHEN  D.  LEE, 
"  Captain  S.  C.  Army  and  Aid-de-Camp. 

"Major  ROBERT  ANDERSON,  United  States 
Army,  commanding  Fort  Sumter." 


138 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


CHAPTER    XII. 


Excitement  in  the  North  in  regard  to  Fort  Sumter. — Precarious  position  of  Major  Anderson  and  his  Garrison.— Opinion 
of  General  Scott. — No  effort  to  sustain  Fort  Sumter  reported. — Effect  of  the  Intelligence. — Government  at  last  re 
solved  to  make  an  Attempt. — Change  of  Feeling  at  the  North. — Preparations  of  the  Federal  Government. — A  Fleet 
got  Ready. — Its  Composition  and  Force. — The  proposed  destination  uncertain. — Arrival  at  the  Rendezvous  at 
Charleston. — Non-arrival  of  the  Tug-boats. — Defeat  of  purpose. — Schemes  concocted. — Failure. — Fort  Sumter. — The 
Artificial  Island. —Construction  and  Cost. — The  Fortress. — Its  Character. — Strength  and  number  of  Guns. — Its  in 
completeness. — Its  Position  and  Distances. — Its  meagre  Garrison. — Activity  of  the  Enemy.— Skilful  Engineering 
of  Beauregard. — Description  of  Fort  Moultrie. — Its  Strength  and  Armament. — The  Iron  Battery  at  Point  Cum- 
mings. — The  Floating  Battery. — Its  Construction  and  Efficiency. — The  Batteries  at  Fort  Johnson. — Their  Strength 
and  Construction. — The  Force  of  the  Enemy. — Defences  of  Charleston. — Skill  of  Beauregard. — Life  of  Beauregard. — 
Birth. — A  Cadet  at  West  Point. — Curious  change  of  Name. — His  Father. — Ducal  descent  of  his  Mother. — Graduation 
of  Beauregard. — His  Services  La  the  War  with  Mexico. — Differs  in  opinion  with  his  superior. — Beauregard' s  Judg 
ment  Triumphant. — Rewards  of  Gallantry. — Another  illustration  of  superior  Judgment  and  another  Triumph. — - 
Return  to  Louisiana. — Honor  to  the  young  Hero. — Government  appointments. — Personal  appearance  and  character. 
— Becomes  a  Secessionist. — Correspondence  between  Beauregard  and  Anderson. — Opening  of  the  Fire  upon  Fort 
Sumter. — Extent  of  Fire  surprising.  —  Tardy  Response  of  Major  Anderson. — Division  of  his  Garrison. — Who  fired 
the  first  Gun  ?— Enthusiasm  of  the  Men.  — Effect  of  the  Fire.— The  Enemy's  Vigor.— The  Parapet  of  Fort  Sumter 
dreadfully  damaged.— Danger  to  Life. — Havoc  among  the  Guns  en  barbette. — The  effect  of  the  Enemy's  Rifled  Can 
non. — On  guard. — "  Shot  or  Shell." — The  laborers  at  the  Guns. — A  Hit  in  the  Centre. — The  Barracks  on  Fire. — 
Danger  of  the  Magazine. — Continued  Conflagration. — The  descent  of  the  Flag. — Only  a  Salute. — A  genuine  Shot. — 
The  Flag  still  flying. — "  Knocked  down  temporarily." — Cessation  of  the  Fire  of  Fort  Sumter  during  the  Night. — 
The  Enemy  still  firing. — Attempt  to  rig  new  Halyards  for  the  Flag. — Expecting  Aid  or  an  Assault. — Saturday  Morn 
ing. — The  Conflagration  of  the  Barracks  continuing. — -Its  Effect. — Terrific  Scene. — Danger  of  an  Explosion. — Powder 
thrown  overboard.— Scarcity  of  Cartridges. — An  Explosion  — The  Crash. — Breaking  of  the  Flagstaff. — Flag  nailed 
to  its  Place. — Arrival  of  a  Stranger  through  an  Embrasure. — The  agitated  Wigfall. — His  purpose. — Displays  his 
white  Handkerchief. — An  uncomfortable  Post. — An  Interview  with  the  Major. — "  I  am  General  Wigfall." — Depart 
ure  of  Wigfall. — An  unauthorized  Messenger. — Commissioners  from  Beauregard. — Interview  with  Major  Anderson. 
-Hoisting  of  the  White  Flag. — Terms  of  Surrender  agreed  upon. — Departure  of  Major  Anderson  and  his  Garrison. — 
Firing  of  Salute  to  the  United  States  Flag. — Accident. — Major  Anderson  sails  for  New  York. 


1861. 


THE  public  mind  at  the  North  had 
been  greatly  excited  in  regard  to 
Fort  Sumter.  The  position  of 
Major  Anderson  with  his  meagre  garri 
son  was  known  to  be  very  precarious, 
besieged  as  he  was  by  the  powerful 
works  in  Charleston  harbor,  with  an  in 
furiated  mob  of  seven  thousand  men  to 
defend  them,  and  cut  off  from  all  com 
munication  by  land  or  sea.  The  highest 
military  authority  of  the  Union,  Lieu- 
tenant-General  Scott,  was  reported  to 
have  given  it  as  his  opinion  that  it  was 
impracticable,  without  such  a  military 


and  naval  force  as  the  Government  at 
that  time  could  not  command,  to  rein 
force  Fort  Sumter.  Anderson's  mas 
terly  movement,  in  quitting  Fort  Moul 
trie,  and  his  resolute  and  protracted 
support  of  the  flag  of  the  United  States, 
while  surrounded  by  those  who  with 
intense  hostility  were  resolutely  bent 
upon  dishonoring  it,  had  won  for  him 
the  sympathy  of  the  whole  countiy. 
When,  therefore,  it  was  authoritatively 
declared  again  and  again  that  no  effort 
could  or  would  be  made  to  sustain  him, 
an  anguish  of  despair  wrung  every 


UNITED   STATES  EXPEDITION   TO   FORT  SUMTER. 


139 


patriotic  heart.  A  sudden  change,  how 
ever,  came  with  the  rumor  that  the 
Government  had  at  last  determined  at 
all  hazards  to  make  the  attempt,  and 
the  desponding  nation  was  once  more 
cheered  with  hope. 

The  Federal  authorities  were  evi 
dently  preparing  for  some  momentous 
movement.  Orders  had  been  issued  to 
have  the  vessels  of  war  at  the  various 
navy  yards  immediately  detailed  for 
service.  A  number  of  large  merchant 
steamers  and  sailing  vessels  had  been 
chartered.  The  garrisons  of  the  various 
forts  in  the  Northern  harbors  had  been 
got  ready  to  embark.  The  recruiting  in 
the  large  cities  for  sailors  and  soldiers  had 
been  stimulated  to  an  unusual  degree. 
Finally,  a  fleet  was  got  ready  and  sailed, 
and  although  the  Government  strove  to 
keep  its  destination  a  secret,  all  sus 
pected,  as  they  hoped,  that  it  was 
Charleston.  The  vessels  sailed  from  the 
various  ports  where  they  happened  to 
be,  to  meet  at  a  certain  rendezvous  de 
termined  upon.  The  steam  sloop  of 
war  Pawnee,  Captain  S.  C.  Rowan,  of 
ten  guns,  and  with  two  hundred  men, 
sailed  from  Washington  with  sealed 
orders  on  the  morning  of  Saturday, 
April  April  6th.  On  the  afternoon  of 
6th.  the  same  day,  the  steam  sloop  of 
war  Powhatan,  of  eleven  guns,  and  with 
two  hundred  and  seventy-five  men,  left 
the  Brooklyn  navy  yard. 

On  the  following  Monday,  the  revenue 

April  cutter  Harriet  Lane,  after  having 

8«     exchanged  her  revenue  flag  for  that 

of  the  United  States,   sailed  from  the 

harbor  of  New  York  with  an  armament 


of  five  guns  and  a  crew  of  ninety-six 
men. 

Three  of  the  largest  and  swiftest  of 
the  merchant  steamers  hitherto  engaged 
in  peaceful  commerce  had  been  char 
tered,  and  now  laden  with  armed  men 
and  munitions  of  war  joined  the  ex 
pedition.  The  Atlantic,  with  three  hun 
dred  and  fifty-eight  troops,  com- 
posed  of  Companies  A  and  M  of 
the  Second  Artillery,  Companies  C  and  H 
of  the  Second  Infantry,  and  Company  A 
of  Sappers  and  Miners,  from  West  Point, 
steamed  out  of  the  harbor  of  New 
York  on  the  morning  of  Sunday,  April 
7th.  Two  days  after,  the  Baltic  fol 
lowed,  with  a  hundred  and  sixty  ^r[\ 
troops,  Companies  C  and  D,  which  9. 
had  been  lately  recruited  and  stationed 
at  Governor's  Island,  in  New  York  bay. 
On  the  same  day  the  Illinois  put  to  sea 
with  three  hundred  troops,  made  ^pril 
up  of  Companies  B,  E,  F,  G,  and  H,  9« 
of  a  detachment  of  Company  D,  and 
two  companies  of  the  Second  Infantry 
gathered  from  the  recruits  at  Governor's 
Island,  Bedloe's  Island,  and  Fort  Ham 
ilton. 

Two  steum-tugs — the  Yankee,  which 
sailed  on  Monday,  the  8th  of  April,  ^r(\ 
and  the  Uncle  Ben,  which  followed  8« 
on  the  day  after — completed  this  hurried 
ly  gathered  but  not  unimposing  naval 
force. 

Thirty  launches  were  also  distributed 
among  the  larger  steamers,  to  be  used 
for  the  purpose  of  landing  the  troops 
through  the  surf  under  the  cover  of  the 
fire  of  the  armed  vessels,  or,  being  pro 
tected  with  sand-bags,  and  armed  with 


140 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE   SOUTH. 


swivel  guns  and  riflemen,  to  aid  in  the 
attack  of  batteries.* 

Of  this  force,  though  the  whole  was 
supposed  by  the  people  to  be  destined 
for  Charleston,  only  the  Powhatan,  the 
Pawnee,  the  Harriet  Lane,  the  Baltic, 
and  the  steam-tugs  sailed  for  that  port. 
The  rest  took  their  course  for  the  Gulf 
of  Mexico,  to  reinforce  the  garrisons  of 
the  Federal  forts  on  the  coasts  of  Ala 
bama  and  Florida. 

The  Pawnee,  the  Harriet  Lane,  and 
April  the  Baltic  reached  the  rendezvous 
12.  off  Charleston  on  the  12th  of 
April,  but  the  Yankee  and  Uncle  Ben 
had  failed  to  arrive,  having  been  de 
tained  by  unfavorable  weather.  The 
orders  of  the  fleet  were,  that  unarmed 
boats  should  first  be  sent  in  with  stores  ; 
but  if  they  were  fired  upon,  an  effort 
was  to  be  made  to  relieve  the  fort  by 
force.  Without  the  tug-boats,  the  pro 
posed  object  of  the  expedition  could  not 
be  effectually  accomplished,  as  the  only 
unarmed  steamer,  the  Baltic,  was  of  too 
great  a  draught  of  water  to  pass  the 
bar  of  Charleston,  and  the  steam-tugs 
were  alone  capable  of  approaching  the 
fort  through  the  shallow  water.  The 
naval  commanders,  however,  after  a 


0  The  whole  force  may  be  thus  recapitulated  : 
Vessels.  Guns. 

Sloop  of  war  Pawnee 10 

Sloop  of  war  Powhatan 11 

Cutter  Harriet  Lane 6 

Steam  transport  Atlantic — 

Steam  transport  Baltic 

Steam  transport  Illinois 

Steam-tug  Yankee Ordinary  crew. 

Steam-tug  Uncle  Ben Ordinary  crew. 

Total  number  of  vessels 8 

Total  number  of  guns  (for  marine  service) 26 

Total  number  of  men  and  troops '. 1,884 


200 
275 
96 
353 
160 
300 


council,  determined  to  make  an  effort 
for  the  relief  of  Major  Anderson,  who 
was  already  under  shot,  for  as  soon  as 
the  first  rockets  had  been  sent  up  to 
signalize  the  concentration  of  the  fleet, 
the  enemy  had  opened  fire.  The  plan 
agreed  upon  was  to  hoist  out  the  small 
boats  and  launches,  load  them  with  men 
and  stores,  and  to  tow  them  as  far  as 
possible,  and  then,  while  covering  them 
with  the  guns  of  the  steamers,  to  send 
them  in  alone.  This,  however,  failed  in 
consequence  of  the  Baltic  having  got 
aground  during  the  night,  while  prepa 
rations  were  being  made  to  disembark 
her  stores  and  troops.  Other  schemes 
were  devised,  but  before  they  could  be 
put  into  execution,  the  time  for  action 
had  past.  Fort  Surnter  had  fallen. 

Fort  Sumter  had  been  considered  one 
of  the  strongest  works  in  the  United 
States.  The  island  upon  which  it  is 
built  was  artificially  constructed  by 
placing  upon  the  original  sand  and  mud 
a  large  quantity  of  refuse  granite, 
brought  from  Northern  quarries,  and 
pressing  it  deeply  down  until  an  un 
yielding  foundation  was  laid.  This 
alone  cost  the  labor  of  ten  years  and  an 
expense  of  five  hundred  thousand  dol 
lars,  to  which  another  half  million  was 
added  before  the  completion  of  the 
whole  fort.  The  walls  of  the  fortifica 
tion,  composed  of  brick  and  compact 
concrete,  are  sixty  feet  in  height  and 
from  eight  to  twelve  feet  in  thickness. 
The  fort  is  pentagonal,  and  is  pierced 
for  three  tiers  of  guns,  on  all  sides  but 
the  southern,  where  are  the  sally-ports 
and  docks,  which  had  been  left  unpro- 


FORTS   AT  CHARLESTON. 


141 


tected,  as  it  looks  toward  the  land,  and 
the  work  had  been  mainly  intended  as  a 
defence  against  attack  from  the  sea. 

Although  it  was  originally  designed 
to  have  armed  the  fort  with  one  hun 
dred  and  forty  cannon  of  various  cali 
bres,  there  were  but  seventy-five  in 
position  when  the  enemy  opened  fire. 
Of  these,  eleven  were  Paixhans,  and  a 
number,  thirty-two  pounders,  four  of 
which  were  en  barbette,  and  uncovered, 
and  being  on  pivots  could  be  made  to 
take  a  wide  range.  Fort  Moultrie  was 
within  command  of  nine  of  the  Paix 
hans,  and  the  two  others  pointed  toward 
Castle  Pinckney,  too  far  distant,  how 
ever,  to  be  within  range.  Most  of  the 
large  columbiads  in  the  fort  were  not 
yet  mounted.  The  magazines  were  well 
supplied  with  ammunition,  sufficient  it 
was  thought  for  a  year,  and  artificial 
wells  had  been  constructed  capable  of 
holding  a  supply  of  water  for  the  same 
period. 

The  distance  from  Fort  Sumter  to 
Charleston  is  three  miles  and  three 
eighths  of  a  mile.  Together  with  Fort 
Moultrie,  which  had  been  abandoned  by 
Anderson,  Sumter  was  surrounded  by 
Cumming's  Point  and  Fort  Johnson, 
where  strong  works  had  been  con 
structed  and  mounted,  and  a  floating 
battery.  From  Fort  Moultrie,  Fort 
Sumter  is  distant  one  and  one-eighth 
of  a  mile  ;  from  Cumming's  Point  three- 
fourths  of  a  mile  ;  from  Fort  Johnson 
one  and  one  fourth  of  a  mile  ;  while  the 
floating  battery  had  been  anchored 
about  half  a  mile  from  the  weak  side 
of  Sumter.  The  greatest  range  of  the 


guns  of  Fort  Sumter  was  estimated  at 
three  miles,  which  placed  the  city  of 
Charleston  beyond  reach  of  its  fire. 

Six  hundred  men  would  have  been 
required  fully  to  garrison  the  fort  and 
work  the  guns  ;  but  Major  Anderson 
could  only  muster  one  hundred  and 
nine,*  of  whom  thirty  were  laborers, 
and  fifteen  composed  the  band. 

The  enemy  had  diligently  improved 
every  moment  in  strengthening  the  Fed 
eral  forts  they  had  taken  possession  of, 
and  in  adding  new  works,  under  the 
skilful  direction  of  General  Beauregard, 
once  esteemed  as  among  the  ablest  offi 
cers  of  engineers  in  the  United  States 
service. 

Fort  Moultrie,  on  Sullivan's  Island, 
had  been  repaired,  its  dismantled  guns 
unspiked  and  mounted  again,  and  the 
lateral  spaces  between  the  cannon  pro 
tected  by  sand-bags,  to  secure  them 
against  a  flank  fire.  Though  a  weak 
work,  in  comparison  with  Fort  Sumter, 
its  walls,  built  of  brick,  capped  with 
stone  and  filled  in  with  earth,  presented 
a  solid  enclosure  of  nearly  sixteen  feet 
in  thickness.  Its  original  armament 


°  The  garrison  was  thus  composed  : 

Officers.  Rank.  Regiment  or  Corpa. 

K.  Anderson  ..Major 1st  Artillery  .. 

8.W.  Crawford. Ass't  Surgeon.. Medical  Staff  . 


A.  Doubleday.. Captain 

T.  Seymour Captain  — 

T.  Talbot 1st  Lieut  . 

Jeff.  C.  Davis . .  1st  Lieut 

J.  N.  Hall 2d  Lieut . . . 

J.  Or.  Foster — Captain  — 
G.  W.  Snyder.  .1st  Lieut . . . 
E.  K.  Meade...2d  Lieut... 


..1st  Artillery  .. 
..1st  Artillery  . . 
..1st  Artillery  .. 
..1st  Artillery  .. 
..1st  Artillery  . . 
. .  Engineers  — 
.  .Engineers 
..Engineers  — 


OHslnal  Entry 
into  Serrlca. 

July  1,1825... 
.March  10, 1851 
.July  1,  1842... 
July  1,1346... 
.May  22, 184T.. 
June  17,  1848. 
.July  1,1849  .. 
July  1, 1846  . . 
July  1,1356... 
July  1, 1857... 


Officers  ... 

Band 

Artillerists 
Laborers . . 

Total  ., 


Born  la 

Ky. 

Penn. 

N.  Y. 

Vt. 

,D.  0. 

.lud. 

.N.Y. 

.N.H. 

.N.Y. 

Va. 

9 

15 

56 

80 


142 


THE  WAR  WITH   THE   SOUTH. 


was  composed  of  eleven  guns  of  heavy 
calibre  and  several  powerful  mortars. 

On  Cummmg's  Point  the  enemy  had 
erected  a  battery  made  of  thick  logs  of 
yellow  pine.  This  was  covered  with  a 
slanting  roof  of  the  same  material,  which 
had  been  rendered  ball-proof  by  railroad 
iron  dovetailed  and  riveted  together. 
The  port-holes  were  supplied  with  iron 
shutters,  which  opened  as  the  guns  were 
thrust  out  to  fire,  and  fell  as  they  re 
coiled  after  a  shot,  and  thus  shut  in  the 
artillerists  within  an  iron-bound  and  im 
penetrable  cover.  This  novel  battery 
was  mounted  with  three  columbiads, 
which  bore  directly  on  the  southern  and 
weakest  side  of  Fort  Sumter. 

The  most  curious,  and  not  the  least 
effective,  perhaps,  of  the  enemy's  works, 
was  the  floating  battery,  which  in  the 
course  of  its  construction  had  given  rise 
to  much  speculation  and  not  a  little  rid 
icule.  This,  too,  was  constructed  of 
heavy  pine  logs  and  faced  with  a  double 
layer  of  railroad  iron.  It  was  about  a 
hundred  feet  in  length  and  twenty-five 
in  width.  Its  face  presented  an  angle 
horizontally  disposed,  formed  by  its  re 
treating  roof  and  the  front  wall  inclining 
backward  as  it  descended  to  the  water. 
It  was  mounted  with  four  guns  of  the 
heaviest  calibre,  which  were  said  to  re 
quire  sixty  men  to  work  them.  A  mag 
azine  for  ammunition  was  built  in  the 
hold,  below  the  water-line,  and  lined 
with  sand-bags,  laid  seven  feet  thick,  not 
only  to  protect  it  from  shot,  but  to  act 
as  ballast  necessary  to  counterpoise  the 
heavy  armament  above.  To  the  stern 
of  this  strange  structure  was  attached  a 


floating  hospital,  to  provide  for  the  or 
dinary  emergencies  of  war. 

At  Fort  Johnson — so  called  from  its 
being  the  site  of  an  old  work  no  longer 
existing — on  James'  Island,  two  long 
batteries  were  erected  of  sand,  and 
mounted  with  heavy  cannon  and  mor 
tars.  Other  temporary  structures  were 
raised,  some  of  palmetto  logs,  and  oth 
ers  of  earth  and  sand,  on  Morris  and 
Stono  islands,  Hadril's  Point,  and  other 
parts  of  the  harbor,  which  bore  on  its 
approaches,  or  upon  Fort  Sumter. 

A  large  force,  said  to  have  amounted 
to  over  seven  thousand  men,  had  been 
mustered  to  the  defence  of  Charleston. 
Four  thousand  of  these  were  manning 
the  works  in  the  harbor,  while  the  rest 
were  held  in  reserve  on  Sullivan  and 
Morris  islands  and  in  Charleston,  to  be 
ready  to  repel  any  attack  by  land. 

The  city  itself  was  immediately  de 
fended  by  the  fort  at  Castle  Pinckney, 
and  cannon  on  the  Battery  in  front  of 
Charleston.  These,  however,  could  only 
be  of  service  in  case  the  above  works 
had  failed  to  keep  out  any  intruder. 
Castle  Pinckney  is  situated  at  the  south 
ern  extremity  of  Shute's  Folly  Island. 
Its  armament  consists  of  some  thirty- 
two  pounders,  columbiads,  and  mortars, 
amounting  in  all  to  about  twenty-five 
pieces.  Its  walls  are  six  feet  in  thick 
ness,  and  are  pierced  for  one  row  of 
guns,  while  there  is  another  en  barbette. 
The  work  is  small,  and  of  little  import 
ance  in  an  attack  from  the  sea.  All  the 
old  defences  had  been  greatly  improved, 
and  new  ones  constructed,  by  the  skilful 
engineering  of  General  Beauregard,  the 


LIFE   OF   BEAUREGARD. 


officer  who  had  been  sent  by  the  gov 
ernment  of  the  Confederate  States  to 
(ake  command  at  Charleston. 

Peter  Gustavus  Toutant  Beauregard 
had  already,  while  in  the  service  of  the 
United  States,  won  a  distinguished  rep 
utation  as  an  engineer.  He  was  born 
on  his  father's  plantation,  near  New  Or 
leans.  The  family  name  is  said  to  be 
Toutant,  and  that  of  the  estate  Beaure 
gard,  which,  by  a  curious  accident,  was 
originally  attached  to  the  patronymic, 
and  assumed  by  the  present  bearer,  in 
this  wise  :  The  youth,  when  admitted  a 
cadet  at  West  Point,  was  presented  as 
Toutant  de  Beauregard,  signifying  mere 
ly  that  he  was  a  Toutant  of  the  planta 
tion  of  Beauregard,  and  thus  entered 
upon  the  records  of  the  institution. 
This,  however,  was  supposed  to  be  his 
surname,  and  he  was  so  called.  Not 
averse,  probably,  to  the  dignified  sound 
ing  of  the  appellation,  the  youth  did- not 
care  to  correct  the  error,  and  subse 
quently  assumed  the  name  of  Beaure 
gard  as  his  own. 

His  father  was  a  wealthy  Creole,  with 
extensive  estates  in  Louisiana,  and  a 
descendant  of  a  reputable  French  fam 
ily.  His  mother's  name  was  Reggio, 
for  whom  has  been  claimed  a  descent 
from  the  Italian  ducal  house  of  the  Reg- 
gios  of  Italy.  In  1834,  young  Beaure 
gard  entered  the  military  academy  at 
West  Point,  where  he  graduated  in  1838, 
ranking  the  second  of  a  class  of  forty- 
five  cadets.  On  his  graduation,  he  re 
ceived  the  commission  of  a  second  lieu 
tenant  in  the  First  Regiment  of  Artillery, 
but  in  a  week  after  was  transferred  to 


the  Corps  of  Engineers.  In  June,  1839, 
he  was  promoted  a  first  lieutenant,  and 
was  serving  in  this  grade  when  the  war 
with  Mexico  broke  out.  He  accompa 
nied  the  army  to  Vera  Cruz,  and  con 
tinued  with  it  during  its  career  of  con 
quest  to  the  capital  of  Mexico. 

At  the  very  first  moment  he  gave  in 
dications  of  that  surety  of  eye,  precision 
of  foresight,  and  carefulness  of  judgment 
which  are   his    distinguishing  qualities. 
Before  Vera  Cruz,  he  was  sent  out  at 
the   head   of  a   party   of   sappers   and 
miners  to  dig  and  prepare  a  trench,  in 
accordance  with   the    directions   of  his 
colonel.     Upon  examining  the  ground, 
however,  he  appeared   to   find   serious 
obstacles  to  the  proposed  plan.     To  as 
sure   himself,   he    climbed   a   tree,  and 
with  the  aid  of  his  glass  took  a  careful 
survey,  which  resulted  in  confirming  the 
objections  to  his  colonel's  plan.     He  dis 
covered  that  the  trench,  if  made  as  pro 
posed,  would  be   enfiladed  by  the   en 
emy's  guns.     It  was  a  difficult  position 
for  a  young  subaltern  thus  to  find  him 
self  at  variance  with  the  judgment  of  his 
superior.     He,  however,  did  not   hesi 
tate,  but  returned  to  his  colonel  without 
having  turned  a  sod.     The  officer,  sur 
prised  to  see  him  so  soon,  asked  if  he 
had  done  the  work  already.     Beaure 
gard  replied  that  he  had  not  touched  it, 
and  gave  his  reasons.     The  colonel  was 
still  more  startled  by  the  presumption 
of  the  youthful  subaltern  who  had  ven 
tured  to  dispute  the  judgment  of  his  su 
perior,  instead  of  submissively  obeying 
his  orders.      He  accordingly,  with  the 
characteristic     peremptoriness    of    the 


144 


THE  WAR  WITH   THE  SOUTH. 


military  commander,  reminded  him  of 
duties  of  obedience,  and  at  the  same 
time  impatiently  declared  that  "  the 
ground  had  been  thoroughly  examined, 
a  perfect  reconnoisance  had  been  made, 
and  that  a  mistake  was  impossible." 
Notwithstanding  this,  he  was  impressed 
by  the  judgment  of  Beauregard,  and 
took  another  survey  of  the  ground, 
when  he  found  reason  to  concur  with 
the  view  of  his  young  lieutenant. 

For  his  gallant  conduct  at  Contreras 
and  Oherubusco,  Beauregard  was  bre- 
vetted  captain,  to  date  from  20th  of 
August,  1847,  and  again  for  his  services 
at  Chapultepec,  he  was  promoted  to  the 
brevet  rank  of  major,  to  date  from  the 
13th  of  September  of  the  same  year. 

At  the  assault  of  the  Belen  gate  of  the 
city  of  Mexico,  Beauregard  was  wounded, 
and  throughout  the  whole  campaign  he 
was  not  only  among  the  most  brave,  but 
ranked  among  the  ablest  and  most  use 
ful  of  the  officers.  General  Scott,  in  his 
dispatch  from  the  capital  of  Mexico,  into 
which  he  had  just  entered  as  conqueror, 
spoke  of  Beauregard  as  one  of  "  our  dis 
tinguished  engineers,"  by  the  aid  of 
whose  efficient  and  daring  reconnois- 
sances,  he  was  enabled  to  follow  up  the 
victory  of  El  Molino  del  Rey  with  the 
triumphal  capture  of  the  city  of  Mexico. 
Again,  in  his  official  report,  Scott  al 
luded  to  Beauregard  as  one  of  the  five 
lieutenants  of  engineers  "who  were  the 
admiration  of  all"  during  the  storming 
of  the  fortress  of  Chapultepec,  the  strug 
gle  at  the  gates,  and  the  entrance  into 
the  capital. 

Another  illustration  of  the   correct 


ness  of  his  judgment  is  given  in  the 
following  incident,  said  to  have  occurred 
before  the  city  of  Mexico  : 

A  night  or  two  before  the  attack,  a 
council  of  war  was  held.  There  were 
assembled  all  the  officers,  from  the  Lieu 
tenant- General,  including  Major-General 
Worth  and  others,  down  to  Beauregard, 
the  youngest  in  the  room.  The  council 
sat  many  hours.  All  the  officers,  but 
one,  had  spoken,  and  unanimously  main 
tained  a  plan  of  operations  at  variance 
with  that  of  Scott.  The  officer  who 
had  not  tendered  his  opinion  was  Beau- 
regard.  At  last  General  Pierce  crossed 
over  and  said :  "  You  have  not  expressed 
an  opinion."  ' '  I  have  not  been  called  on," 
said  Beauregard.  Pierce,  soon  resum 
ing  his  seat,  announced  that  Lieutenant 
Beauregard  had  not  given  his  views. 
Being  then  called  upon,  he  remarked,  that 
if  the  plan  which  had  received  the  con 
sent  of  all  but  the  commanding  general 
was  carried  into  effect,  it  would  prove 
disastrous.  It  would  be  another  Cheru- 
busco  affair.  He  then  detailed  the  ob 
jections  to  it  at  length  ;  and  taking  up 
the  other,  urged  the  reasons  in  its  favor 
with  equal  earnestness.  The  council 
reversed  their  decision.  The  city  of 
Mexico  was  entered  according  to  the 
plan  urged  by  the  young  lieutenant, 
and  it  would  seem  that  his  reasons  in 
fluenced  the  decision.  A  few  days  after 
ward,  General  Scott,  in  the  presence  of 
a  number  of  general  officers,  alluded  to 
Lieutenant  Beauregard's  opinion  at  the 
council,  and  the  consequences  which  had 
followed  from  it. 

On  his  return  to  Louisiana,  the  young 


FIRST  DAY  OF  THE  SIEGE. 


147 


4  What  are  you  doing  here  with  that 
gun  T  I  asked.  '  Hit  it  right  in  the 
centre/  was  the  reply  ;  the  man  meaning 
that  his  shot  had  taken  effect  in  the 
centre  of  the  floating  battery." 

The  shot  of  the  enemy  was  particu 
larly  destructive  to  the  barracks  where 
the  officers  had  their  quarters.  Most 
of  the  brick  work  was  demolished,  and 
the  interior,  of  wood,  was  in  flames 
several  times.  As  the  day  advanced, 
the  fire  was  continued  with  more  vigor 
by  the  enemy  than  ever,  while  Major 
Anderson  soon  found  his  ability  to  re 
spond  greatly  diminished.  His  car 
tridges  became  exhausted  about  noon, 
and  he  was  forced  to  set  his  men  to 
work  in  the  magazine,  making  them  of 
blankets  and  shirts. 

The  frequent  conflagration  of  the 
officers'  barracks  was  now  a  source  of 
increased  annoyance  and  danger.  Three 
times  they  had  caught,  and  three  times 
been  put  out.  While  extinguishing  the 
flames,  the  men  were  obliged  to  go  out 
upon  the  parapet,  where,  though  di 
rectly  exposed  to  the  thickest  of  the 
shower  of  balls,  they  could  not  resist  the 
temptation  of  discharging  clandestinely 
the  cannon  which  had  been  loaded  and 
pointed  on  the  day  before,  ready  to  fire. 

The  soldiers  throughout  exhibited 
great  daring.  On  Friday,  when  some 
of  our  vessels  outside  having  saluted  the 
fort,  Major  Anderson  ordered  his  flag  to 
be  lowered  and  raised  in  response,  Ser 
geant  Hart,  catching  a  glance  at  it  just 
as  it  was  descending,  and  thinking  it  had 
been  cut  away  by  a  shot,  rushed  out 
into  the  open  parade  in  the  thickest  of 


the  fire,  in  order  to  raise  it.  As  it  rose, 
a  ball  really  did  come  which  divided  the 
halyards,  but  the  rope  caught  by  the 
wind  twisted  around  the  staff  and  held 
the  flag  in  its  place. 

A  veteran  sergeant,  of  the  name  of 
Kearnan,  who  had  served  in  the  Mex 
ican  campaigns,  was  struck  on  the  head 
by  a  portion  of  masonry   shivered  by  a 
shot,   and   felled   to    the    ground.      On 
rising,  he  was  asked  if  he  were  badly 
hurt.      "No,"    said   he,    "I    was    only 
knocked  down  temporarily."     The  men 
were  now  obliged  to  keep  so  close  to 
their  work,  that  their  meals  were  served 
to  them  while  at  their  guns.     The  fire 
of  the  enemy  became  more  brisk  and 
accurate  as  the  day  was  closing.    Their 
iron  battery  at  Cumming's  Point,  with 
its    rifled    cannon,    was    making    great 
havoc,  striking  the  embrasures  at  every 
shot.     During  Friday  night  some  of  our 
men  strove  to  climb  the  flagstaff  and  rig 
new  halyards  in  place  of  those  which 
had  been  cut  away,  but  could  not  suc 
ceed.     The  flag,  however,  still  was  fly 
ing.     At  night,  Major  Anderson  ordered 
the  port-holes  to  be  closed,  and  ceased 
active   operations,  but  the  enemy  con 
tinued  their  fire.     A  shot  or  shell  struck 
against  the  walls,  within  which  the  little 
garrison  was  cooped  up,  about  every  fif 
teen  minutes  during  the  whole    night. 
Major   Anderson    stationed   until    next 
morning  a  non-commissioned  officer  and 
four  men  at  each  salient  embrasure,  to 
be  in  readiness  for  any  boats  that  might 
come,  whether  from   friend   or  foe,  as 
relief  from  the  fleet  outside  or  an  assault 
from  the  enemy  was  not  improbable. 


148 


THE  WAR    WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


On  Saturday  morning  the  officers' 
quarters  again  caught  fire  from  the  burst- 
April  mg  °f  a  ten-inch  shell  discharged 
I3i  by  the  enemy.  It  was  now  found 
impossible  even  to  make  the  attempt  to 
put  out  the  conflagration,  as  red-hot 
shot  were  pouring  constantly  into  the 
fort,  and  from  the  general  ruin  the  ex 
posure  was  so  great.  The  main  gates 
were  already  destroyed,  so  that  five  hun 
dred  men  could  have  readily  formed  in 
the  gorge  and  marched  in  without  oppo 
sition.  The  walls,  too,  were  so  weak 
ened,  it  was  feared  that  each  shot  might 
pierce  or  prostrate  them.  The  fire  of 
the  barracks  spread  rapidly,  and  was 
soon  sweeping  up  all  the  wood-work  of 
the  fortress. 

Great  fears  were  now  entertained  for 
the  safety  of  the  magazine.  Every  man 
who  could  be  spared  was  put  to  work 
in  removing  the  powder.  Ninety-six 
barrels  were  rolled  out  through  the 
flames,  at  the  imminent  hazard  of  life, 
and  most  of  them  flung  into  the  sea. 
Two  hundred  were  left  behind,  as  it  was 
found  impossible  to  make  any  further 
effort,  in  consequence  of  the  excessive 
heat,  to  remove  them.  The  doors  of 
the  magazine  were  now  closed  and 
locked,  but  there  was  a  constant  dread 
of  an  explosion  as  the  flames  gathered 
about  the  whole  structure. 

The  direction  of  the  wind  was  such 
that  it  blew  the  smoke  into  the  fort,  and 
so  filled  it  that  the  men  could  no  longer 
see  each  other,  and  the  air  became  so 
hot  and  stifling  that  it  was  almost  im 
possible  to  breathe.  They  were  finally 
forced  to  cover  their  faces  with 


cloths,  and  often  thus  to  lie  prostrate 
on  the  ground.  Some,  however,  man 
aged  to  grope  their  way  to  the  cannon. 
A  gun  was  occasionally  fired,  to  give  the 
fleet  and  the  enemy  notice  that  the  gar 
rison  still  held  out,  but  the  cannoneers 
could  not  see  to  aim,  and  the  cartridges 
had  became  so  scarce  that  there  was 
hardly  a  cannon  wad  left.  As  the 
sparks  flew  thick  in  every  direction,  it 
was  impossible  to  attempt  to  make  fresh 
cartridges.  The  men  at  the  same  time 
had  become  prostrate,  as  much  in  con 
sequence  of  their  constant  working  at 
the  guns  as  for  want  of  proper  food. 
They  had  eaten  their  last  biscuit  thirty- 
six  hours  previous. 

In  the  mean  time  the  enemy  increased 
their  fire,  which,  added  to  the  conflagra 
tion,  the  heat  and  the  smoke,  the  crash 
and  the  ruin,  produced  a  scene  of  inde 
scribable  awe  and  confusion.  "  The 
crashing  of  the  shot,  the  bursting  of  the 
shells,  the  falling  of  walls,  and  the  roar 
of  the  flames  made,'7  reported  an  eye 
witness,  "a  pandemonium  of  the  fort." 

Now,  to  add  to  the  horror  of  the 
scene,  the  shells  and  ammunition  in  the 
upper  service-magazines  exploded,  scat 
tering  the  tower  and  upper  portions  of 
the  structure  in  every  direction.  "The 
crash  of  the  beams,  the  roar  of  the 
flames,  the  rapid  explosion  of  the  shells, 
and  the  shower  of  fragments  of  the  fort, 
with  the  blackness  of  the  smoke,  made 
the  scene,"  wrote  one  who  was  present, 
"  indescribably  terrific  and  grand." 

The  conflagration  continued  to  spread, 
and  having  reached  the  men's  quarters, 
soon  enveloped  them  in  flames.  The 


ARRIVAL   OF   WIGFALL. 


barrels  of  powder  which  had  been  taken 
out  of  the  magazine  and  retained  for 
use,  were  now  in  danger  of  explosion. 
All  but  four  were  accordingly  thrown 
through  the  embrasures  into  the  water, 
and  those  which  were  left  were  wrapped 
in  many  thicknesses  of  wetted  woollen 
blankets.  The  garrison  was  now  re 
duced  to  its  last  three  cartridges,  and 
those  were  already  in  the  guns. 

The  flagstaff,  which  seemed  to  have 
been  the  constant  aim  of  the  enemy,  had 
been  struck  already  eight  times,  when  it 
received  a  ninth  shot,  which  broke  it  at 
about  fifty  feet  from  the  truck  and 
brought  down  the  flag.  "  The  flag  is 
down — it  has  been  shot  away  !"  was  the 
cry,  when  Lieutenant  Hall  rushed  out 
and  brought  it  in  safely.  It  was  found 
impossible,  from  the  entanglement  of 
the  halyards,  to  hoist  it  again,  and  it  was 
accordingly  nailed  to  the  broken  staff 
and  planted  upon  the  ramparts  in  the 
midst  of  a  shower  of  shot  and  shell  from 
the  enemy's  busy  batteries.  Soon  after 
the  flag  had  fallen,  and  toward  the  close 
of  day,  a  man  presented  himself  at  one 
of  the  embrasures  of  the  fort  in  a  boat, 
with  a  white  handkerchief  tied  to  a 
sword,  asking  to  see  Major  Anderson. 
In  his  impatience,  however,  to  get  under 
cover,  he  climbed  up,  and  was  crawling 
through  the  embrasure  when  he  was 
told  that  Major  Anderson  was  at  the 
main  gate.  He,  however,  did  not  heed 
what  was  said,  but  continued  to  make 
his  way  into  the  fort,  where,  on  landing, 
he  said,  hurriedly : 

"  I  wish  to  see  Major  Anderson  ;  I 
am  General  Wigfall,  and  come  from 


General  Beauregard :"  while  he  added, 
with  great  agitation,  "let  us  stop  this 
firing.  You  are  on  fire,  and  your  flag  is 
down.  Let  us  quit." 

Lieutenant  Davis  replied : 

"  No,  sir — our  flag  is  not  down.  Step 
out  here  and  you  will  see  it  waving  over 
the  ramparts." 

"Let  us  quit  this,"  exclaimed  the 
agitated  Wigfall.  "  Here's  a  white  flag 
[handing  his  handkerchief] — will  any 
body  wave  it  out  of  the  embrasure  ?" 

"  That  is  for  you  to  do,  if  you  choose," 
was  the  reply  ;  to  which  Wig  fall  re 
joined  : 

"  If  there's  no  one  else  to  do  it,  I 
will ;"  and  jumping  into  the  embrasure 
through  which  he  had  just  crawled,  he 
waved  his  white  handkerchief  toward 
Fort  Moultrie.  The  firing,  however,  of 
the  enemy  still  continued,  to  the  evident 
disappointment  of  Wigfall,  who,  after 
repeated  requests  on  his  part,  was  re 
lieved  from  his  hazardous  position  by  a 
corporal  who  took  his  place  and  waved 
the  flag.  The  enemy,  however,  still 
gave  it  no  heed,  and  the  corporal,  finding 
the  shot  falling  thick  and  fast  about 
him,  leaped  down  from  the  embrasure, 
exclaiming:  "Damn  it!  they  don't  re 
spect  this  flag — they  are  firing  at  it." 

"  They  fired  at  me  two  or  three  times, 
and  I  stood  it,"  answered  Wigfall,  "  and 
I  should  think  you  might  stand  it  once." 

As  he  spoke,  he  turned  toward  the 
officers  and  added:  "  If  you  will  show 
a  white  flag  from  your  ramparts,  they 
will  cease  firing."  Lieutenant  Davis 
replied:  "If  you  request  that  a  flag 
shall  be  shown  there  while  you  hold  a 


150 


THE  WAR   WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


conference  with  Major  Anderson,  and 
for  that  purpose  alone,  it  may  be  done." 

At  this  moment  Major  Anderson  came 
up,  and  Wigfall  said  to  him:  "I  am 
General  Wigfall,  and  come  from  General 
Beauregard,  who  wishes  to  stop  this." 

The  Major,  rising  on  his  toes,  and 
coming  down  firmly  on  his  heels,  ex 
claimed,  "Well,  sir!" 

"  Major  Anderson,"  resumed  Wigfall, 
"  you  have  defended  your  flag  nobly, 
sir.  You  have  done  all  that  is  possible 
for  man  to  do,  and  General  Beauregard 
wishes  to  stop  the  fight.  On  what 
terms,  Major  Anderson,  will  you  evacu 
ate  this  fort?" 

"  General  Beauregard  is  already  ac 
quainted  with  my  only  terms,"  replied 
the  Major. 

"Do  I  understand  that  you  will  evac- 
.  late  upon  the  terms  proposed  the  other 
day  ?" 

"Yes,  sir,  and  on  those  conditions 
only." 

"Then,  sir,"  said  Wigfall,  "I  under 
stand  that  the  fort  is  to  be  ours  ?" 

"  On  those  conditions  only,  I  repeat," 
firmly  declared  Anderson. 

"Very  well — that's  all  I  have  to  do. 
You  military  men  will  arrange  every 
thing  else  on  your  own  terms,"  said  the 
modest  Wigfall,  and  retired. 

He  now  left  in  his  boat,  his  white 
handkerchief  waving  from  the  rampart 
where  it  had  been  placed  at  his  request, 
but  the  United  States  flag  nailed  to  the 
broken  staff  was  no  longer  standing. 

Shortly  after  his  departure,  Major 
Lee,  the  Honorable  Porcher  Miles,  Sen 
ator  Chesnut,  and  the  Honorable  Roger 


A.  Pryor,  the  staff  of  General  Beaure 
gard,  approached  the  fort  with  a  white 
flag,  and  said  they  came  from  General 
Beauregard,  who  had  observed  that  the 
flag  had  been  down  and  raised  again  a 
few  minutes  afterward.  The  General 
had  sent  over,  desiring  to  know  if  he 
could  render  any  assistance,  as  he  had 
observed  that  the  fort  was  on  fire.  Ma 
jor  Anderson,  in  replying,  requested 
them  to  thank  General  Beauregard  for 
the  offer,  but  it  was  too  late,  as  he  had 
just  agreed  with  General  Beauregard 
for  an  evacuation.  The  three,  com 
prising  the  deputy,  looked  at  each  other 
blankly,  and  asked  with  whom  ?  Major 
Anderson,  observing  that  there  was 
something  wrong,  remarked  that  Gen 
eral  Wigfall,  who  had  just  left,  had  rep 
resented  himself  to  be  the  Aid  of  General 
Beauregard,  and  that  he  had  come  over 
to  make  the  proposition. 

After  some  conversation  among  them 
selves,  they  said  to  Major  Anderson  that 
Wigfall  had  not  seen  General  Beauregard 
for  two  days.  Major  Anderson  replied 
that  General  Wigfall's  offer  and  its  ac 
ceptance  had  placed  him  in  a  peculiar  po 
sition,  and  ordered  the  United  States  flag 
to  be  raised  again.  They  then  requested 
him  to  place  in  writing  what  General 
Wigfall  had  said  to  him,  and  they  would 
lay  it  before  General  Beauregard,  and 
at  the  same  time  urged  him  to  leave  the 
flag  down  in  the  meanwhile,  with  which 
request  Anderson  complied. 

After  the  note  reached  General  Beau- 
regard,  he  sent  his  adjutant-general  and 
other  members  of  hia  staff,  including  the 
Honorable  Roger  A.  Pryor  and  Gover- 


SURRENDER  OF  FORT  SUMTER. 


151 


nor  Manning,  proposing  the  same  con 
ditions  which  Major  Anderson  had  of 
fered  to  go  out  upon,  with  the  exception 
only  of  not  saluting  his  flag.  Major  An 
derson  said  that  he  had  already  informed 
General  Beauregard  that  he  was  going 
out.  They  asked  him  if  he  would  not 
accept  of  the  terms  without  the  salute. 
Major  Anderson  told  them,  No  ;  but 
that  it  should  be  an  open  point. 

General  Beauregard  soon  after  sent 
word  that  Major  Anderson's  terms  had 
been  accepted,  and  that  he  would  send 
the  Isabel,  or  any  other  vessel  at  his 
command,  to  convey  him  and  his  men  to 
any  port  in  the  United  States  he  should 
choose. 

The  terms  of  evacuation  were,  that 
the  garrison  should  take  all  their  indi 
vidual  and  company's  property  with 
them  ;  that  they  should  march  out  with 
their  side  and  other  arms,  with  all  the 
honors  in  their  own  way  and  in  their 
own  time,  and  that  they  should  salute 
their  flag  and  bear  it  away  with  them. 
It  was  late  on  Saturday  night  when  the 
terms  demanded  were  finally  agreed  to 
by  General  Beauregard.  Next  morn 


ing,  on  Sunday,  the  Isabel  came 
down  from  Charleston  and  an- 
chored  near  Fort  Sumter,  and  the  little 
steamer  Clinch  lay  alongside  the  wharf 
to  transport  Major  Anderson  and  his 
men  to  the  larger  vessel. 

When  the  baggage  had  been  all  put 
on  board  the  Clinch,  the  soldiers  being 
inside  of  the  fort  under  arms,  a  number 
were  detailed  to  salute  the  United  States 
flag.  At  the  fiftieth  gun,  the  flag  was 
lowered  and  the  men  set  up  a  loud 
cheer.  In  firing,  however,  this  last 
discharge,  a  premature  explosion  took 
place  which  killed  one  man  instantane 
ously,  seriously  wounded  another,  and 
injured  less  seriously  two  other  men. 
These  were  the  only  casualties  of  mo 
ment  during  the  whole  conflict. 

The  troops,  now  being  formed,  were 
marched  out,  while  the  band  played 
" Yankee  Doodle"  and  "Hail  to  the 
Chief."  Remaining  on  board  the  Isabel 
during  the  night,  in  consequence  of  the 
state  of  the  tide,  Major  Anderson  and  his 
command  were  transferred  next  morning 
to  the  Baltic,  and  during  the  evening  of 
the  day  after  sailed  for  New  York. 


152 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


CHAPTER    XIII. 

Cannonade  of  Fort  Sumter. — Its  severity. — Damage  to  the  Fortress. — The  "Impress  of  Ruin." — The  Interior  of  the 
Fort. — Its  condition. — The  Parade. — Dismantled  Guns. — Walls  hanging  in  Fragments. — The  shattered  Flagstaff. 
— The  Parapet. — Its  damaged  condition. — The  Guns. — Confusion. — The  condition  of  the  Guns. — Dismantled.— 
Flung  everywhere. — Cracked. — Broken. — The  effect  of  a  Ninety-six  Pounder. — The  risk  to  the  Magazine. — Gren 
ades,  Balls,  Shells,  Rammers,  charred  Timber,  etc.,  etc. — The  Exterior. — Peppered  Walls. — Indentations  of  the 
Balls. — A  threatened  Breach. — Outside  the  Fort. — Effect  of  the  Fire  of  Fort  Sumter  upon  the  Enemy's  Works. — 
Fort  Moultrie. — Its  damaged  condition. — Battered  Archways. — Splintered  Rafters.  —Dropping  Ceilings. — Innumera 
ble  Balls. — Barracks  and  Officers'  Quarters. — The  Confederate  and  Palmetto  Flags. — How  many  times  struck. — The 
Exterior. — No  Hot  Shot  from  Sumter. — The  Battery  at  Point  Cummings  uninjured. — Indentations  in  its  Iron  Armor. 
— The  interest  of  the  People  of  Charleston  at  the  approach  of  the  Struggle. — Alert  with  expectation. — Firing  of 
Signal  Guns. — Alarm. — The  City  of  Charleston  aroused. — The  Call  to  Arms. — The  mustering  of  the  Soldiery. — De 
serted  Homes. — The  Guards  trebled. — The  Flotilla  of  Guard  Boats. — A  veteran  Secessionist  fires  the  First  Gun. — A 
thronging  Multitude  spectators  of  the  scene,  Night  and  Day. — The  raising  of  the  Confederate  Flag  upon  Fort 
Sumter. — "  A  merry  Peal." — A  People  "  wild  with  joy." — General  Beauregard's  Order. — Announcement  of  Victory 
—Delight  hi  the  Seceded  States. — The  effect  of  the  news  in  Virginia. — The  news  in  the  North.— Connecting  Tele 
grams. — Effect. — Doubt  and  Fear. — The  Truth  at  last. — Opinions  of  the  conduct  of  Anderson. — His  Life. — Birth. — 
Military  Education. — Barly  Services. — Promotion. — Gallantry  in  the  Mexican  War. — His  conduct  at  Fort  Sumter. 
— Want  of  Concert  with  the  United  States  Fleet  expl?jned. — His  report  of  the  Fall  of  Fort  Sumter. — Complimentary 
tribute  from  the  Government. — Anderson's  Popularity. — His  Personal  Appearance  and  Character. — A  pious  Scene. 
-The  United  States  Flag  raised. — Determination  to  Reinforce  Fort  Pickens. — The  Forts  in  Pensacola  Harbor  seized 
by  the  Insurgents  of  Florida. — General  Bragg,  of  the  Confederate  Army. — Better  known  as  Captain  Bragg,  of  the 
United  States  Army. — Description  of  Fort  Pickens. — Its  Construction  and  Strength. — Fort  McRae. — Description. — 
Its  Construction  and  Strength.  —  Fort  Barrancas. — Its  description. — Construction. — Strength. — Movement  of  Lieuten 
ant  Slemmer. — First  successful  attempt  to  Reinforce  Fort  Pickens. — The  second  attempt. — Arrival  of  the  Atlantic. 
— Debarkation  of  Troops  and  Supplies. — Arrival  of  the  Powhatan. — Arrival  of  the  Illinois. — Debarkation  of  Troops 
and  Supplies.— Colonel  Brown  in  command  of  Fort  Pickens. — Force  and  threatening  position  of  the  Enemy. 


1861, 


ALTHOUGH  not  a  man  had  been  killed 
or  seriously  wounded  on  either*  side  by 
a  hostile  gun  during  the  bombard 
ment  of  Fort  Sumter,  the  cannon 
ade  was  certainly  very  heavy  and  well 
directed,  as  was  proved  by  the  condition 
of  the  works  after  the  engagement. 

All  parts  of  Fort  Sumter,  except  the 
outer  walls  and  casemates,  "  bore  the 
impress  of  ruin,"  declared  a  Southern 
writer.  The  interior  structure  was  de 
scribed  as  roofless,  bare,  blackened,  and 
perforated  by  shot  and  shell,  while  the 

0  Some  have  persistently  declared  that  the  Confed 
erates  suffered  a  great  loss,  but  concealed  it.  There  seems 
to  be  little  doubt  that  not  one  of  their  men  was  killed. 


walls  hung  in  fragments,  ready  to  totter 
down.  The  parade  was  strewn  with 
fragments  of  shell  and  of  the  shattered 
buildings.  Four  guns  lay  dismounted 
on  the  ramparts,  and  every  step  was  im 
peded  by  portions  of  the  broken  struc 
ture.  The  remnant  of  the  shattered 
flagstaff  showed  the  marks  of  four  balls. 
The  parapet  was  torn  in  many  places, 
and  the  guns  were  knocked  in  scat 
tered  confusion  everywhere.  Some  were 
turned  on  their  sides  ;  some  were  en 
tirely  forced  from  their  places,  and 
many  were  so  bruised  and  cracked,  as 
to  be  no  longer  of  use.  The  largest 
gun  had  been  dismounted  by  its  own 


THE   FORTS  AFTER  THE  BOMBARDMENT. 


153 


recoil.  In  the  magazine  there  was  a 
hole  made  by  a  red-hot  shot  which  had 
forced  and  bored  its  way  half  way 
through  the  wall  of  brick.  A  ninety- 
six  pound  shell,  after  shattering  a  gran 
ite  block  to  pieces,  had  finally  exploded 
against  the  magazine  and  forced  the  iron 
door  from  its  place,  thus  exposing  the 
powder  within  to  the  next  shot.  Gren 
ades,  balls,  shells,  rammers,  charred 
timber,  and  fragments  of  brick  and  ma 
sonry  were  mingled  in  confusion  every 
where. 

The  exterior  walls,  though  not  mate 
rially  injured,  presented  the  aspect,  as 
described  by  a  writer,*  as  if  the  strong 
hold  had  just  recovered  from  an  attack 
of  small-pox,  so  "  pitted"  was  it  with 
the  indentations  of  balls,  which  had  torn 
away,  as  they  struck,  the  brick-work  by 
"bushels-full."  There  was,  however, 
no  breach  made  in  the  walls,  though  at 
the  southeast  angle  there  was  sufficient 
damage  done  already  as  to  threaten  it. 
Upon  the  rim  of  the  island,  at  the  base 
of  the  fort,  the  stones  were  strewed 
with  fragments  of  brick,  concrete,  shells, 
and  cannon-balls. 

The  cannonade  of  Fort  Sumter  had 
been  no  less  destructive  to  the  works  of 
the  enemy,  particularly  to  Fort  Moul- 
trie.  A  writerf  who  visited  it  imme 
diately  after  the  bombardment,  wrote  : 

"  The  raking  fire  from  Fort  Sumter 
against  Fort  Moultrie  was  terribly  de 
structive,  and  when  viewed  in  connec 
tion  with  the  fact  that  no  life  was  lost, 
is  the  most  extraordinary  case  ever  re 
corded  in  history.  As  you  enter,  the 


*  New  York  Herald. 


f  Charleston  Courier. 


eye  falls  upon  the  battered  walls  of  the 
archway,  with  openings  in  some  places 
large  enough  for  windows.  In  other 
places  may  be  seen  the  hanging  splinters 
of  the  rafters,  large  pieces  of  ceiling 
seemingly  about  to  drop,  while  the  holes 
in  the  roof  throw  a  clear  light  over  the 
scene  of  destruction,  which  renders  it 
painfully  impressive.  It  would  be  an 
almost  impossible  task  to  count  the 
number  of  balls  discharged  at  this  de 
voted  fortress.  The  walls  of  the  offi 
cers'  quarters  were  battered  with  eight 
or  ten  balls,  which  had  penetrated  the 
whole  depth  of  the  building.  The  west 
ern  wall  on  the  upper  balcony  was  en 
tirely  shot  away.  The  barracks  were 
almost  entirely  destroyed.  The  furnace 
for  heating  hot  shot  was  struck  four 
times,  the  flag  of  the  Confederate  States 
received  three  shots,  and  the  Palmetto 
flag  four — a  rather  singular  and  pe 
culiar  circumstance,  when  viewed  in 
connection  with  the  seven  Confederate 
States.  The  merlons  of  sand-bags,  etc., 
remain  unbroken. 

"On  the  outside  walls  we  counted 
over  one  hundred  shots.  Laborers  were 
engaged  in  clearing  away  fallen  bricks, 
etc.  It  will  be  necessary  to  pull  down 
the  old  walls  and  rebuild  them.  Even 
the  beds  and  bedding  in  the  officers'  quar 
ters  and  the  men's  barracks  were  cut 
and  torn  into  splinters  and  shreds.  Had 
it  not  been  for  the  bomb-proof  shelter, 
the  loss  of  life  would  no  doubt  have 
been  appalling.  One  shell  entered  the 
brick  wall  of  Major  Ripley's  bedroom, 
ran  down  the  wall,  and  burst  on  the 
bureau  immediately  over  the  head  of  the 


20 


154 


THE  WAR  WITH   THE  SOUTH. 


bed.  Our  limited  time  prevented  us 
from  visiting  the  battery  to  the  north 
of  Fort  Moultrie.  We  learn,  however, 
that  though  many  of  the  buildings 
around  it  had  been  struck  several  times, 
and  fences,  trees,  etc.,  cut  away,  the 
battery  sustained  no  injury.  Provi 
dentially,  no  hot  shot  was  thrown  from 
Sumter — probably  from  the  fact  that 
the  garrison  had  no  fuel." 

The  battery  on  Cumming's  Point  had 
escaped  without  damage,  beyond  six  in 
dentations  in  its  iron  armor,  showing 
the  accuracy  of  the  firing  of  Fort  Sum 
ter,  as  well  as  proving  the  invulnera 
bility  of  the  novel  structure. 

The  greatest  interest  had  been  nat 
urally  displayed  by  the  people  of  Charles 
ton  at  the  approach  of  and  during  the 
bombardment  of  Fort  Sumter.  The  en 
thusiasm  was  described  as  "  intense,  and 
the  eagerness  for  the  conflict,  if  it  must 
come,  as  unbounded."  For  days  before 
the  attack,  the  citizens  of  Charleston 
were  alert  with  expectation.  Thus,  at 
midnight,  on  one  occasion,  a  discharge 
of  the  signal  guns  of  Citadel  Square 
being  fired,  the  whole  city  was  aroused. 
Hundreds  of  men  left  their  beds,  hurry 
ing  to  and  from  their  respective  posts. 
In  the  absence  of  sufficient  armories,  the 
armed  citizens  gathered  at  the  corners 
of  the  streets,  in  the  public  squares, 
and  other  convenient  places,  and  all 
night  long  the  roll  of  the  drum,  the 
steady  tramp  of  the  military,  and  the  gal 
lop  of  the  cavalry  resounding  through  the 
city  betokened,  apparently,  the  approach 
of  the  long-expected  hostilities.  The 
Home-Guard  corps  of  old  men,  who  from 


their  age  were  exempt  from  the  ordinary 
military  duties,  rode  through  the  city, 
arousing  the  soldiers  to  arms,  and  doing 
other  duty  required  by  the  emergency. 
Numbers  of  citizens  were  up  all  night. 
The  Seventeenth  Regiment,  eight  hun 
dred  strong,  mustered  in  an  hour,  and 
left  for  the  fortifications.  The  Rutledge 
Mounted  Riflemen,  the  Charleston  Dra 
goons,  the  German  Hussars,  and  Phenix 
Sharpshooters,  composed  of  the  citizens 
of  Charleston,  followed,  and  in  a  short 
space  several  thousand  homes  were  be 
reft  for  a  time  of  all  their  male  members 
capable  of  bearing  arms. 

The  guards  of  the  city  were  trebled. 
One  hundred  "beat  men,"  armed  with 
muskets  and  revolvers,  who,  at  the  first 
sound  of  the  "bell  of  St.  Michael's,'' 
would  be  reinforced  by  eight  hundred 
more,  patrolled  the  streets,  in  addition 
to  the  usual  horse  and  foot  police.  A 
flotilla  of  small  boats,  with  flaming 
torches,  guarded  the  bar  every  night. 
A  veteran  Southern  politician,  well 
known  as  a  secession  agitator  through 
out  the  South,  the  Honorable  Edmund 
Ruffin,  of  Virginia,  a  man  over  sixty 
years  of  age,  shouldered  his  rifle  and 
marched  to  the  works  as  a  private  ;*  and 
even  boys,  hardly  in  their  teens,  volun 
teered  to  serve  in  the  ranks,  and  bore 
part  in  the  conflict. 

From  the  firing  of  the  first  gun  at 
Fort  Sumter  until  its  surrender,  the  in 
tensity  of  interest  continued  unabated. 
Day  and  night  the  streets  were  thronged 
with  people,  "  full  of  excitement  and 
enthusiasm."  The  housetops,  the  Bat- 

°  He  fired  the  first  gun  against  Fort  Sumter. 


SOUTHERN  JOY  ON  THE  FALL  OF  SUMTER. 


155 


tery,  the  wharves,  the  shipping,  and 
every  place  from  which  a  view  could  be 
had  of  the  scene,  were  thronged  by  an 
eager  multitude.  When  at  last,  after 
thirty-three  hours  of  impatient  watching 
of  the  struggle,  the  Confederate  flag 
rose  upon  the  ruined  walls  of  Fort  Sum- 
ter,  the  bells  of  all  the  churches  in  the 
city  of  Charleston  rang  out  "  a  merry 
peal,"  and  the  citizens  became  "  wild 
with  joy."* 

.  General  Beauregard  announced  the 
April  foil  °f  Sumter  in  a  general  order, 

M»    studiously  flattering  to  his  troops  : 

HEADQUARTERS  PROVISIONAL  ARMY,  C.  S.  A.,  ) 
CHARLESTON,  S.  C.,  April  14.  [ 

GENERAL  ORDERS,  No.  20. 

"  The  Brigadier- General  commanding 
is  happy  to  congratulate  the  troops 
under  his  command  on  the  brilliant 
success  which  has  crowned  their  gal 
lantry,  privations,  and  hardships,  by  the 
reduction  of  the  stronghold  in  the  har 
bor  of  Charleston.  This  feat  of  arms 
has  been  accomplished  after  a  severe 
cannonading  of  about  thirty-three  hours, 
in  which  all  the  troops  have  indicated, 
by  their  daring  and  bravery,  that  our 
cause  must  and  shall  triumph. 

"Fort  Sumter,  which  surrendered  yes 
terday  about  1.45  P.M.,  will  be  evacu 
ated  at  9  o'clock,  A.M.,  to-day,  and  to 
show  our  magnanimity  to  the  gallant 
defenders,  who  were  only  executing  the 

°  A  newspaper  correspondent  wrote  : 

"  The  scene  in  the  city,  after  the  raising  of  the  flag  of 
truce  and  the  surrender,  is  indescribable  ;  the  people  were 
perfectly  wild.  Men  on  horseback  rode  through  the  streets 
proclaiming  the  news,  amidst  the  greatest  enthusiasm. 

"  On  the  arrival  of  the  officers  from  the  fort  they  were 
marched  through  the  streets,  followed  by  an  immense 
crowd,  hurrahing,  shouting,  and  yelling  with  excitement." 


orders  of  their  government,  they  will  be 
allowed  to  evacuate  upon  the  same  terms 
which  were  offered  to  them  before  the 
bombardment  commenced.  Our  success 
should  not  lull  us  into  a  false  security, 
but  should  encourage  us  in  the  neces 
sary  preparations  to  meet  a  powerful 
enemy,  who  may  at  any  time  attempt  to 
avenge  this,  their  first  check  in  the 
present  contest. 

'  The  commandants  of  batteries  will 
promptly  send  in  their  reports  through 
the  proper  channels,  giving  a  journal  of 
the  firing  of  their  batteries  against  Fort 
Sumter,  and  of  the  fire  of  Fort  Sumter 
against  their  batteries  ;  furnishing  the 
names  of  those  who  particularly  distin 
guished  themselves,  and  other  incidents 
relative  thereto,  in  order  that  the  Gen 
eral  commanding  may  be  able  to  make 
known  to  the  Confederate  States  Gov 
ernment,  in  a  proper  manner,  their 
bravery  and  gallantry. 

"The  General  is  highly  gratified  to 
state  that  the  troops,  by  their  labor, 
privations,  and  endurance  at  the  batte 
ries,  and  at  their  posts,  have  exhibited 
the  highest  characteristics  of  tried  sol 
diers,  and  he  takes  the  occasion  to  thank 
all,  his  staff,  the  regulars,  the  volun 
teers,  the  militia,  the  naval  forces,  and 
the  numerous  individuals  who  have  con 
tributed  to  the  surrender  of  Fort  Sumter. 

"  By  order  of  Brigadier-General  Beau- 
regard, 

"  D.  R.  JONES,  Ass't.  Adj.-General." 

The  authorities  at  Montgomery,  the 
seat  of  the  Confederate  Government, 
were  honored  on  the  occasion  by  a 
serenade,  when  the  secretary  of  war, 


156 


THE   WAR  WITH   THE   SOUTH. 


Walker,  after  exulting  in  the  success 
at  Charleston,  prophesied  "  that  the 
flag  which  now  flaunts  the  breeze  here 
[Montgomery] ,  would  float  over  the  dome 
of  the  old  Capitol  before  the  first  of 
May."  "  Let  them  try,"  he  added, 
"Southern  chivalry,  and  test  the  extent 
of  Southern  resources,  and  it  might  float 
eventually  over  Faneuil  Hall  itself." 

Throughout  all  the  States  which  had 
already  seceded,  great  delight  was  mani 
fested  at  the  fall  of  Sumter.  Even  in 
Virginia,  which  still  affected  to  be  loyal, 
but  whose  convention  was  on  the  eve 
of  passing  an  ordinance  of  secession,  a 
"wild  shout"  of  delight  went  up  from 
the  crowds  which  had  gathered  about 
the  newspaper  offices,  eager  for  the 
news,  when  the  telegram  was  an 
nounced  :  "  Sumter  is  taken,  and  the 
Confederate  flag  waves  over  it!" 

At  the  North,  the  progress  of  the  bom 
bardment,  as  it  was  briefly  told  in  the 
hourly  telegrams,  was  watched  with 
painful  anxiety.  Many  doubted,  it  is 
true,  the  ability  of  Major  Anderson  to 
hold  out,  although  generally  the  hope 
was  entertained  of  a  successful  issue  to 
the  attempt  of  the  Government  to  rein 
force  him.  When,  therefore,  the  daily 
newspaper,  so  eagerly  clutched  and  read, 
gave  out  with  spasmodic  emphasis  its 
meagre  revelations,  the  public  mind  was 
tortured  with  doubt  and  fear.  First 
came  the  brief  announcement  :  "  The 
cannonading  is  going  on  fiercely  from 
all  points."  Then  followed  immediately 
the  ominous  intelligence  :  "  Fort  Sumter 
is  on  fire !"  relieved,  however,  by  the 
cheering  news  :  "  The  Federal  flag  still 


waves."  Again  the  telegram  declared . 
"  Major  Anderson  is  hemmed  in  by  ruins 
and  fire.  Every  building  in  Fort  Sum 
ter  is  burning."  This  alarming  intelli 
gence  was,  however,  mitigated  by  the 
encouraging  assurance,  "  This  does  not 
in  anywise  diminish  his  strength."  ' '  The 
destruction  of  Fort  Sumter  is  inevita 
ble,"  was  the  next  disheartening  word  j 
but  in  a  succeeding  paragraph  hope 
smiled  once  more  with  the  declaration, 
that  "  Two  ships  are  making  in  toward 
Morris  Island,  with  a  view  to  land  troops 
and  silence  the  batteries  there."  "The 
flames  have  nearly  subsided  in'  Fort 
Sumter,"  was  again  a  hopeful  gleam  of 
sunshine,  blotted  out,  however,  by  the 
dark  line  which  closed  the  paragraph  : 
"but  Major  Anderson  does  not  fire  any 
guns."  Finally  came  the  announcement 
of  the  last  scene  of  the  exciting  drama  : 

"  CHARLESTON,  via  AUGUSTA,  ) 
April  13,  1861.  f 

"  FORT  SUMTER  HAS  SURRENDERED ! 

"The  Confederate  flag  floats  over  its 
walls  ! 

"  None  of  the  garrison  or  Confederate 
troops  are  hurt. 

"  The  bombarding  has  closed. 

"  Major  Anderson  has  drawn  down  the 
stripes  and  stars,  and  displays  a  white 
flag,  which  has  been  answered  from  the 
city,  and  a  boat  is  on  the  way  to  Sumter" 

The  conduct  of  Major  Anderson  was 
freely  discussed  ;  but  though  there  were 
some  to  question  his  military  capacity, 
and  even  to  doubt  his  loyalty,  the  coun 
try  finally  settled  into  the  conviction 
that  he  had  acted  bravely  and  pru 
dently,  and  resolutely  persisted  in  claim- 


LIFE   OF  MAJOR  ANDERSON. 


157 


ing  him  as  one  of  its  heroes  who  had 
gallantly  sustained  the  honor  of  the 
United  States  flag. 

Robert  Anderson  was  born  in  Ken 
tucky.  In  1821  he  was  admitted  a  cadet 
at  the  military  academy  of  West  Point. 
After  completing  the  usual  four  years' 
course  of  study,  he  graduated  on  the 
1st  of  July,  1825,  and  entered  the  army 
as  second  lieutenant  of  the  Second,  but 
was  soon  after  transferred  to  the  Third, 
Artillery.  During  the  Black  Hawk  war, 
in  1832,  he  served  as  acting  inspector- 
general  of  the  Illinois  volunteers,  of 
which  Mr.  Lincoln,  late  President,  was 
captain. 

In  June,  1833,  Anderson  was  pro 
moted  to  a  first  lieutenancy,  and  in 
1835  he  became  assistant  instructor  of 
artillery  in  the  military  academy  at 
West  Point.  After  serving  for  three  or 
four  months  in  the  subordinate  position, 
he  was  appointed  instructor-in-chief  of 
this  branch  of  study,  and  held  the  place 
until  1837.  In  1838,  he  was  selected 
by  General  Scott  as  one  of  his  aids-de 
camp,  and  served  in  the  campaign 
against  the  Indians  in  Florida.  He  was 
rewarded  for  his  gallant  conduct  by  pro 
motion,  in  1838,  to  the  brevet  rank  of 
captain.  In  the  same  year  he  served  as 
adjutant-general,  but  resigned  in  1841, 
on  being  promoted  to  the  captaincy  of 
his  own  regiment. 

During  the  Mexican  war,  Captain 
Anderson  served  under  General  Scott, 
whom  he  accompanied  in  all  his  tri 
umphs,  from  the  siege  of  Yera  Cruz 
to  the  capture  of  the  Mexican  capital. 
He  greatly  distinguished  himself  at  El 


Molino  del  Rey,  one  of  the  hardest 
fought  battles  of  the  whole  campaign. 
Here,  while  acting  field  officer,  he  was 
severely  wounded,  but  continued  at  the 
head  of  his  column,  "  regardless  of  pain 
and  self-preservation,  and  setting  a  hand 
some  example" — wrote  Captain  Blake 
in  his  report — "to  his  men, of  coolness, 
energy,  and  courage."  His  services  on 
that  day  won  for  him  his  brevet  as  ma 
jor.  His  conduct  of  the  battery  he 
commanded  at  Chapultepec  elicited  the 
praise  of  Scott,  who  mentioned  him  in 
his  dispatches  with  an  emphatic  dec 
laration  of  his  great  services. 

On  the  18th  of  November,  1860,  Ma 
jor  Anderson  was  ordered  to  Fort  Moul- 
trie,  in  the  harbor  of  Charleston,  to  re 
lieve  Colonel  Gardiner,  sent  to  Texas. 
His  judicious  movement  in  abandoning 
this  post,  as  well  as  his  defence  and  final 
surrender  of  Fort  Sumter,  have  been  al 
ready  described. 

The  want  of  concert  of  action  between 
Major  Anderson  and  the  fleet  has  been 
the  source  of  perplexity.  Some  have 
attributed  it  to  the  fact  that  the  message 
to  him,  conveying  the  intention  of  his 
government,  had  been  studiously  with 
held  by  the  authorities  at  Charleston. 
Others,  however,  have  surmised  that  it 
was  never  seriously  designed  to  expose 
the  armed  vessels  to  the  fire  of  the 
Charleston  forts,  and  that  Major  Ander 
son,  made  aware  of  this  circumstance 
through  his  private  dispatches,  had 
acted  accordingly.  It  has  been  also 
suggested  that  the  administration  at 
Washington  had  intended  only  to  make 
a  demonstration  of  force,  without  con- 


158 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


templating  the  exercise  of  it,  either  for 
the  purpose  of  intimidating  the  people  of 
Charleston,  or  precipitating  them,  if  war 
was  their  purpose,  into  the  first  act  of  hos 
tility,  while  the  Government  was  per 
forming  an  obvious  act  of  duty  in  making 
an  attempt  to  supply  a  starving  garrison 
with  provisions.  Whatever  may  have 
been  the  real  or  pretended  object,  the 
first  gun  fired  by  the  Charleston  forts 
was  considered  an  act  of  war  against 
the  Union,  and  rallied  all  its  friends  to 
its  defence. 

Anderson's  report  of  the  surrender  of 
Fort  Sumter  was  brief,  and  to  the  point : 

"  Having  defended,"  he  wrote  to  the 
secretary  of  war,  Cameron,  "Fort  Sum 
ter  for  thirty-four  hours,  until  the  quar 
ters  were  entirely  burned,  the  main 
gates  destroyed  by  fire,  the  gorge  wall 
seriously  injured,  the  magazine  sur 
rounded  by  flames,  and  its  door  closed 
from  the  effects  of  the  heat,  four  barrels 
and  three  cartridges  of  powder  only 
being  available,  and  no  provisions  but 
pork  remaining,  I  accepted  terms  of 
evacuation  offered  by  General  Beaure- 
gard,  being  the  same  offered  by  him  on 
the  llth  instant  [April] ,  prior  to  the  com 
mencement  of  hostilities,  and  marched 
out  of  the  fort  Sunday  afternoon,  the 
14th  instant  [April],  with  colors  flying 
and  drums  beating,  bringing  away  com 
pany  and  private  property,  and  saluting 
my  flag  with  fifty  guns." 

The  secretary  of  war  responded  with 
a  complimentary  tribute  : 

"I  am  directed,"  he  wrote,  "by  the 
President  of  the  United  States,  to  com 
municate  to  you,  and  through  you  to  the 


officers  and  men  under  your  command 
at  forts  Moultrie  and  Sumter,  the  ap 
probation  of  the  Government  of  your 
and  their  judicious  and  gallant  conduct 
there,  and  to  tender  to  you  and  them 
the  thanks  of  the  Government  for  the 
same." 

Major  Anderson,  as  an  adopted  hero 
of  the  country,  became  at  once  an  object 
of  universal  curiosity.  His  portrait  was 
displayed  in  every  shop-window,  and 
his  name  was  soon  familiar  to  every 
ear.  Personally  there  is  nothing  very 
impressive  about  the  "  hero  of  Fort 
Sumter."  A  man  of  small  stature  and 
shrunken  frame,  he  would  easily  pass 
unnoticed.  The  general  expression  of 
his  face  is  that  of  quiet  amiability,  yet 
in  the  keenness  of  his  concentrated  eyes 
and  in  the  firm  closure  of  his  thin  lips 
there  are  signs  of  a  resoluteness  equal  to 
the  severest  trials  of  a  soldier's  pro 
fession. 

There  is  a  simple  earnestness,  to 
which  a  certain  puritanical  fervor  of 
piety  gives  zest,  that  marks  all  his 
words  and  writings,  and  commends  him 
to  the  sympathy  of  the  unsophisticated 
multitude. 

His  raising  of  the  flag  he  had  brought 
with  him  from  Fort  Moultrie,  as  he 
took  possession  of  Fort  Sumter,  was 
accompanied  by  a  ceremony  character 
istic  of  Major  Anderson's  devotional 
tendencies.  Having  gathered  all  his 
men  about  the  staff,  he  himself  took  the 
halyards  in  his  hand,  and  kneeling 
down,  directed  the  chaplain  to  offer  a 
prayer.  At  its  close,  having  fervently 
uttered  the  "  Amen,"  in  which  he  was 


THE   FORTS   OF  PENSACOLA. 


159 


joined  by  the  rest,  he  slowly  raised  the 
flag,  as  the  band  struck  up  "Hail,  Co 
lumbia  !" 

When  the  United  States  Government 
had  resolved  upon  an  attempt  to  send 
provisions  to  Fort  Sumter,  it  also  deter 
mined  to  reinforce  Fort  Pickens,  which 
was  the  only  one  of  the  several  public 
works  in  the  harbor  of  Pensacola  which 
remained  in  the  possession  of  the  Fed 
eral  Government.  The  insurgents  of 
Florida  had  seized  all  the  rest  early  in 
January,  and  now  held  them  with  a 
strong  force  under  the  command  of 
General  Bragg,  of  the  Confederate  army, 
more  honorably  known  as  Captain  Bragg, 
the  commander  of  the  battery  which  did 
such  good  service  in  the  battle  of  Buena 
Yista,  and  to  whom  General  Taylor  ad 
dressed  his  famous  command  :  "A  little 
more  grape,  Captain  Bragg." 

Pensacola  being  one  of  the  largest 
and  safest  harbors  on  the  Southern 
coast,  had  been  chosen  as  the  principal 
naval  station  of  the  South.  Here,  ac 
cordingly,  a  large  navy-yard  and  arsenal 
had  been  established,  and  strong  works 
of  defence  constructed.  The  principal 
of  these  was  Fort  Pickens,  built  upon 
the  island  of  Santa  Rosa,  a  long  stretch 
of  low  land  which  intervenes  between 
the  harbor  and  the  sea.  The  fortress 
rises  upon  the  extreme  western  point 
of  the  island,  and  commands  both  the 
harbor  and  approaches.  It  is  a  bas- 
tioned  work  of  great  strength  and  ex 
tent,  requiring  a  garrison  of  one  thou 
sand  two  hundred  and  sixty  soldiers. 
The  walls  are  of  granite  —  forty-five 
feet  high  and  twelve  feet  thick,  pierced 


for  three  tiers  of  guns,  two  of  which 
are  concreted,  and  the  third  en  barbette. 
Its  whole  armament,  when  complete, 
consists  of  sixty-three  forty-two  pound 
ers,  seventeen  thirty-two  pounders,  forty- 
nine  twenty-four  pounders,  five  eight- 
eens,  thirteen  twelves,  six  brass  field- 
pieces,  twenty-six  brass  flank  howitzers, 
thirteen  heavy  eight-inch  howitzers,  one 
thirteen-inch  mortar,  four  heavy  ten- 
inch  mortars,  four  light  eight-inch  mor 
tars,  four  sixteen-inch  stone  mortars, 
and  five  cohorns — making  in  all  two 
hundred  and  ten  guns.  Fort  Pickens 
was  begun  in  1828,  and  completed  in 
1853,  at  a  cost  of  one  million  of  dollars. 

Directly  opposite,  on  the  mainland, 
stands  Fort  McRae,  also  a  bastioned 
work  of  considerable  strength,  with 
walls  of  brick,  twelve  feet  thick,  and 
mounting  one  hundred  and  fifty  cannon, 
in  three  tiers — two  under  casemates,  and 
the  third  en  barbette.  When  properly 
garrisoned,  it  contains  six  hundred  and 
fifty  men.  The  guns,  like  those  of  Fort 
Pickens,  have  a  wide  range,  and,  to 
gether  with  the  water-battery  of  eight 
guns  toward  the  south,  Forts  Pickens 
and  McRae  defend  the  harbor  of  Pen 
sacola  from  every  approach  in  the  direc 
tion  of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico. 

On  the  mainland,  directly  north  of 
Fort  Pickens,  is  another  strong  bas 
tioned  work,  called  Fort  St.  Carlos  de 
Barrancas,  from  the  ancient  Spanish  for 
tress  originally  standing  upon  the  same 
site.  It  is  mounted  with  -forty-nine 
guns,  and  requires  a  garrison  of  two 
hundred  and  fifty  men.  A  strong  re 
doubt  is  built  in  its  rear  to  give  it  ad- 


160 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


ditional  support.  Forts  McRae  and 
Barrancas,  together  with  the  navy-yard 
and  arsenal,  having  been  seized  by  the 
Confederates,  there  seemed  imminent 
danger  of  their  getting  possession  also  of 
Fort  Pickens,  but  they  were  thwarted 
in  their  design  by  Lieutenant  Slemmer, 
the  United  States  commander.  This 
young  officer  being  on  the  alert,  no 
sooner  discovered  their  purpose,  than 
he  concentrated  his  little  garrison  of 
eighty  men  within  the  fort,  and  kept  the 
enemy  at  bay  until  the  12th  of  April, 
when  the  first  successful  attempt  was 
made  to  reinforce  him.  This  was  ef 
fected  by  the  United  States  man-of-war 
Brooklyn,  and  is  thus  described  by  one* 
who  shared  in  the  enterprise : 

"On  Friday,  April  12th,"  says  he, 
"our  captain  received  orders  to  pre 
pare  for  landing  the  troops  (Company 
A,  First  Artillery)  which  we  brought 
from  Fort  Monroe.  After  sunset,  all 
the  boats  were  hoisted  out  and  dropped 
astern.  Volunteers  were  called  for  to 
man  them,  and  every  man  in  the  ship 
volunteered.  After  selecting  the  crews, 
they  were  armed  to  the  teeth  for  cover 
ing  the  landing  of  the  troops.  As  the 
enemy  threatened  to  prevent  the  land 
ing,  having  stationed  .coast-guards  along 
shore  for  that  purpose,  it  was  necessary 
to  send  a  considerable  force  ;  so  the 
Sabine  and  St.  Louis'  boats  were  sent  to 
assist  our  men.  After  the  moon  had 
set,  all  deck  lights  were  extinguished,  to 
prevent  the  enemy  discovering  our  move 
ments.  Strange  to  say,  the  light-house 
on  shore,  whose  powerful  light  would 

°  Correspondent  ' ' 


make  the  position  of  our  ships  visible, 
was  put  out  about  the  same  time.  Be 
tween  ten  and  eleven  o'clock  the  ship 
got  under  way,  creeping  slowly  toward 
the  shore  and  sounding  all  the  way,  an 
choring  in  seven  fathoms  of  water,  which 
indicated  close  proximity  to  the  shore. 
The  boats  were  then  got  alongside,  and 
the  men  disembarked.  At  this  time  the 
ship's  deck  presented  an  interesting  and 
lively  spectacle,  though  all  was  done 
very  quietly,  reflecting  great  credit  upon 
the  officers  in  command.  After  all  was 
ready,  Lieutenant  Albert  N.  Smith,  who 
had  command  of  the  boat  expedition, 
shoved  off,  and  the  other  boats  followed 
in  Tine.  He  intended  landing  on  the 
beach  near  the  ship  and  marching  to 
the  fort,  a  distance  of  about  three  miles  ; 
but  finding  the  surf  too  heavy,  he  de 
termined  to  pull  into  the  harbor  and 
land  in  front  of  Pickens.  He  was 
successful ;  the  doors  of  the  fort  were 
opened,  and  the  troops  entered.  In  the 
mean  while  the  Wyandotte  carried  all 
the  Sabine's  marines  and  put  them  on 
the  Brooklyn,  which,  together  with  the 
Brooklyn's  marines,  were  to  go  also. 
The  boats  made  a  second  trip,  being 
successful  in  getting  the  marines  into 
the  fort ;  but  day  broke  before  the  boats 
got  out  of  the  harbor,  making  the  sleepy 
sentinels  on  McRea  and  Barrancas  rub 
their  eyes  in  astonishment,  not  daring 
to  molest  the  returning  party." 

This  landing  of  marines  was,  however, 
but  a  temporary  provision.  The  regu 
lar  reinforcements  soon  arrived  and  took 
their  place.  The  transport  steamer  At 
lantic  was  the  first  to  arrive,  with  four 


REINFORCEMENT  OF  FORT  PICKENS. 


161 


hundred  and  fifty  men,  sixty-nine  horses, 
and  large  supplies  of  food  and  muni- 
April  tions.  She  sailed  from  New  York 
M*»  on  the  7th  of  April,  and  having 
stopped  on  her  way  at  Key  West  to 
take  on  board  additional  men  and  sup 
plies,  arrived  on  the  evening  of  the 
16th  off  the  island  of  Santa  Rosa,  and 
anchored  four  miles  from  t]ie  shore, 
close  to  the  frigate  Sabine.  The  Sa- 
bine,  50  guns,  was  the  flag-ship  under 
Captain  Adams,  the  commander  of  the 
squadron,  which  was  composed  in  ad 
dition  Of  the  steam-corvette  Brooklyn, 
14  guns,  the  corvette  St.  Louis,  22 
guns,  the  Water- Witch,  Crusader,  the 
Wyandotte  and  Mohawk,  each  10  guns, 
for  some  time  stationed  off  Pensacola. 
Immediately  after  the  arrival  of  the 
Atlantic,  the  operation  of  landing  her 
reinforcements  began.  Taking  in  tow 
the  small  boats  of  the  fleet,  some  twenty 
in  number,  and  the  night  having  closed 
in  and  all  lights  being  put  out,  the 
steamer  stood  in  toward  the  shore  and 
anchored  within  a  mile  of  Fort  Pickens. 
The  guns  of  Fort  McRae  and  of  the 
water  batteries,  in  command  of  the 
rebels,  were  in  direct  range,  and  signal 
rockets  were  firing  from  Fort  Pickens, 
indicating  the  expectation  of  an  attack. 
The  first  boat  from  the  Atlantic  pushed 
off  at  half-past  nine  o'clock,  containing 
Colonel  Brown,  the  commander,  who 
was  to  supersede  the  intrepid  subaltern, 
Lieutenant  Slemmer.  The  other  boats 
containing  the  troops  soon  followed,  and 
before  midnight  the  most  of  the  officers 
and  troops  had  reached  the  fort  in 
safety.  On  the  next  morning,  at  an 
21 


early  hour,  the  rest  of  the  men 
were  landed,  with  the  exception  of  !?• 
the  artillerists  of  Barry's  Flying  Artil 
lery.  To  land  these  with  their  horses, 
the  Atlantic  weighed  anchor  and  moved 
to  a  point  three  and  a  half  miles 
distant  from  Fort  Pickens,  but  within 
half  a  mile  of  the  beach  of  the  island 
of  Santa  Rosa.  The  troublesome  work 
of  landing  the  horses  did  not  com 
mence  before  noon,  and  continuing  all 
night,  was  not  completed  until  next 
morning. 

The  steamer  Powhatan,  Commander 
David  D.  Porter,  had  in  the  mean  ^pril 
time  arrived,  and  in  two  days  !?• 
after  was  followed  by  the  transport 
steamer  Illinois,  which  had  been  ^}ru 
detained  by  long-continued  severe  19- 
weather.  The  reinforcements  brought 
by  the  Illinois  consisted  of  three  hundred 
men  and  a  number  of  horses,  besides  live 
hundred  muskets  and  a  large  quantity 
of  munitions  of  war  and  provisions.  The 
troops  were  landed  in  safety  during  the 
next  morning,  but  three  days  passed 
before  the  horses,  forage,  the  ordnance, 
provisions,  and  general  stores  were  con 
veyed  to  the  shore.  Four  of  the  horses 
on  board  the  Illinois  had  perished  during 
the  stormy  passage,  one  was  drowned 
alongside  the  ship,  another  had  his  neck 
broken  while  landing  through  the  surf, 
and  a  third  died  from  exhaustion.  Dur 
ing  the  debarkation,  the  steamers  Pow 
hatan  and  Brooklyn  took  such  a  posi 
tion  that  they  could  at  the  same  time 
shield  the  transports  under  the  cover  of 
their  guns,  and  prevent  the  enemy  on 
the  mainland  from  attempting  to  invade 


162 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


the  island,  and  thus  obstruct  the  land 
ing. 

Colonel  Brown  now  being  the  senior 
officer,  assumed  the  command  of  Fort 
Pickens.  He  succeeded,  with  additional 
men  and  defences,  in  keeping  at  bay 
the  large  forces  of  the  Confederates 


gathered  on  the  mainland  opposite. 
The  rebel  General  Bragg  was  reported 
to  have  had  under  his  command,  at 
various  times,  no  less  than  ten  thousand 
men,  who  were  kept  busily  strengthening 
the  works  in  the  harbor  and  entrenching 
their  camp. 


CHAPTER    XIY. 

Divided  Opinion  of  the  North  in  regard  to  the  Political  Causes  of  the  Civil  Quarrel. — Uniformity  of  Sentiment  in 
regard  to  the  Attack  on  Fort  Sumter. — The  National.  Dignity  insulted. — Necessity  of  Striking  in  behalf  of  the 
National  Honor. — The  cry  of  the  Masses.— Their  faith  in  the  indissolubility  of  the  Union. — The  Flag  to  be  again 
raised  all  over  the  United  States. — The  Opinions  of  the  Press. — War  pronounced  to  be  inevitable. — Change  of  Senti 
ment. — Union  Sentiment  of  a  Journal  once  threatened  by  the  Mob  for  its  Sympathy  with  the  South. — The  Tirade? 
of  the  Ultra-Republicans. — An  Ultra- Republican  Paper  on  the  Unity  of  Feeling. — The  Proclamation  of  President 
Lincoln. — Its  effect  at  the  North. — Enthusiasm  of  the  People. — A  sudden  and  universal  blazing  of  the  "Stars  and 
Stripes." — Scarcity  of  Bunting. — Patriotic  Waistcoats  and  Boddices. — Patriotic  Neckerchiefs  and  Mantillas. — Patri 
otic  Shopkeepers  and  Patriotic  Customers. — Patriotic  fervor  of  the  Newspapers. — Flowers  of  Rhetoric. — A  fervid 
Leader. — Exceptional  cases  of  protest  at  the  North  against  the  President's  Proclamation. — Bold  dissent  in  New  En 
gland. — An  Appeal  in  behalf  of  the  Secessionists  from  Maine. — An  Opposition  to  the  War  from  Connecticut. — A 
vigorous  word  for  the  Union  from  Kentucky.  —  Call  for  Militia. — Circular  of  the  Secretary  of  War. — Quotas  of  Militia 
of  each  State. — The  Patriotic  Response  from  the  North. — The  Refusal  and  bold  Defiance  of  the  Slave  States. — The 
Answer  of  the  Governor  of  Virginia. — Answer  of  the  Governor  of  Missouri. — Answer  of  the  Governor  of  North 
Carolina. — Answer  of  the  Governor  of  Kentucky. — Answer  of  the  Governor  of  Tennessee. — Poetical  Response  from 
President  Jefferson  Davis. — His  Pwvateering  Proclamation. — His  Call  for  Soldiers. — The  effect  of  his  Proclamation 
at  the  North. — Opinion  of  Privateering,  which  is  pronounced  Piracy. — President  Lincoln's  Proclamation. — A 
Blockade  announced. — Southern  Privateers  to  be  dealt  with  as  Pirates. 


1861, 


ALTHOUGH  opinion  at  the  North,  in  re 
gard  to  the  political  causes  of  the 
civil  quarrel,  was  still  widely  di 
vided,  there  was  little  diversity  of  senti 
ment  concerning  the  blow  which  had 
been  struck  by  the  rebellious  South  at 
Fort  Sumter.  It  was  universally  felt  that 
in  this  violence  to  its  flag,  a  gross  indig 
nity  had  been  offered  to  the  nation,  and 
that  it  had  become  necessary,  in  order 
to  vindicate  the  national  honor,  as  well 
as  to  preserve  the  national  existence,  to 
meet  force  with  force.  The  few  who 
were  less  sanguine  as  to  the  issue  even 


acknowledged  that  an  appeal  to  arms 
was  absolutely  obligatory,  were  it  only 
to  assert  the  idea  of  government,  and 
thus  save  the  country  from  anarchy  and 
social  disorder.  The  more  hopeful, 
however,  who  formed  the  great  mass  of 
the  people,  were  eager  not  only  to 
avenge  the  insulted  flag,  but  to  restore 
it  to  its  former  proud  position  through 
out  the  wide  domain  of  the  United 
States.  With  their  traditional  reverence 
for  the  Union,  and  faith  in  its  power, 
they  could  not  contemplate  the  possi 
bility  of  its  disruption  ;  and  doubting  the 


PRESIDENT'S  PROCLAMATION. 


163 


persistency  of  secession,  and  presuming 
on  its  weakness,  they  fondly  believed 
that  with  a  single  effort  of  the  Federal 
might,  rebellion  could  be  suppressed, 
and  the  flag  raised  once  more  over  a 
united  land. 

Though  the  expression  of  opinion  by 
the  press  was  toned  somewhat  by  its 
various  shades  of  partisanship,  there 
was  hardly  a  journal  which  ventured  to 
dispute  the  necessity  of  war.  They  in 
dulged,  it  is  true,  in  mutual  recrimina 
tions,  charging  each  other  with  having 
caused  an  event  which  they  all  now  ac 
knowledged  to  be  inevitable.  One  jour 
nal,  which  had  before  so  warmly  and 
perseveringly  advocated  the  cause  of  se 
cession  as  to  bring  upon  itself  the  anger 
of  a  Northern  mob,  now  declared  :  "In 
a  conflict  of  this  sort,  there  can  be  but 
two  parties — a  Northern  and  a  Southern 
party  ;  for  all  other  parties  will  cease  to 
exist.  The  political  principles,  organ 
izations,  and  issues  which  have  divided 
our  country  and  our  people,  in  various 
shapes  and  forms,  since  the  treaty  of 
our  independence  with  England,  will  all 
be  very  soon  overwhelmed  in  the  sweep 
ing  changes  of  a  civil  war.  It  would  be 
folly  now  to  argue  what  might,  could, 
would,  or  should  have  been  done  by 
Southern  fire-eaters  and  Northern  dis- 
organizers  in  1854,  1860,  or  by  Mr. 
Buchanan,  or  by  Mr.  Lincoln,  or  by  the 
late  session  of  Congress.  Civil  war  is 
upon  us,  and  the  questions  which  now 
supersede  all  others  are  :  What  are  the 
consequences  now  before  us?  Where 
is  this  war  to  end,  and  how,  and  when  ? 
What  is  our  duty  under  this  warlike 


condition  of  things?  and  what  are  the 
movements  and  the  conditions  necessary 
to  change  this  state  of  war  to  a  state  of 
peace  ?" 

An  ultra  Republican  journal,  after 
giving  vent  to  a  tirade  against  "  our 
journals  lately  parading  the  pranks  of 
the  secessionists  with  scarcely  disguised 
exultation,"  declares,  "  Democrat  as 
well  as  Republican,  Conservative,  and 
Radical,  instinctively  feel  that  the  guns 
fired  at  Sumter  were  aimed  at  the  heart 
of  the  American  Republic.  Not  even 
in  the  lowest  groggery  of  our  city  [New 
York]  would  it  be  safe  to  propose  cheers 
for  Beauregard  and  Governor  Pickens. 
The  Tories  of  the  Revolution  were 
relatively  ten  times  as  numerous  here 
as  are  the  open  sympathizers  with  the 
Palmetto  rebels.  It  is  hard  to  lose 
Sumter  ;  it  is  a  consolation  to  know  that 
in  losing  it  we  have  gained  a  united 
people.  Henceforth,  the  loyal  States 
are  a  unit  in  uncompromising  hostility  to 
treason,  wherever  plotted,  however  just 
ified.  Fort  Sumter  is  temporarily  lost, 
but  the  country  is  saved.  Live  the  Re 
public  !" 

The  proclamation  of  the  President, 
giving  an  authoritative  sanction  to.  the 
national  sentiment,  served  still  more  to 
arouse  the  spirit  of  union. 

PROCLAMATION  or  THE  PRESIDENT. 

"Whereas  the  laws  of  the  United 
States  have  been  for  some  time  past,  and 
now  are,  opposed,  and  the  execution 
thereof  obstructed  in  the  States  of  South 
Carolina,  Georgia,  Alabama,  Florida, 
Mississippi,  Louisiana,  and  Texas,  by 
combinations  too  powerful  to  be  sup- 


164 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


pressed  by  the  ordinary  course  of  judi 
cial  proceedings,  or  by  the  powers 
vested  in  the  marshals  by  law  ;  now, 
therefore,  I,  Abraham  Lincoln,  Presi 
dent  of  the  United  States,  in  virtue  of 
the  power  in  me  vested  by  the  Constitu 
tion  and  the  laws,  have  thought  fit  to 
call  forth,  and  hereby  do  call  forth,  the 
militia  of  the  several  States  of  the 
Union  to  the  aggregate  number  of 
75,000,  in  order  to  suppress  said  com 
binations,  and  to  cause  the  laws  to  be 
duly  executed. 

"  The  details  for  this  object  will  be  im 
mediately  communicated  to  the  State 
authorities  through  the  War  Department. 
I  appeal  to  all  loyal  citizens  to  favor, 
facilitate,  and  aid  this  effort  to  maintain 
the  honor,  the  integrity,  and  existence 
of  our  national  Union,  and  the  perpetu 
ity  of  popular  government,  and  to  re 
dress  wrongs  already  long  enough  en 
dured.  I  deem  it  proper  to  say  that  the 
first  service  assigned  to  the  forces  hereby 
called  forth  will  probably  be  to  repossess 
the  forts,  places,  and  property  which 
have  been  seized  from  the  Union ;  and 
in  every  event  the  utmost  care  will  be 
observed,  consistently  with  the  objects 
aforesaid,  to  avoid  any  devastation,  any 
destruction  of  or  interference  with  pro 
perty,  or  any  disturbance  of  peaceful 
citizens  in  any  part  of  the  country  ;  and 
I  hereby  command  the  persons  compos 
ing  the  combinations  aforesaid  to  dis 
perse,  and  retire  peaceably  to  their  re 
spective  abodes  within  twenty  days  from 
this  date. 

"Deeming  that  the  present  condition 
of  public  affairs  presents  an  extraordinary 


occasion,  I  do  hereby,  in  virtue  of  the 
power  in  me  vested  by  the  Constitution, 
convene  both  Houses  of  Congress.  The 
senators  and  representatives  are  there 
fore  summoned  to  assemble  at  their  re 
spective  chambers  at  twelve  o'clock, 
noon,  on  Thursday,  the  fourth  day  of 
July  next,  then  and  there  to  consider 
and  determine  such  measures  as,  in  their 
wisdom,  the  public  safety  and  interest 
may  seem  to  demand. 

"  In  witness  whereof,  I  have  hereunto 
set  my  hand,  and  caused  the  seal  of  the 
United  States  to  be  affixed. 

"  Done  at  the  city  of  Washington,  this 
fifteenth  day  of  April,  in  the  year  of 
our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred 
and  sixty-one,  and  of  the  independence 
of  the  United  States  the  eighty-fifth. 
"  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

"  By  the  President. 

"  WM.  H.  SEWARD,  Secretary  of  State." 

Throughout  the  North  the  effect  of 
this  proclamation  was  to  excite  the 
people  to  an  intense  enthusiasm.  The 
population  of  the  large  cities  became 
suddenly  so  absorbed  in  the  excitement 
of  the  hour,  that  all  the  ordinary  trans 
actions  of  business  were  suspended. 
Flags  floated  from  every  public  building, 
church  steeple,  and  private  house.  Such 
was  the  demand  for  bunting,  that  the 
ordinary  supply  was  soon  exhausted, 
and  the  ardent  gathered  every  chance- 
colored  rag  or  ribbon  that  fell  in  their 
way,  to  fashion  into  the  "stars  and 
stripes"  of  their  patriotic  desire.  Union 
devices  and  badges  were  sold  at  the 
corners  of  every  street,  and  flaunted  upon 
each  patriotic  waistcoat  and  boddice. 


A  BURST  OF  PATRIOTISM. 


165 


Shop  windows  patriotically  glowed  with 
the  national  colors,  and  a  display  of 
bonnets  and  mantillas,  not  less  abund 
ant  than  neckerchiefs  and  shirt  bosoms, 
profusely  studded  with  stars  and  varie 
gated  with  red  and  white  stripes,  re 
vealed  the  enthusiasm  of  patriotic  deal 
ers,  and  awakened  the  longing  of  patri 
otic  wearers. 

The  newspapers  forgot  their  factious 
contentions  and  joined  in  a  fervid  ex 
pression  of  Union  sentiments.  Their 
leading  articles  burst  forth  into  unusual 
flowers  of  patriotic  rhetoric.  The  lan 
guage  of  one*  may  serve  to  show  the 
spirit  pervading  all:  "The  incidents  of 
the  last  two  days  will  live  in  history.  Not 
for  fifty  years  has  such  a  spectacle  been 
seen,  as  that  glorious  uprising  of  Ameri 
can  loyalty  which  greeted  the  news  that 
open  war  had  been  commenced  upon 
the  Constitution  and  Government  of  the 
United  States.  The  great  heart  of  the 
American  people  beat  with  one  high 
pulsation  of  courage,  and  of  fervid  love 
and  devotion  to  the  great  Republic. 
Party  dissensions  were  instantly  hushed  ; 
political  differences  disappeared,  and 
were  as  thoroughly  forgotten  as  if  they 
had  never  existed  ;  party  bonds  flashed 
into  nothingness  in  the  glowing  flame  of 
patriotism ;  men  ceased  to  think  of 
themselves  or  their  parties,  they  thought 
only  of  their  country  and  of  the  dangers 
which  menace  its  existence.  Nothing 
for  years  has  brought  the  hearts  of  all 
the  people  so  close  together — or  so  in 
spired  them  all  with  common  hopes,  and 
common  fears,  and  a  common  aim,  as 

0  New  York  Time*,  April  16th. 


the  bombardment  and  surrender  of  an 
American  fortress. 

"  We  look  upon  this  sublime  outburst 
of  public  sentiment  as  the  most  perfect 
vindication  of  popular  institutions — the 
most  conclusive  reply  to  the  impugners 
of  American  loyalty,  the  country  has 
ever  seen.  It  has  been  quite  common 
to  say  that  such  a  Republic  as  ours 
could  never  be  permanent,  because  it 
lacked  the  conditions  of  a  profound  and 
abiding  loyalty.  The  Government  could 
never  inspire  a  patriotic  instinct,  fervid 
enough  to  melt  the  bonds  of  party,  or 
powerful  enough  to  override  the  selfish 
ness  which  free  institutions  so  rapidly 
develop.  The  hearts  of  our  own  peo 
ple  had  begun  to  sink  within  them,  at 
the  apparent  insensibility  of  the  public 
to  the  dangers  which  menaced  the 
Government.  The  public  mind  seemed 
to  have  been  demoralized — the  public 
heart  seemed  insensible  to  perils  which 
threatened  utter  extinction  to  our  great 
Republic.  The  secession  movement, 
infinitely  the  most  formidable  danger 
which  has  ever  menaced  our  Govern 
ment,  was  regarded  with  indifference  and 
treated  as  merely  a  novel  form  of  our  usual 
political  contentions.  The  best  among 
us  began  to  despair  of  a  country  which 
seemed  incompetent  to  understand  its 
dangers,  and  indifferent  to  its  own  de 
struction. 

"But  all  this  is  changed.  The  can 
non  which  bombarded  Sumter  awoke 
strange  echoes,  and  touched  forgotten 
chords  in  the  American  heart.  Ameri 
can  loyalty  leaped  into  instant  life,  and 
stood  radiant  and  ready  for  the  fierce 


166 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


encounter.  From  one  end  of  the  land 
to  the  other — in  the  crowded  streets  of 
cities,  and  in  the  solitude  of  the  country 
— wherever  the  splendor  of  the  stars 
and  stripes,  the  glittering  emblems  of 
our  country's  glory,  meets  the  eye,  come 
forth  shouts  of  devotion  and  pledges  of 
aid,  which  give  sure  guarantees  for  the 
perpetuity  of  American  freedom.  War 
can  inflict  no  scars  on  such  a  people.  It 
can  do  them  no  damage  which  time  can 
not  repair  It  cannot  shake  the  solid 
foundations  of  their  material  prosperity, 
while  it  will  strengthen  the  manly  and 
heroic  virtues  which  defy  its  fierce  and 
frowning  front." 

Although  the  prevailing  tone  of  the 
North  was  one  of  enthusiasm  in  behalf 
of  waging  war  against  those  who  had 
insulted  the  flag  of  the  Union,  there 
were  still  some  of  the  Northern  papers 
which  ventured  to  protest  against  the 
President's  proclamation.  From  New 
England,  by  a  strange  contrast  with  its 
general  feeling,  came  some  of  the  bold 
est  dissent  from  the  predominating  sen 
timent  of  the  nation. 

"Democrats  of  Maine  !"  was  the  dar 
ing  appeal  of  an  audacious  Northern 
editor,*  "  the  loyal  sons  of  the  South 
have  gathered  around  Charleston  as 
your  fathers  of  old  gathered  about 
Boston  in  defence  of  the  same  sacred 
principles  of  liberty — principles  which 
you  have  ever  upheld  and  defended  with 
your  vote,  your  voice,  and  your  strong 
right  arm.  Your  sympathies  are  with 
the  defenders  of  the  truth  and  the  right. 
Those  who  have  inaugurated  this  unholy 

0  Bangor  (Me.)  Union. 


and  unjustifiable  war  are  no  friends  of 
yours,  no  friends  of  Democratic  liberty. 
Will  you  aid  them  in  their  work  of  sub 
jugation  and  tyranny  ? 

"  When  the  Government  at  Washing 
ton  calls  for  volunteers  or  recruits  to 
carry  on  the  work  of  subjugation  and 
tyranny  under  the  specious  phrase  of 
'  enforcing  the  laws,'  '  retaking  and  pro 
tecting  the  public  property,'  and  '  col 
lecting  the  revenue,'  let  every  Democrat 
fold  his  arms  and  bid  the  minions  of  Tory 
despotism  do  a  Tory  despot's  work.  Say 
to  them,  fearlessly  and  boldly — in  the 
language  of  England's  great  lord,  the 
Earl  of  Chatham,  whose  bold  words  in 
behalf  of  the  struggling  Colonies  of 
America,  in  the  dark  hours  of  the  Rev 
olution,  have  enshrined  his  name  in  the 
heart  of  every  friend  of  freedom  and 
immortalized  his  fame  wherever  the 
name  of  liberty  is  known — say  in  his 
thrilling  language  :  '  If  I  were  a  South 
erner,  as  I  am  a  Northerner,  while  a 
foreign  troop  was  landed  in  my  country, 
I  would  never  lay  down  my  arms — • 
never,  never,  never!" 

Another,*  more  calmly,  but  not  less 
decidedly,  opposed  the  war  : 

"The  President  has  issued  his  proc 
lamation,  calling  Congress  to  meet  on 
the  4th  of  July.  Also  calling  for  75,000 
volunteers  to  aid  in  carrying  on  a  con 
flict  with  the  South.  The  news  already 
received  from  the  border  States  indi 
cates  that  they  will  leave  the  Union,  and 
that  the  war  will  be  between  nineteen 
free  and  fifteen  slave  States. 

"Could  this  war  policy  possibly  save 

o  Hartford  <r\  ^  Tima. 


THE   CALL   FOR  MILITIA. 


167 


the  Union  and  promote  the  welfare  of 
the  people,  we  could  look  upon  it  with 
more  complacency.  But  as  it  must  in 
evitably  more  completely  divide  the 
Union  and  injure  the  interests  of  the 
whole  country,  we  believe  it  to  be  an 
unwise  and  unsafe  policy.  To  march 
soldiers  into  the  Southern  country  to 
contend  with  armies  and  yellow  fever, 
and  to  end  in  no  good,  but  much  evil; 
does  not  seem  to  be  a  discreet  or  a 
righteous  policy. 

"  A  bloody  conflict  may  be  continued 
with  the  South  for  weeks,  for  months, 
or  for  years.  At  its  close  a  compromise 
must  be  made  no  more  favorable  to  the 
North  than  was  the  Crittenden  com 
promise.  But  the  evils  of  the  unneces 
sary  strife  will  continue  into  the  long 
years  of  the  future,  and  be  felt  by 
millions.  No  good  whatever  can  come 
out  of  the  shocking  conflict. 

"War  has  been  commenced.  Its  or 
igin  is  the  negro  agitation.  Let  the 
friends  of  the  agitation  point  out  the 
spot  where  a  slave  has  been  benefited, 
if  they  can.  Great  evils  have  come. 
Where  are  the  benefits  ?" 

A.8  a  set-off,  however,  to  this  expres 
sion  of  Southern  opinion  at  the  North, 
there  was  a  vigorous  word  uttered  for 
union  in  the  slave  State  of  Kentucky : 

"  The  secession  leaders,"  wrote  the 
editor  of  the  Louisville  Journal,  "are 
relying  very  largely  upon  the  first  shock 
of  battle  for  the  promotion  of  a  general 
secession  feeling  in  the  Southern  States. 
They  ought,  however,  to  consider  that 
the  sympathies  of  honest  and  sensible 
men  are  not  likely  to  go  with  the  wrong 


doers.  If  the  General  Government  com 
mit  any  wrong  or  outrage  upon  South 
Carolina  or  Florida,  it  will  be  con 
demned  ;  but  if  a  United  States  vessel 
shall  be  fired  into  and  her  men  slain  for 
a  mere  attempt  to  take  food  to  the  Gov 
ernment's  troops  in  the  Government's 
own  forts,  and  if  war  shall  grow  out  of 
the  collision,  no  spirit  of  secession  or  re 
bellion  will  be  created  thereby  this  side 
the  cotton  line.  Such,  at  least,  is  our 
opinion,  founded  upon  our  conviction 
that  the  great  mass  of  our  fellow-citizens 
are  sensible,  and  patriotic,  and  just. 
Who  that  loves  his  country  would  see  it 
humiliated  and  its  honor  trampled  on  ?" 

With  the  proclamation  by  the  Presi 
dent  came  the  call  upon  the  several 
States  for  their  quotas  of  militia  to  make 
up  the  required  number  of  troops  to  be 
mustered  for  the  suppression  of  the  re 
bellion  and  the  defence  of  the  Union. 
The  following  circular  was  addressed  by 
the  secretary  of  war  to  the  governors 
not  only  of  the  free  States,  but  of  those 
slave  States  whose  loyalty  might  be  sus 
pected,  but  which  yet  nominally  contin 
ued  to  acknowledge  the  Federal  au 
thority  : 

"  SIR  :  Under  the  act  of  Congress  for 
calling  out  the  militia  to  execute  the 
laws  of  the  Union  to  suppress  insurrec 
tion,  to  repel  invasion,  etc.,  approved 
February  28,  1795,  I  have  the  honor  to 
request  your  Excellency  to  cause  to  be 
immediately  detailed  from  the  militia 
of  your  State  the  quota  designated  in 
the  table  below,  to  serve  as  infantry  or 
riflemen  for  a  period  of  three  months, 
unless  sooner  discharged.  Your  Excel- 


168 


THE   WAR   WITH   THE   SOUTH. 


lency  will  please  communicate  to  me 
the  time  at  about  which  your  quota  will 
be  expected  at  its  rendezvous,  as  it  will 
be  met  as  soon  as  practicable  by  an  officer 
or  officers  to  muster  it  into  the  service 
and  pay  of  the  United  States.  At  the 
same  time  the  oath  of  fidelity  to  the 
United  States  will  be  administered  to 
every  officer  and  man.  The  mustering 
officers  will  be  instructed  to  receive  no 
man  under  the  rank  of  commissioned 
officer  who  is  in  years  apparently  over 
forty-five  or  under  eighteen,  or  who  is 
not  in  physical  strength  and  vigor.  The 
quota  for  each  State  is  as  follows : 


Maine 1 

New  Hampshire 1 

Vermont 1 

Massachusetts 2 

Rhode  Island 1 

Connecticut 1 

New  York 17 

New  Jersey 4 

Pennsylvania 16 

Delaware 1 

Tennessee 2 

Maryland 4 


Virginia  ...............  3 

North  Carolina  .........  2 

Kentucky  ..............  4 

Arkansas  ...............  1 

Missouri  ...............  4 

Ohio  .  ................  13 

Indiana  ................  6 

Illinois  ................  6 


Michigan 
Iowa 

Minnesota 
Wisconsin. 


"It  is  ordered  that  each  regiment 
shall  consist,  on  an  aggregate  of  officers 
and  men,  of  780.  The  total  thus  to  be 
called  out  is  73,391.  The  remainder, 
to  constitute  the  75,000  men  under  the 
President's  proclamation,  will  be  com 
posed  of  troops  in  the  District  of  Co 
lumbia." 

In  response  to  this  call,  there  came 
from  all  the  free  States,  without  an  ex 
ception,  an  ardent  expression  of  patriotic 
sympathy  with  the  President's  procla 
mation,  and  an  immediate  effort  to  meet 
its  requirements.  Proclamations  were 
at  once  addressed  by  the  governors  to 
the  people  of  the  several  Northern 


States,  appealing  to  their  loyalty,  and 
invoking  them  to  manifest  it  by  taking 
up  arms  in  defence  of  the  Union. 

The  slave  States,  with  the  exception 
of  Maryland  and  Delaware,  answered 
with  a  resolute  refusal,  expressed  in  a 
tone  of  bold  defiance  of  the  Federal  au 
thority.  The  Governor  of  Virginia,  John 
Letcher,  wrote  :  "I  have  only  to  say, 
that  the  militia  of  Virginia  will  not  be 
furnished  to  the  powers  at  Washington 
for  any  such  use  or  purpose  as  they  have 
in  view.  Your  object  is  to  subjugate 
the  Southern  States,  and  a  requisition 
made  upon  me  for  such  an  object — an 
object,  in  my  judgment,  not  within  the 
purview  of  the  Constitution  or  the  act 
of  1795 — will  not  be  complied  with. 
You  have  chosen  to  inaugurate  civil 
war,  and  having  done  so,  we  will  meet 
it  in  a  spirit  as  determined  as  the  ad 
ministration  has  exhibited  toward  the 
South." 

C.  F.  Jackson,  Governor  of  Missouri, 
wrote:  "Your  requisition,  in  my  judg 
ment,  is  illegal,  unconstitutional,  and 
revolutionary  in  its  objects,  inhuman  and 
diabolical,  and  cannot  be  complied  with. 
Not  one  man  will  the  State  of  Missouri 
furnish  to  carry  on  such  an  unholy 
crusade." 

John  W.  Ellis,  Governor  of  North 
Carolina,  wrote:  "I  have  to  say  in 
reply,  that  I  regard  the  levy  of  troops 
made  by  the  administration  for  the  pur 
pose  of  subjugating  the  States  of  the 
South,  as  in  violation  of  the  Constitu 
tion,  and  a  usurpation  of  power.  I  can 
be  no  party  to  this  wicked  violation  of 
the  laws  of  the  country,  and  to  this  war 


SOUTHERN   PRIVATEERING. 


169 


upon  the  liberties  of  a  free  people. 
You  can  get  no  troops  from  North 
Carolina." 

Magoffin,  the  Governor  of  Kentucky, 
wrote  :  "  I  say  emphatically  that  Ken 
tucky  will  furnish  no  troops  for  the 
wicked  purpose  of  subduing  her  sister 
Southern  States." 

Governor  Harris,  of  Tennessee,  re 
plied  :  "  Tennessee  will  not  furnish  a 
single  man  for  coercion,  but  fifty  thou 
sand,  if  necessary,  for  the  defence  of 
our  rights,  or  those  of  our  Southern 
brethren." 

Governor  Reeder,  of  Arkansas,  an 
swered  with  equal  resoluteness  of  re 
fusal,  but  less  courtesy  : 

' '  In  answer  to  your  demand  for  troops 
from  Arkansas  to  subjugate  the  South 
ern  States,  I  have  to  say  that  none  will 
be  furnished.  The  demand  is  only  add 
ing  insult  to  injury. 

"  The  people  of  this  Commonwealth 
are  freemen,  not  slaves,  and  will  defend 
to  the  last  extremity  their  honor,  Jives, 
and  property  against  Northern  men 
dacity  and  usurpation." 

President  Davis,  of  the  Confederate 
States,  after  venting  this  exulting  jeu 
d'esprit, 

"  With  mortar,  Paixhan,  and  petard 
We  sent  the  foe  our  Beauregard, ' ' 

met  the  proclamation  of  President  Lin 
coln  with  this  menacing  document : 

"  Whereas  Abraham  Lincoln,  Presi 
dent  of  the  United  States,  has,  by  proc 
lamation,  announced  his  intention  of  in 
vading  the  Confederacy  with  an  armed 
force,  for  the  purpose  of  capturing  its 
portresses,  and  thereby  subverting  its 
22 


independence  and  subjecting  the  free 
people  thereof  to  the  dominion  of  a 
foreign  power  ;  and  whereas  it  has  thus 
become  the  duty  of  this  Government  to 
repel  the  threatened  invasion,  and  de 
fend  the  rights  and  liberties  of  the 
people  by  all  the  means  which  the  laws 
of  nations  and  usages  of  civilized  war 
fare  place  at  its  disposal ; 

"  Now,  therefore,  I,  Jefferson  Davis, 
President  of  the  Confederate  States  of 
America,  do  issue  this,  iny  proclamation, 
inviting  all  those  who  may  desire,  by 
service  in  private  armed  vessels  on  the 
high  seas,  to  aid  this  Government  in  re 
sisting  so  wanton  and  wicked  an  aggres 
sion,  to  make  application  for  commis 
sions  or  letters  of  marque  and  reprisal, 
to  be  issued  under  the  seal  of  these 
Confederate  States  ;  and  I  do  further 
notify  all  persons  applying  for  letters  of 
marque,  to  make  a  statement  in  writing, 
giving  the  name  and  suitable  description 
of  the  character,  tonnage,  and  force  of 
the  vessel,  name  of  the  place  of  resi 
dence  of  each  owner  concerned  therein, 
and  the  intended  number  of  crew,  and 
to  sign  each  statement,  and  deliver  the 
same  to  the  secretary  of  state  or  collector 
of  the  port  of  entry  of  these  Confederate 
States,  to  be  by  him  transmitted  to  the 
secretary  of  state  ;  and  I  do  further 
notify  all  applicants  aforesaid,  before 
any  commission  or  letter  of  marque  is 
issued  to  any  vessel,  or  the  owner  or 
the  owners  thereof,  and  the  commander 
for  the  time  being,  they  will  be  required 
to  give  bond  to  the  Confederate  States, 
with,  at  least,  two  responsible  sureties 
not  interested  in  such  vessel,  in  the 


170 


THE  WAR   WITH  THE   SOUTH. 


penal  sum  of  five  thousand  dollars ;  or 
if  such  vessel  be  provided  with  more 
than  one  hundred  and  fifty  men,  then 
in  the  penal  sum  of  ten  thousand  dollars, 
with  the  condition  that  the  owners, 
officers,  and  crew  who  shall  be  employed 
on  board  such  commissioned  vessel  shall 
observe  the  laws  of  these  Confederate 
States,  and  the  instructions  given  them 
for  the  regulation  of  their  conduct,  that 
shall  satisfy  all  damages  done  contrary 
to  the  tenor  thereof  by  such  vessel  dur 
ing  her  commission,  and  deliver  up  the 
same  when  revoked  by  the  President  of 
the  Confederate  States. 

"And  I  do  further  specially  enjoin 
on  all  persons  holding  offices,  civil  and 
military,  under  the  authority  of  the 
Confederate  States,  that  they  be  vigilant 
and  zealous  in  the  discharge  of  the 
duties  incident  thereto  ;  and  I  do,  more- 
ever,  exhort  the  good  people  of  these 
Confederate  States,  as  they  love  their 
country — as  they  prize  the  blessings  of 
free  government  —  as  they  feel  the 
wrongs  of  the  past,  and  those  now 
threatened  in  an  aggravated  form  by 
those  whose  enmity  is  more  implacable, 
because  unprovoked — to  exert  them 
selves  in  preserving  order,  in  promoting 
concord,  in  maintaining  the  authority 
and  efficacy  of  the  laws,  and  in  support 
ing  and  invigorating  all  the  measures 
which  may  be  adopted  for  a  common 
defence,  and  by  which,  under  the  bless 
ings  of  Divine  Providence,  we  may  hope 
for  a  speedy,  just,  and  honorable  peace. 

"In  witness  whereof,  I  have  set  my 
hand  and  have  caused  the  seal  of  the 
Confederate  States  of  America  to  be 


attached  this  seventeenth  day  of  April, 
in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand 
eight  hundred  and  sixty-one. 

"JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 
"  ROBERT  TOOMBS,  Secretary  of  State." 

At  the  same  time  that  President 
Davis  thus  threatened  Northern  com 
merce  with  a  fleet  of  privateers,  he 
called  upon  the  Confederacy  for  a  hun 
dred  and  fifty  thousand  men,  in  addition 
to  the  thirty-two  thousand  already  de 
manded.  A  loan  of  five  millions  of 
dollars  had  been  issued,  and  subscrip 
tions  were  reported  to  be  rapidly  coming 
in  under  the  stimulus  of  approaching 
war. 

Davis'  invitation  to  applications  for 
letters  of  marque  created  great  alarm, 
and  was  received  by  the  North  with  a 
universal  burst  of  indignation.  Priva 
teering  was  pronounced  an  infamous 
weapon  of  warfare.  The  destruction  of 
private  property  in  the  course  of  a  con 
flict  between  two  hostile  parties  was 
declared  to  be  a  relic  of  barbarism. 
Davis  was  reminded  of  the  treaties  of 
the  United  States  with  certain  European 
powers,  which  prohibited  citizens  of 
either  nation  from  accepting  letters 
of  marque  from  any  authority  hostile  to 
the  agreeing  parties.  This,  they  de 
clared,  would  prevent  his  obtaining  pri 
vateers  from  Europe,  and  destroy  any 
hope  of  toleration  from  them  from  that 
quarter.  It  was  declared  that  there  was 
not  one  foreign  port  where,  if  Davis7 
privateers  should  venture  to  enter,  they 
would  not  be  seized  as  pirates,  and  dealt 
with  accordingly.  If  any  man,  in  this 
country,  or  in  any  other,  dared  to  ac- 


THE  FRIGHT  AT  THE  NORTH. 


171 


cept  a  letter  of  marque  from  the  Con 
federacy  and  act  upon  it,  he  would,  it 
was  threatened,  be  hung  as  a  pirate. 
The  proclamation  was,  in  a  word,  branded 
us  a  formal  sanction  of  piracy,  and  it 
was  met  not  only  with  the  menace  of 
the  yard-arm,  but  its  author  was  re 
minded  that  the  most  terrific  retaliation 
awaited  him  if  he  should  carry  out  his 
purpose.  "The  first  seizure  of  an 
American  vessel  by  one  of  his  privateers 
will  let  loose,"  said  a  journalist,*  "  upon 
the  South  more  John  Browns  than  he 
can  hire  pirates  in  a  year." 

The  commercial  cities  of  the  North 
were  greatly  fluttered  by  the  prospect 
of  a  swoop  by  the  rebellious  birds  of 
prey  upon  their  fleets  which  were 
winging  their  way  over  every  sea  and 
ocean.  The  Chamber  of  Commerce  of 
New  York  met  and  resolved,  "  That 
the  proposition  of  Mr.  Jefferson  Davis 
to  issue  letters  of  marque  to  whomsoever 
may  apply  for  them,  emanating  from  no 
recognized  government,  is  not  only 
without  the  sanction  of  public  law,  but 
piratical  in  its  tendencies,  and  therefore 
deserving  the  stern  condemnation  of  the 
civilized  world."  To  this  was  added  the 
further  resolution,  that  "it  is  the  duty 
of  our  Government  to  issue  at  once  a 
proclamation  warning  all  persons  that 
privateering  under  the  commissions  pro 
posed  will  be  dealt  with  as  simple  pi 
racy." 

The  President  promptly  responded 
by  establishing  a  blockade  of  the  ports 
of  the  seceding  States,  and  did  not 
hesitate  to  warn  all  privateers  sailing 

«  New  York  Time*. 


under  the  flag  of  the  Confederates  that 
they  would  be  treated  as  pirates  : 

'  Whereas  an  insurrection  against  the 
Government  of  the  United  States  has 
broken  out  in  the  States  of  South  Caro 
lina,  Georgia,  Alabama,  Florida,  Missis 
sippi,  Louisiana,  and  Texas,  and  the 
laws  of  the  United  States  for  the  collec 
tion  of  the  revenue  can  not  be  efficiently 
executed  therein  conformably  to  that 
provision  of  the  Constitution  which  re 
quires  duties  to  be  uniform  throughout 
the  United  States  ; 

"  And  whereas  a  combination  of  per 
sons,  engaged  in  such  insurrection,  have 
threatened  to  grant  pretended  letters  of 
marque  to  authorize  the  bearers  thereof 
to  commit  assaults  on  the  lives,  vessels, 
and  property  of  good  citizens  of  the 
country  lawfully  engaged  in  commerce 
on  the  high  seas,  and  in  waters  of  the 
United  States ; 

"And  whereas  an  Executive  Procla 
mation  has  been  already  issued,  requir 
ing  the  persons  engaged  in  these  dis 
orderly  proceedings  to  desist  therefrom, 
calling  out  a  militia  force  for  the  purpose 
of  repressing  the  same,  and  convening 
Congress  in  extraordinary  session  to 
deliberate  and  determine  thereon  ; 

"Now,  therefore,  I,  Abraham  Lincoln, 
President  of  the  United  States,  with  a 
view  to  the  same  purposes  before  men 
tioned,  and  to  the  protection  of  the 
public  peace,  and  the  lives  and  property 
of  quiet  and  orderly  citizens  pursuing 
their  lawful  occupations,  until  Congress 
shall  have  assembled  and  deliberated  on 
the  said  unlawful  proceedings,  or  until 
the  same  shall  have  ceased,  have  further 


172 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE   SOUTH. 


deemed  it  advisable  to  set  on  foot  a 
blockade  of  the  ports  within  the  States 
aforesaid,  in  pursuance  of  the  laws  of 
the  United  States  and  of  the  laws  of 
nations  in  such  cases  provided.  For 
this  purpose  a  competent  force  will  be 
posted  so  as  to  prevent  entrance  and 
exit  of  vessels  from  the  ports  aforesaid. 
If,  therefore,  with  a  view  to  violate  such 
blockade,  a  vessel  shall  approach,  or 
shall  attempt  to  leave  any  of  the  said 
ports,  she  will  be  duly  warned  by  the 
commander  of  one  of  the  blockading 
vessels,  who  will  endorse  on  her  register 
the  fact  and  date  of  such  warning  ;  and 
if  the  same  vessel  shall  again  attempt  to 
enter  or  leave  the  blockaded  port,  she 


will  be  captured  and  sent  to  the  nearest 
convenient  port,  for  such  proceedings 
against  her  and  her  cargo  as  prize  as 
may  be  deemed  advisable. 

"  And  I  hereby  proclaim  and  declare, 
that  if  any  person,  under  the  pretended 
authority  of  said  States,  or  under  any 
other  pretence,  shall  molest  a  vessel  of 
the  United  States,  or  the  persons  or 
cargo  on  board  of  her,  such  person  will 
be  held  amenable  to  the  laws  of  the 
United  States  for  the  prevention  and 
punishment  of  piracy. 

"  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

"  By  the  President. 

"  WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD,  Secretary  of  State. 

"  WASHINGTON,  April  19,  1861." 


CHAPTER    XY. 

nquietude  about  the  Border  States. — The  Convention  of  Virginia. — Committee  appointed  to  wait  upon  the  President. 
—  Its  Message.  — President  Lincoln's  Answer. — Its  effect. — Virginia  Convention  passes  an  Act  of  Secession. — Im 
patience  of  the  Secessionists. — Proclamation  of  Governor  Letcher. — Recognition  of  the  Southern  Confederacy. — 
Preparations  for  War. — The  Harbor  of  Norfolk  Obstructed. — Attempt  on  Harper's  Ferry. — Description  of  the  place. 
— Its  picturesque  beauty.- — Its  Resources. — Unhappy  Associations. — Virginia  Troops  Mustering  for  an  Attack  upon 
Harper's  Ferry. — A  Force  Marches. — Description  of  the  March.— The  Federal  Commander  and  his  little  Garrison. — 
Anticipated  Attack. — Preparations  to  thwart  its  object. —Preparing  for  a  Conflagration. — Positive  Information. — 
The  Torch  applied. — Retreat  of  the  Federal  Commander  and  his  Men. — An  excited  Populace. — Held  at  Bay.— Con 
tinued  Flight  of  the  Federal  Commander. — Safe  arrival  in  Pennsylvania. — Rewards  of  Gallantry. — Another  De 
struction  of  Public  Property. — Hemming  in  of  the  Gosport  Navy  Yard. — Exulting  Dispatch. — Description  of  the 
Navy  Yard. — The  Ships. — Resolution  of  Commodore  Macaulay. — The  Demand  of  the  Insurgents. — Arrival  of  the 
Pawnee. — Her  Sail  from  Fortress  Monroe  to  Norfolk. — Boisterous  Welcome.— The  Marines  set  to  work. — Securing 
the  Papers. — Destruction  of  Arms. — The  Firing  of  the  Barracks. — Laying  of  the  Trains. — Departure  of  the  Pawnee. 
— A  Signal. — The  Conflagration  of  Ships  and  Navy  Yard. — The  Burning  of  the  old  Pennsylvania. — The  People  of 
Norfolk  bursting  through  the  Gates  of  the  Navy  Yard.— The  Havoc.— Incomplete  Destruction.— Curious  Reasons 
for  it.— Details  of  the  Property  destroyed.— The  Feeling  at  the  North.— The  Destruction  pronounced  unnecessary.— 
Quick  work  of  the  Insurgents. — Erection  of  defiant  Batteries. 


THE  greatest  inquietude  had  long  ex 
isted  at  the  North  in  regard  to  the 
action  of  the  border  States,  and  more 
especially    of    Maryland   and    Virginia. 


In  the  latter  State  a  convention  had 
been  for  some  time  in  secret  session,  and 
the  result  was  awaited  with  intense 
anxiety.  A  committee,  consisting  of 


PRESIDENT'S  ANSWER  TO   VIRGINIA. 


173 


Messrs.  Preston,  Stuart,  and  Randolph, 
had  been  appointed  to  wait  upon  the 
President  at  Washington,  and  to  present 
to  him  the  following  preamble  and  res 
olution  passed  by  the  Convention  of 
Virginia : 

"  Whereas,  in  the  opinion  of  this  Con 
vention,  the  uncertainty  which  prevails 
in  the  public  mind  as  to  the  policy  which 
the  Federal  Executive  intends  to  pursue 
toward  the  seceded  States  is  extremely 
injurious  to  the  industrial  and  commer 
cial  interests  of  the  country,  tends  to 
keep  up  an  excitement  which  is  unfavor 
able  to  the  adjustment  of  the  pending 
difficulties,  and  threatens  a  disturbance 
of  the  public  peace,  therefore, 

"  Resolved,  That  a  committee  of  three 
delegates  be  appointed  to  wait  on  the 
President  of  the  United  States,  present 
to  him  this  preamble,  and  respectfully 
ask  him  to  communicate  to  this  Conven 
tion  the  policy  which  the  Federal  Ex 
ecutive  intends  to  pursue  in  regard  to 
the  Confederate  States." 

The  bearers  of  this  demand,  courteous 
April  m  f°rm  but  insolent  in  substance, 
13.  were  duly  presented  at  the  White 
House,  and  received  from  Mr.  Lincoln 
a  response  in  which  he  characteristically 
rather  discussed  the  question  amiably 
with  his  interlocutors,  than  firmly  as 
serted  his  Executive  authority. 

"In  answer,  I,"  said  the  President, 
"have  to  say  that  having,  at  the  begin 
ning  of  my  official  term,  expressed  my 
intended  policy  as  plainly  as  I  was  able, 
it  is  with  deep  regret  and  mortification 
I  now  learn  there  is  great  and  injurious 
uncertainty  in  the  public  mind  as  to 


what  course  I  intend  to  pursue.  Not 
having  as  yet  seen  occasion  to  change, 
it  is  now  my  purpose  to  pursue  the 
course  marked  out  in  the  inaugural  ad 
dress.  I  commend  a  careful  considera 
tion  of  the  whole  document  as  the  best 
expression  I  can  give  to  my  purposes 
As  I  then  and  therein  said,  I  now  re 
peat  :  '  The  power  confided  in  me  will 
be  used  to  hold  and  possess  property 
and  places  belonging  to  the  Government, 
and  to  collect  the  duties  and  imports  ; 
but  beyond  what  is  necessary  for  these 
objects  there  will  be  no  invasion,  no 
using  of  force  against  and  among  the 
people  anywhere.'  By  the  words  '  prop 
erty  and  places  belonging  to  the  Gov 
ernment,'  I  chiefly  allude  to  the  military 
posts  and  property  which  were  in  pos 
session  of  the  Government  when  it  came 
into  my  hands.  But  if,  as  now  appears 
to  be  true,  in  pursuit  of  a  purpose  to 
drive  the  United  States  authority  from 
these  places,  an  unprovoked  assault  has 
been  made  upon  Fort  Sumter,  I  shall 
hold  myself  at  liberty  to  repossess  it,  if 
I  can,  and  like  places  which  had  been 
seized  before  the  Government  was  de 
volved  upon  me  ;  and  in  any  event  I 
shall,  to  the  best  of  my  ability,  repel 
force  by  force.  In  case  it  proves  true 
that  Fort  Sumter  has  been  assaulted,  as 
is  reported,  I  shall,  perhaps,  cause  the 
United  States  mails  to  be  withdrawn 
from  all  the  States  which  claim  to  have 
seceded,  believing  that  the  commence 
ment  of  actual  war  against  the  Govern 
ment  justifies  and  possibly  demands  it. 
I  scarcely  need  to  say  that  I  consider 
the  military  posts  and  property  situated 


174 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


within  the  States  which  claim  to  have 
seceded,  as  yet  belonging  to  the  Govern 
ment  of  the  United  States,  as  much  as 
they  did  before  the  supposed  secession. 
Whatever  else  I  may  do  for  the  purpose, 
I  shall  not  attempt  to  collect  the  duties 
and  imposts  by  any  armed  invasion  of 
any  part  of  the  country  ;  not  meaning 
by  this,  however,  that  I  may  not  land  a 
force  deemed  necessary  to  relieve  a  fort 
upon  the  border  of  the  country.  From 
the  fact  that  I  have  quoted  a  part  of  the 
inaugural  address,  it  must  not  be  in 
ferred  that  I  repudiate  any  other  part, 
the  whole  of  which  I  reaffirm,  except 
so  far  as  what  I  now  say  of  the  mails 
may  be  regarded  as  a  modification." 

This  answer,  however,  was  sufficiently 
firm  to  convince  the  Virginian  commis 
sioners  that  the  President  had  deter 
mined  to  exercise  his  proper  authority 
in  the  suppression  of  rebellion.  Their 
return  to  Richmond  with  this  response 
served  to  precipitate  the  action  of  the 
Convention,  and  accordingly  it  passed,  in 
secret  session,  on  the  17th  of  April,  an 
April  ordinance  of  secession,  conditional, 
!?•  however,  upon  its  ratification  by  a 
majority  of  the  votes  of  the  people  of 
the  State  on  the  fourth  Thursday  in  the 
ensuing  month  of  May.  The  secession 
leaders  of  Virginia,  however,  in  their 
impatience  to  rebel,  could  not  await  the 
deliberate  course  of  law,  and  began  at 
once  a  series  of  hostile  acts,  soon  to 
result  in  open  war  against  the  Federal 
authority. 

Letcher,    the   Governor   of  Virginia, 

ipril  issued  a  proclamation  in  which  he 

17«    recognized  the  independence  of  the 


seceded  States,  declaring  that  they  have, 
"  by  authority  of  their  people,  solemnly 
rescued  the  powers  granted  by  them  to 
the  United  States,  and  have  framed  a 
constitution  and  organized  a  government 
for  themselves,  to  which  the  people  of 
those  States  are  yielding  willing  obedi 
ence,  and  have  so  notified  the  President 
of  the  United  States  by  all  the  formal 
ities  incident  to  such  action,  and  thereby 
become  to  the  United  States  a  separate, 
independent,  and  foreign  power."  At 
the  same  time  he  thought  proper  "to 
order  all  armed  volunteer  regiments  or 
companies  within  the  State  forthwith 
to  hold  themselves  in  readiness  for  im 
mediate  orders." 

Before  the  people  of  the  State,  how 
ever,  had  an  opportunity  of  expressing 
their  will  as  legally  provided  by  the  acts 
of  the  Virginia  Legislature  and  Conven 
tion,  Governor  Letcher  commenced  to 
wage  war  against  the  United  States. 
He  ordered  the  main  entrance  of  the 
harbor  of  Norfolk  to  be  obstructed  by 
the  sinking  of  small  boats,  to  prevent 
communication  with  the  Federal  navy- 
yard  at  that  port,  which  he  had  evi 
dently  determined  to  seize  on  the  first 
occasion  favorable  to  his  purpose,  as 
will  be  developed  in  the  course  of  this 
narrative. 

His  first  attempt,  however,  was  to 
capture  the  United  States  arsenal  and 
armory  at  Harper's  Ferry.  This  town, 
now  so  memorable,  is  in  Jefferson  Co., 
Virginia.  It  is  situated  on  the  Potomac 
River,  just  where  the  Shenandoah  enters, 
and  the  two  streams  united  pass  through 
the  Blue  Ridge.  The  town  originally 


A  FORCE  MARCHES. 


175 


clustered  about  the  base  of  a  hill,  but  is 
gradually  rising  up  its  steep  sides,  and 
some  scattered  hamlets  and  houses  have 
already  reached  the  table-land  on  the 
summit,  nearly  four  hundred  feet  above 
the  water.  The  ridge  on  either  side  of 
the  gap  through  which  the  Potomac, 
united  with  the  Shenandoah,  forces  its 
way,  rises  in  steep  and  bare  cliffs  to  an 
elevation  of  twelve  hundred  feet  or  more, 
the  simple  grandeur  of  which,  contrast 
ing  with  the  picturesque  beauty  of  the 
lesser  and  cultivated  heights,  gives  to 
the  surrounding  scenery  of  Harper's 
Ferry  the  most  impressive  effect. 
Thomas  Jefferson  said  that  it  was  "  one 
of  the  most  stupendous  scenes  in  nature, 
and  well  worth  a  voyage  across  the 
Atlantic  to  witness." 

The  town  is  described  as  at  this  time 
"containing  a  population  of  10,000,  and 
of  considerable  trading  importance  as  the 
point  of  junction  of  the  Baltimore  and 
Ohio  and  the  Winchester  and  Potomac 
railways.  A  bridge  of  nine  hundred 
feet  in  length  connects  it  with  the  op 
posite  shore  of  Maryland.  The  main 
business  of  the  place  is  manufacturing. 
It  has  one  of  the  largest  mills  in  the 
United  States  for  grinding  flour."  Addi 
tional  importance  was  given  to  the  town 
by  the  establishment  there  of  the  Fed 
eral  arsenal  and  armory.  Ninety  thou 
sand  stand  of  arms  were  ordinarily 
stored  in  the  depots,  and  the  work-shops 
were  capable  of  producing  twenty-five 
thousand  annually. 

The  place  had  already  acquired  an 
unhappy  association  with  our  sectional 
quarrels,  by  the  invasion  of  John  Brown, 


who,  at  the  head  of  twenty-two  men, 
had  taken  possession  of  the  town  and 
strove  to  excite  the  negroes  of  Virginia 
to  insurrection.  It  has  again  repeatedly 
become  a  scene  of  commotion  and  con 
flict  during  this  civil  war. 

The  Governor  of  Virginia  was  eager 
to  possess  himself  of  the  arsenal  and 
armory,  and  thus  supply  his  secession 
allies  with  the  means  of  carrying  on  the 
war  against  the  United  States,  which  he 
contemplated.  He  accordingly  sent  ^prn 
secret  orders  to  Charlestown,  the  18. 
county  seat  of  Jefferson,  to  muster  a 
force  for  the  purpose  of  seizing  the  Fed 
eral  property  at  Harper's  Ferry.  Some 
three  thousand  men  had  been  summoned, 
but  only  two  hundred  and  fifty,  in  con 
sequence  of  the  suddenness  of  the  call, 
mustered  at  Halltown,  the  rendezvous 
half  way  between  the  county  town  and 
Harper's  Ferry,  and  about  four  miles 
from  each  place.  Here  they  remained 
until  night,  that  they  might  have  the 
cover  of  darkness  for  their  intended  act 
of  violence  against  the  laws  of  the  United 
States. 

The  force  having  been  formed,  con 
sisting  of  a  small  body  of  infantry,  termed 
the  Jefferson  Battalion,  commanded  ^pri! 
by  a  Captain  Allen,  one  piece  of  ar-  18* 
tillery,  and  a  squad  of  "  Fauquier"  cav 
alry,  under  a  Captain  Ashby,  marched, 
at  about  eight  o'clock  in  the  night  of  the 
very  day  on  which  the  order  had  been 
received  from  Richmond. 

"The  troops  marched,"  says  one  who 
was  with  them,  "-in  silence,  and  about 
a  mile  from  the  starting-point  the  col 
umn  was  challenged  by  sentries  posted 


176 


THE    WAR   WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


in  the  road.  They  halted,  loaded  with 
ball-cartridge,  and  advanced  with  fixed 
bayonets  until  they  reached  the  brow 
of  the  hill  overlooking  the  town  and  at 
the  outskirts  of  the  village  of  Bolivar. 
Here  the  advance  was  again  challenged, 
ind  the  column  halted.  As  these  sen 
tries  were  known  to  be  employes  of  the 
armories,  and  as  it  was  thought  prob 
able  from  the  temper  manifested  during 
the  day  that  the  whole  body  of  work 
men  had  united  with  the  Government 
troops,  thus  giving  them  four  hundred 
effective  men,  with  full  preparation  and 
choice  of  position,  it  was  thought  proper 
to  send  a  flag  into  the  town  to  ascertain 
how  matters  stood.  An  influential  gen 
tleman  accompanying  the  troops,  of 
fered  his  services  to  execute  this  deli 
cate  duty,  and  to  dissuade  the  citizens, 
if  possible,  from  taking  part  in  the  con 
test.  From  after-knowledge  it  was  as 
certained  that  this  precaution  was  un 
necessary,  as  the  mass  of  the  inhabitants 
were  loyal  to  the  soil  where  they  lived, 
and  such  as  might  have  entertained  dif 
ferent  sentiments  were  silenced  by  the 
reports  of  the  imposing  force  which  was 
supposed  to  be  at  hand. 

"  While  the  Virginia  officers  were  in 
consultation,  there  was  seen  in  the  di 
rection  of  the  armory  a  flash,  accompa 
nied  by  a  report  like  the  discharge  of  a 
cannon,  followed  by  a  number  of  other 
flashes  in  quick  succession,  and  then  the 
sky  and  surrounding  mountains  were 
lighted  with  the  steady  glare  of  ascend- 
jng  flames.  Captain  Ashby,  with  his 
squad,  immediately  rode  down  into  the 
town,  and  in  a  short  time  returned  with 


the  report  that  the  troops  had  fired  the 
public  buildings  and  retreated  across 
the  Potomac  bridge,  taking  the  mount 
ain  road  toward  Carlisle  Barracks,  in 
Pennsylvania. 

"  On  our  way  down  we  met  a  long 
line  of  men,  women,  and  boys,  carrying 
loads  of  muskets,  bayonets,  and  other 
military  equipments.  The  streets  at  the 
confluence  of  the  two  rivers  were  brill 
iantly  illuminated  by  the  flames  from 
the  old  arsenal,  which  burned  like  a 
furnace.  The  inclosure  around  these 
buildings  was  covered  with  splintered 
glass,  which  had  been  blown  out  by  the 
explosion  of  the  powder-train.  A  few 
arm-boxes,  open  and  empty,  lay  near 
the  entrance  ;  but  nearly  all  the  mus 
kets  in  this  building,  fifteen  thousand,  as 
stated,  were  destroyed. 

"  Of  the  armory  buildings  on  Poto 
mac  Street,  one  large  work-shop  was  in 
a  light  blaze,  and  two  others  on  fire. 
Alarmed  by  the  first  explosions,  the 
citizens  hesitated  to  approach  the  work 
shops,  and  warned  the  Virginia  troops 
not  to  do  so,  supposing  them  to  be 
mined  ;  but  presently  becoming  reas 
sured  on  that  subject,  they  went  to 
work  with  the  engines,  extinguished 
some  of  the  fires,  and  prevented  their 
extension  to  the  town  and  railroad 
bridges." 

The  plans  of  the  secessionists  had 
been  anticipated  and  their  designs 
thwarted  by  the  Federal  commander 
and  his  little  force  at  Harper's  Ferry. 
The  Federal  garrison  consisted  of  a 
detachment  of  United  States  Rifles, 
amounting  to  about  forty  in  number 


BURNING  OF  HARPER'S  FERRY  ARSENAL. 


177 


under  the  command  of  Lieutenant  Roger 
Jones.  This  officer  had  been  notified 
some  days  previously  by  the  Govern 
ment  at  Washington  of  the  danger  which 
Ipril  threatened  his  post.  On  the  17th 
17«  of  April,  before  the  march  of  the 
Virginians,  he  learned  from  various 
sources  that  the  attack  was  to  be  made 
on  the  succeeding  day.  The  militia  of 
the  town  of  Harper's  Ferry,  although 
they  professed  loyalty,  were  either 
alarmed  at  the  rumors  of  an  approach 
ing  force,  or  unwilling  to  oppose  it,  and 
consequently  disbanded.  The  workmen 
employed  at  the  arsenal  and  armory 
showed  symptoms,  if  not  of  disaffection, 
at  least  of  great  uneasiness.  Every 
hour  brought  with  it  fresh  rumors,  more 
or  less  exaggerated,  of  the  advancing 
secessionists.  The  railroad  was  in  their 
power,  and  a  special  train,  bearing 
armed  men,  was  known  to  be  hurrying 
forward.  Troops,  amounting  to  two 
thousand  in  number,  were  reported  to 
have  gathered  from  Winchester,  Charles 
ton,  and  other  neighboring  points,  and 
to  be  marching  to  Harper's  Ferry. 

Lieutenant  Jones,  conscious  of  the 
purpose  of  this  movement,  and  unable, 
with  his  meagre  garrison  of  forty  men 
in  a  country  believed  to  be  hostile,  to 
defend  his  post,  determined  to  destroy 
the  arsenal  and  armory, '  lest  their  im 
portant  works  and  valuable  supplies  of 
arms  should  fall  into  the  possession  of 
those  who  were  undoubtedly  determined 
to  use  them  in  waging  war  against  the 
Federal  Government. 

Early  in  the  evening  of  the  17th  of 
April,  accordingly,  the  Lieutenant  set  his 

23 


men  to  work  in  making  prepara-  April 
tions    for  the    destruction    of  the     I7» 
public  property,  should  it  prove  neces 
sary.     With  swords  the  soldiers  cut  up 
the  planks  and  other  timber  to  supply 
wood    for    firing    the    buildings.     The 
mattresses  were  ripped  up,  their  con 
tents  emptied  out,  and  then  filled  with* 
powder.      This  was  all  done  inside  of 
the  arsenals  and  armories,  to  conceal  the 
purpose  from  the  people  of  the  town, 
whose  loyalty  was  suspected,  and  who, 
if  they  should  discover  it,  might  rise 
and  prevent  it.     The  arms,  ss>me  fifteen 
thousand  stand,  were  now  collected  and 
piled  together,  and  the  chipped  wood  and 
mattresses  filled  with  powder  were  so 
placed  that  the  guns  and  the  buildings 
might  all  be  destroyed  together  in  one 
common    explosion    and    conflagration. 
On  the  next  night,  having  received  April 
"positive  and  reliable  information     IS. 
that  twenty-five  hundred  or  three  thou 
sand  State  troops  would  reach  Harper's 
Ferry  in  two  hours   from   Winchester, 
and  that  the  troops  from  Halltown,  in 
creased  to  three  hundred,  were  advanc 
ing,  and  even  at  that  time — a  few  min 
utes    after  ten  o'clock — within   twenty 
minutes'  march  of  the  Ferry,"  Lieuten 
ant  Jones  gave  the  order  to  apply  the 
torch.     The  windows  and  doors  of  the 
buildings  had  been  opened  so  that  the 
flames  could  have  free  sway,  and  when 
all  was  ready,  the  fires  were  started  in 
the  carpenter's  shop,  and  the  trains  lead 
ing  to  the  powder  ignited.     This  done, 
the  Lieutenant  marched  out  his  men  and 
began  a  rapid  retreat.     In  three  min 
utes  after,  the  buildings  of  the  arsenal 


173 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


and  the  carpenter's  shop  were  in  a  "  com 
plete  blaze." 

The  fire  alarmed  the  town,  and  its  ex 
cited  populace  pursued  Lieutenant  Jones 
and  his  men,  coming  upon  them  just  as 
they  had  reached  the  bridge,  for  the 
purpose  of  escaping  across.  The  crowd 
pressed  forward,  crying  vengeance  upon 
them  for  having  set  fire  to  the  buildings. 
Jones  wheeled  his  men,  and  facing  the 
multitude  declared,  unless  they  dis 
persed,  he  would  fire  upon  them.  The 
intimidated  throng  shrunk  back,  and 
Jones  took  the  occasion  to  continue  his 
retreat  and  take  to  the  woods,  followed, 
however,  by  several  shots,  which  fortu 
nately  were  without  effect.  He  now 
hurried  northward,  his  way  being  lighted 
up  by  the  blazing  buildings.  The  ex 
plosion  took  place  almost  as  soon  as  he 
got  beyond  the  town,  and  he  flattered 
himself  that  the  destruction  of  the  ar 
senal  and  armory  had  been  complete. 
Hurriedly  marching  all  night  across 
streams  and  bogs,  he  reached  Hagers- 
April  town  in  safety  on  the  next  morn- 
19  •  ing,  at  seven  o'clock,  and  thence 
pursued  his  way  to  Chambersburg,  in 
Pennsylvania,  where,  confident  of  being 
among  a  loyal  people,  he  could  stop  to 
refresh  his  wayworn  men,  who  had 
marched  all  night  and  eaten  nothing 
since  they  left  Harper's  Ferry.  Four 
of  his  little  garrison,  however,  were 
missing,  and  it  was  feared  that  they  had 
been  captured,  or  perhaps  slain. 

From  Chambersburg  Lieutenant  Jones 

proceeded  with  his  men  to  Carlisle  Bar- 

Upril  racks,  a  Federal  post,  whence  he 

20.    dispatched   a   report  of  his    pro 


ceedings  to  the  United  States  Govern 
ment. 

His  conduct  met  with  the  approbation 
of  the  President,  who,  in  consideration 
of  "  his  skilful  and  gallant  conduct  at 
Harper's  Ferry,"  gave  him  the  commis 
sion  of  assistant-quarter-master-general 
with  the  rank  of  captain,  and  sent  to  him 
through  the  secretary  this  flattering 
tribute : 

"  WAB  DEPABTMENT,  WASHINGTON,  ) 
April  22d,  1861.  f 

"  LIEUTENANT  ROGER  JONES  : 

"My  DEAR  SIR:  I  am  directed  by 
the  President  of  the  United  States  tc 
communicate  to  you,  and  through  you 
to  the  officers  and  men  under  your  com 
mand  at  Harper's  Ferry  armory,  the 
approbation  of  the  Government  of  your 
and  their  judicious  conduct  there,  and 
to  tender  to  you  and  them  the  thanks 
of  the  Government  for  the  same. 

"  I  am,  sir,  very  respectfully, 
"  SIMON  CAMERON, 

"  Secretary  of  War." 

This  was  soon  followed  by  another 
more  important,  but  less  justifiable  de 
struction  of  public  property  in  Virginia. 
It  will  be  recollected  that  Governor 
Letcher  had  already  ordered  the  main 
entrance  of  the  harbor  of  Norfolk  to  be 
obstructed  by  the  sinking  of  small  boats. 
Seven  vessels  had  been  sunk  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Elizabeth  River,  the  only 
channel  of  communication  between  the 
sea  and  the  Gosport  navy-yard.  The 
obvious  object  of  this  was  to  hem  in 
that  important  naval  station,  so  that  by 
preventing  the  egress  of  the  United 
States  vessels  there,  or  the  ingress  of 


THE  NORFOLK  NAVY  YARD. 


179 


any  force  that  might  be  sent  to  their 
aid,  the  navy-yard  with  its  ships  and  its 
stores  should  be  at  the  mercy  of  the 
State  of  Virginia.  The  dispatch  which 
announced  the  execution  of  the  Gover 
nor's  order  exultingly  declared  :  "  Thus 
have  we  secured  for  Virginia  three  of 
the  best  ships  of  the  navy,"  alluding  to 
the  Cumberland,  Merrimac,  and  Penn 
sylvania,  then  among  the  vessels  in  the 
Gosport  navy -yard  at  Norfolk.  The 
inhabitants  had,  moreover,  shown  their 
hostile  intentions  by  seizing  the  United 
April  States  magazine,  situated  below  the 
*9»  city,  and  containing  four  thousand 
kegs  of  powder. 

The  navy-yard  was  in  command  of 
Commodore  Charles  S.  Macaulay,  a  vet 
eran  naval  officer.  The  establishment, 
one  of  the  largest  in  the  United  States, 
contained  not  only  stores  of  naval  and 
military  munitions  of  war  and  ships,  but 
arsenals,  foundries,  workshops,  and 
docks — a  mass  of  public  property  which 
had  cost  the  United  States  over  fifty 
millions  of  dollars. 

There  were  twelve  vessels  of  war 
stationed  at  the  yard,  with  an  aggregate 
tonnage  of  about  thirty-five  thousand 
tons,  and  an  armament  of  six  hundred 
and  fifty  guns.  These  were  the  Penn 
sylvania,  a  sailing  vessel,  the  largest  line- 
of-battle-ship  ever  built  in  the  United 
States.  Her  tonnage  was  three  thou 
sand  three  hundred  and  forty -one  tons, 
and  she  was  built  to  carry  a  hundred 
and  twenty  guns,  to  work  which  and  the 
ship  would  have  required  a  crew  of  a 
thousand  men.  Launched  in  1837,  at 
Philadelphia,  she  remained  there  as  the 


wonder  of  all  sight-seers,  until  she  sailed 
to  Norfolk,  many  years  after,  where 
she  remained  a  useless  hulk,  too  un- 
wieldly  and  too  expensive  for  service. 

The  Delaware,  also  a  sailing  line-of- 
battle-ship,  was  of  two  thousand  six  hun 
dred  and  thirty-three  tons,  carrying  an 
armament  of  eighty-four  guns,  and  a  crew 
of  eight  hundred  men.  She,  however, 
was  rotten,  and  had  been  long  condemned, 
as  unfit  for  service. 

The  Columbus,  a  line-of-battle-ship, 
of  two  thousand  four  hundred  and  eighty 
tons  burthen,  and  rated  for  eighty  guns 
and  eight  hundred  men,  was  also  useless 
as  a  sailing  vessel,  but  was  thought 
capable  of  being  converted  into  a 
steamer.  The  Raritan,  a  frigate  of  one 
thousand  seven  hundred  and  twenty-six 
tons,  and  fifty  guns,  was  another  vessel 
which  had  been  condemned  as  unfit  for 
service. 

The  Plymouth,  a  first-class  sloop-of- 
war,  of  nine  hundred  and  eighty-nine 
tons,  and  twenty-two  guns,  was  under 
going  repairs,  and  was  a  vessel  of  little 
value. 

There  was  the  New  York,  the  keel  of 
which  was  laid  forty-five  years  ago, 
still  on  the  stocks,  and  was  hardly 
thought  to  be  available.  To  these 
vessels  of  little  value,  may  be  added  the 
old  United  States,  built  in  1797. 

There  were,  however,  the  four  sailing 
ships,  the  fine  frigate  Cumberland,  the 
Germantown,  the  Columbia,  and  the 
brig  Dolphin,  which  were  for  the  most 
part  in  good  condition  and  capable  of 
the  best  service.  In  addition  was  the 
first-class  steam  frigate  the  Merrimac. 


180 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


of  three  thousand  two  hundred  tons,  and 
forty  guns.  Built  at  the  Charlestown 
navy -yard,  near  Boston,  in  1855,  she  had 
proved  herself  ever  since  to  be  one  of 
the  most  powerful  and  valuable  steamers 
in  the  United  States  navy. 

Commodore  Macaulay,  supposed  to  be 
acting  with  the  concurrence  of  the 
authorities  at  Washington,  now  deter 
mined  to  save  what  little  he  could  of 
this  valuable  Government  property,  and 
destroy  the  remainder  in  order  to  pre 
vent  its  falling  into  the  possession  of  the 
April  "Virginians.  The  commander  of 

20«  the  insurgents  at  Norfolk,  General 
Taliafero,  had  already  demanded  the 
surrender  of  the  navy-yard,  and  after  a 
conference  with  the  Commodore,  at  noon, 
declared  that  he  had  his  assurance  that 
"  none  of  the  vessels  should  be  removed, 
nor  a  shot  fired,  except  in  self-defence." 
However  this  may  be,  the  Commodore 
doubtless  was  so  persuaded  of  the  hos 
tile  intent  of  the  force  assembled  in 
Norfolk,  as  to  believe  that  the  most  de 
cided  measures  had  become  necessary  to 
thwart  it. 

In  the  evening  the  United  States 
April  steamer  the  Pawnee  arrived  from 

20«  Washington  with  two  hundred 
volunteers  and  a  hundred  marines,  in 
addition  to  her  own  crew,  and  after 
stopping  at  Fortress  Monroe  and  taking 
on  board  a  reinforcement  of  men,  pro 
ceeded  at  once  to  co-operate  with  Com 
modore  Macaulay,  and  aid  him  in  what 
ever  action  he  had  determined  upon. 

It  was  about  seven  o'clock,  on  a  clear 
April  moonlight  night,  that  the  Pawnee, 

20*    Captain    Paulding,    flying    at   her 


peak  the  commodore's  pennant,  moved 
from  the  dock  of  Fort  Monroe  cheered 
by  the  shouts  of  the  garrison  gathered 
on  the  parapet  of  the  fortress,  and 
steamed  off  for  Norfolk.  Notwithstand 
ing  the  sunken  vessels  in  the  channel, 
the  steamer  passed  without  difficulty  up 
Hampton  Roads,  past  Norfolk,  to  Gos- 
port  navy-yard,  where  she  arrived  at 
half-past  eight  o'clock.  The  people  of 
Norfolk  and  Portsmouth  were  greatly 
disturbed  by  her  approach,  as  they  be 
lieved  she  •  had  come  to  aid  in  bom 
barding  their  towns.  Overcome  with 
fright,  and  unprepared  for  resistance, 
they  made  no  show  of  opposition,  but 
every  inhabitant  took  care  to  keep  at  a 
discreet  distance. 

Our  people  at  the  navy-yard,  expect 
ing  the  coming  of  the  Pawnee,  were  on 
the  alert,  and  as  she  came  alongside  the 
dock,  the  sailors  on  board  the  Cumber 
land  and  Pennsylvania,  crowding  into 
the  shrouds  and  manning  the  yards, 
heartily  cheered  her.  Cut  off  as  they 
had  been  for  so  long  a  time  from  all 
communication  with  the  town,  insulted 
and  threatened  daily  and  hourly  by  the 
infuriated  insurgents  of  Virginia,  they 
saw,  in  the  arrival  of  the  Pawnee,  a 
means  of  relief,  if  not  an  opportunity 
of  vindicating  the  national  dignity,  and 
exulted  greatly. 

As  soon  as  the  steamer  had  made  fast 
to  the  dock,  Colonel  W^ardrop,  the  mil 
itary  commander,  marched  out  his  men 
and  stationed  them  at  the  gates  of  the 
navy-yard,  to  prevent  the  entrance  of 
the  insurgents,  should  they  make  the 
attempt.  The  marines  of  the  different 


DESTRUCTION   OF   NORFOLK   NAVY   YARD. 


181 


vessels  were  now  mustered  and  set  busily 
to  work.  Some  collected  the  records, 
papers,  and  archives  from  the  offices 
and  placed  them  on  board  the  Pawnee, 
and  some  gathered  whatever  was  val 
uable,  important,  and  easily  transferable 
from  the  various  ships,  and  stored  it  in 
the  Cumberland.  After  thus  having  se 
cured  what  could  be  readily  carried 
away,  the  marines  were  ordered  to  be 
gin  the  work  of  destruction.  Many 
thousand  stands  of  arms,  and  a  large 
quantity  of  pistols  and  revolvers,  were 
broken  by  severing  the  barrels  from  the 
stocks,  and  thrown  into  the  river.  Thou 
sands  of  shot  and  shell  followed,  and 
everything  on  the  ships  that  might  be 
of  service  to  the  insurgents  met  with 
the  same  fate.  The  cannon  which  were 
still  left  unspiked  were  now  spiked  and 
dismounted,  and  some  fifteen  hundred, 
of  which  several  were  Dahlgrens  and 
columbiads,  were  thus  rendered  useless. 
The  men  persevered  in  this  work  of 
destruction  from  nine  o'clock  in  the 
evening  until  midnight,  when  the  moon 
sunk  below  the  horizon.  The  barracks, 
situated  within  the  yard,  were  then  set 
on  fire,  in  order  that  the  marines  might, 
by  the  glare  of  the  flames,  be  enabled 
to  continue  their  labors,  which  they  re 
newed  with  increased  spirit,  as  if  en 
livened  by  the  crackling  and  blaze  of 
the  conflagration.  The  day,  however, 
was  approaching,  and  it  was  feared  that 
the  insurgents,  gathering  in  force,  might 
obstruct  the  escape  of  the  Pawnee  and 
the  Cumberland.  Gunpowder  trains 
were  now  laid  upon  the  decks  of  the 
doomed  ships  and  the  ship-houses.  The 


crews  of  the  various  ships  and  all  who 
belonged  to  the  navy-yard,  with  the  ex 
ception  of  two  left  behind  to  fire  the 
trains,  now  hurried  on  board  of  the  \prj| 
Pawnee  and  Cumberland.  The  for-  2L 
mer  left  the  dock  on  Sunday  morning, 
at  four  o'clock,  on  her  return.  As  she 
cast  off  her  moorings  she  sent  up  a  sig 
nal  rocket,  and  as  it  burst,  the  torch 
was  applied,  and  in  a  moment  the  whole 
yard  seemed  to  be  wrapped  in  a  com 
mon  flame.  Ships  and  ship-houses 
caught  simultaneously,  and  the  old  New 
York,  the  keel  of  which  had  been  laid 
forty-five  years  before,  and  was  still  on 
the  stocks,  burned,  with  its  huge  wooden 
cover,  like  tinder.  The  Pennsylvania, 
the  Merrimac,  the  Germantown,  the 
Plymouth,  the  Raritan,  the  Columbia, 
and  the  brig  Dolphin  caught  at  the  same 
time,  and  were  left  in  flames.  Some 
of  the  guns  were  loaded,  though  not 
charged  with  shot,  and  when  the  fire 
reached  them  they  exploded  and  added 
to  the  effect  of  this  scene  of  destruction. 
"  The  Pennsylvania  burned  like  a  vol 
cano  for  five  hours  and  a  half  before  her 
mainmast  fell.  I  stood  watching,"  says 
an  eye-witness,*  "the  proud  but  per 
ishing  old  leviathan,  as  this  sign  of  her 
manhood  was  about  to  come  down.  At 
precisely  half-past  nine  o'clock  by  my 
watch,  the  tall  tree  that  stood  in  her 
centre  tottered  and  fell,  and  crushed 
deep  into  her  burning  sides,  while  a 
stream  of  sparks  flooded  the  sky." 

Two  of  the  ships — the  Delaware  and 
Columbus — had  been  already  scuttled 
and  sunk  on  the  day  before  the  arrival 

o  New  York  Tws,  April  20. 


182 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE   SOUTH. 


of  the  Pawnee.  The  rest,  with  the  ex 
ception  of  the  old  hulk,  the  United 
States,  left  untouched,  had.  been  fired. 
The  only  vessel  thus  which  was  saved 
was  the  fine  man-of-war  Cumberland, 
which,  in  tow  of  the  Yankee  tug-boat, 
followed  the  Pawnee  down  the  river. 

No  sooner  had  the  Pawnee  steamed 
away,  than  the  people  of  Norfolk  and 
Portsmouth  broke  through  the  gates 
and  filled  the  navy-yard.  Soon  after,  a 
military  company  raised  the  flag  of  Vir 
ginia  and  took  formal  possession  of  the 
place  in  the  name  of  that  State.  The 
insurgents,  though  grieved  at  the  loss 
of  the  Cumberland,  which  they  had 
hoped  to  secure,  were  surprised  that 
the  destruction,  when  once  begun,  had 
not  been  more  thorough.  A  hopeful 
writer,  whose  sanguine  speculations  it 
is  curious  now  to  read,  gave,  at  the 
time  of  the  act,  this  reason  for  its  in 
completeness.  "  Long  before,"  he  says, 
"  the  workshops  and  armories,  the  foun 
dries,  and  ship-wood  left  unharmed,  can 
bring  forth  new  weapons  of  offence,  this 
war  will  be  ended.  And  may  be,  as  of 
yore,  the  stars  and  stripes  will  float  over 
Gosport  navy-yard.  All  that  is  now 
spared  will  then  be  so  much  gained!" 

A  Norfolk  editor  reported,  after  a  cur 
sory  visit,  that  "the  property  destroyed 
embraced,  besides  the  ship-houses  and 
contents,  the  range  of  buildings  on  the 
north  line  of  the  yard  (except  the  com 
modore's  and  commander's  residences, 
which  are  unhurt),  the  old  marine  bar 
racks  and  one  or  two  work-shops,  the 
immense  lifting  shears,  the  ships  Penn 
sylvania,  Merrimac,  Raritan,  Columbus, 


and  brig  Dolphin — burned  to  the  water's 
edge  ;  the  sloop  Germantown,  broker 
and  sunk  ;  the  Plymouth,  scuttled  and 
sunk  even  with  her  deck;  and  a  vast 
amount  of  small  arms,  chronometers,  and 
valuable  engines  and  machinery  in  the 
ordnance  and  other  shops,  broken  up 
and  rendered  utterly  useless." 

The  feeling  at  the  North,  on  the  de 
struction  of  this  valuable  public  prop 
erty,  was  one  of  national  humiliation, 
not  unmixed  with  anger  at  the  Govern 
ment  for  not  having  avoided  it  by  timely 
precaution.  Every  one  spoke  of  it  as  a 
great  loss  and  a  national  disgrace.  By 
proper  foresight,  steam-tugs  could  have 
been  provided,  it  was  believed,  to  tow 
every  vessel  away  from  the  navy-yard 
in  safety.  Even  when  by  delay  it  had 
become  too  late  to  make  such  means 
available,  it  was  thought  that  a  more 
resolute  commander  would  have  been 
able  to  keep  the  insurgents  at  Norfolk 
at  bay.  With  a  fleet  of  ships  heavily 
armed  at  his  command,  it  was  urged 
that  he  might  have  turned  his  guns 
upon  the  towns  of  Norfolk  and  Ports 
mouth,  and  have  successfully  repelled 
every  attack. 

The  insurgents,  on  the  very  day  of 
the  departure  of  the  Pawnee,  had  be 
gun  to  unspike  the  cannon  and  remove 
them  below  Norfolk  to  mount  the  sand 
batteries  which  they  had  raised  in  de 
fence  of  their  harbor  arid  in  defiance  of 
the  Federal  authorities. 

The  Cumberland  was  towed  from  the 
navy-yard  by  the  steam-tug  Yankee, 
which  followed  in  the  wake  of  the  Paw 
nee.  The  three  vessels  proceeded  down 


GREAT  MEETING  AT  NEW  YORK. 


188 


the  river  until  nine  o'clock  in  the  morn 
ing,  when  they  came  to  anchor  at  the 
point  where  the  channel  had  been  ob 
structed  with  sunken  vessels.  Boats 
were  sent  out  to  sound,  with  the  view 
of  discovering  another  passage.  This, 
however,  proving  without  avail,  the  fleet 
weighed  anchor  and  forced  its  way  di 
rectly  through  the  obstructions.  The 
Cumberland  got  entangled  with  one  of 


the  sunken  vessels  and  carried  it  along 
with  her,  and  for  a  time  there  seemed 
danger  of  her  drifting  on  the  shore, 
where  the  enemy  had  their  batteries. 
Another  steamer,  the  Keystone  State, 
however,  arriving  from  Washington, 
went  to  her  aid.  and,  in  conjunction 
with  the  tug  Yankee,  succeeded  in  free 
ing  her  from  the  wreck  and  towing  her 
safely  under  the  guns  of  Fort  Monroe. 


CHAPTER    XYI. 

Increased  War  Spirit  of  the  North. — Unity  of  Sentiment. — Great  Meetings. — Great  Meeting  at  New  York. — The  Patri 
otic  Enthusiasm  of  the  Citizens. — The  display  of  Union  Colors  and  Symbols. — The  immense  Gathering  at  Union 
Square. — A  dozen  "Monster  Meetings." — Officers  and  Orators. — The  supposed  effect  of  the  New  York  Demonstra 
tion  upon  the  Southern  Rebellion. — No  passing  Effervescence  of  Popular  Emotion. — Generous  Largesses  of  Men  and 
Money. — Rapid  Military  Organization.— March  to  the  Capital. — Dangers  of  Washington.— Precautions  for  its 
Safety. — Disaffection  of  Maryland. — An  anxious  Proclamation. — The  Agitation  of  Baltimore. — Continued  Anxiety 
about  Washington. — Rumored  Approach  of  Jefferson  Davis. — The  effect  at  the  North. — Military  Aspect  of  the 
Northern  Cities. — March  of  the  Sixth  Massachusetts  Regiment. — Triumphal  Ovations  on  its  route. — Arrival  in  Bal 
timore. — Anxieties  about  its  reception. — The  Mob  of  Baltimore. — The  Cars  Attacked. — Obstruction  of  the  Track. — 
The  March  of  the  Massachusetts  Men  through  the  Streets  of  Baltimore. — The  Attack  on  them  by  the  Mob. — The 
First  Shot. — The  Soldiers  return  the  Fire. — A  continued  Struggle. — The  tragic  Result. — The  Massachusetts  Men 
Fight  their  way  and  reach  Washington. — The  Philadelphia  Men  turned  back. — The  Killed  and  Wounded. — Indig 
nation  at  the  North. — A  pathetic  Dispatch  from  the  Governor  of  Massachusetts. — An  Official  Statement. — Deter 
mined  Hostility  of  Maryland. — The  impotent  Authorities  of  Maryland. — Vague  Response  of  the  Mayor  of  Baltimore 
to  the  Governor  of  Massachusetts. —A  decided  Rejoinder. — The  Governor  of  Maryland  perplexed. — A  Message  to 
the  President. — Commissioners  sent. — The  President's  Answer. — Continued  Alarm  of  the  Governor  of  Maryland. — 
A  strange  Proposition. — A  dignified  Rebuke  from  the  Secretary  of  State. 


1861. 


THE  war  spirit  which  had  been  aroused 
at  the  North  by  the  fall  of  Fort  Surnter 

continued  to  increase  in  intensity. 

Immense  meetings  were  held  in 
the  free  States,  at  which  leading  politi 
cians  of  all  parties  vied  in  their  ex 
pressions  of  devotion  to  the  Union,  and 
willingness  to  sustain  it  at  all  hazards 
to  life  and  property.  Stirring  resolu 
tions  were  passed  and  committees  ap 
pointed  to  collect  money  and  organize 


troops  for  the  defence  of  the  Union  and 
vindication  of  an  insulted  government. 

The  most  memorable  of  these  great 
gatherings  was  that  which  was  called 
by  "leading  citizens,  without  dis-  ^pri! 
tinction  of  party,"  and  assembled  20. 
around  Union  Square,  NTcw  York.  On 
the  day  appointed,  the  business  of  the 
city  was  by  common  consent  arrested. 
Commerce,  trade,  and  wealth  all  de 
serted  their  usual  resorts,  and  sought  to 


184 


THE   WAR  WITH  THE   SOUTH. 


join  in  the  demonstration  of  patriotism. 
Immense  numbers  of  people  gathered 
from  all  parts  of  the  town  and  flowed  in 
continuous  streams  from  early  morning 
until  evening,  through  the  main  streets, 
toward  the  square.  The  buildings  every 
where  were  decorated  with  flags  ;  the 
"stars  and  stripes"  floated  from  church 
steeples,  and  canopied  the  thorough 
fares.  The  national  colors  bloomed 
freshly  upon  patriotic  coats  and  gowns, 
and  the  whole  population  was  alive  with 
the  excitement  of  the  occasion. 

It  was  estimated  that  a  hundred  thou 
sand  people  or  more  were  gathered 
within  and  about  Union  Square.  The 
throng  was  so  immense,  that,  expanding 
beyond  the  limits  of  a  single  "  monster 
meeting,"  it  supplied  material  for  a 
score.  Separate  "  stands"  were  raised, 
and  a  dozen  orators  at  the  same  mo 
ment  found  a  crowd  of  earnest  listeners 
to  their  fervid  and  patriotic  rhetoric. 
Presided  over  by  imposing  dignitaries, 
aided  by  a  long  list  of  notable  citizens 
as  vice-presidents  and  secretaries,  opened 
with  prayer  by  civic  divines  of  popular 
repute,  and  addressed  by  eloquent  speak 
ers,  these  meetings  were  conducted  with 
unusual  eclat.  It  was  proclaimed  in  the 
gigantic  capitals  of  the  next  morning's 
papers  as  "the  greatest  demonstration 
%e  world  ever  saw." 

It  was  sanguinely  believed  by  many 
that  this  emphatic  expression  of  attach 
ment  to  the  Union,  and  resolution  to  up 
hold  it,  would  alone  suppress  the  South 
ern  rebellion,  the  leaders  of  which  were 
thought  to  have  hitherto  presumed  upon 
a  supposed  sympathy  with  their  cause 


of  many  people  at  the  North.  Nor  was 
this  great  demonstration  a  mere  passing 
effervescence  of  popular  emotion.  The 
people  throughout  the  North  soon  gave 
a  vigorous  proof  of  the  earnestness  of 
their  devotion  to  the  Union  by  their 
generous  largesses  of  money,  so  that, 
in  two  short  weeks,  about  forty  millions 
of  dollars — more  than  two  millions  of 
which  were  given  by  the  city  of  New 
York — were  voluntarily  contributed  to 
ward  suppressing  the  rebellion ;  and  those 
who  offered  their  services  to  take  up  arms 
in  behalf  of  the  Union  exceeded  by  sev 
eral  hundred  thousand  the  whole  num 
ber  called  for  from  both  free  and  slave 
States  by  the  President  in  his  procla 
mation.  The  legislatures  of  the  States 
passed  war-bills,  and  voted  large  appro 
priations  of  money.  In  Boston,  the 
banks  agreed  to  lend  ten  per  cent,  of 
their  whole  capital  to  the  State  of  Mas 
sachusetts  to  aid  in  the  support  of  the 
Government.  In  other  Northern  cities, 
the  municipal  corporations  voted  large 
sums,  and  capitalists  vied  with  each 
other  in  their  generous  offers  of  financial 
service. 

Many  of  the  regularly  organized  mili 
tia  corps  were  at  once  ready  to  take  the 
field,  and  march  without  delay  to  Wash 
ington,  the  capital,  which  was  supposed 
to  be  in  danger  from  the  insurgents  of 
Virginia  and  the  disaffected  'of  Mary 
land.  The  Virginians  had  already 
erected  batteries  on  the  Potomac,  mus 
tered  large  forces,  and  it  was  rumored 
that  Ben  McCulloch,  the  noted  Texan 
ranger  at  their  head,  who  had  been 
lately  seen  in  Washington,  was,  in  con- 


DISAFFECTION   OF   MARYLAND. 


185 


junction  with  confederates  in  that  city 
and  Maryland,  preparing  to  seize  upon 
the  capital.  The  Federal  Government 
itself  showed  great  anxiety  about  its 
safety.  Those  of  the  militia  of  the  Dis 
trict  of  Columbia  whose  loyalty  could  be 
trusted  had  been  hurriedly  mustered, 
and,  together  with  the  small  regular 
force  at  that  time  in  Washington,  placed 
on  guard.  Soldiers  were  stationed  at 
the  Capitol  and  all  the  public  buildings. 
Batteries  of  guns  were  posted  at  the 
"  Long  Bridge,"  which  crosses  the  Poto 
mac,  and  connects  the  city  of  Washing 
ton  with  the  opposite  shore  of  Virginia. 
All  the  avenues  and  railroads  leading  to 
the  capital  were  guarded  by  detach 
ments  of  the  small  force  of  militia  and 
regulars  at  command. 

Maryland  was  known  to  be  greatly 
disaffected,  although  it  had  hitherto  been 
restrained  from  any  violent  exhibition 
of  its  rebellious  tendencies  by  the  influ 
ence  of  its  governor  and  a  large  num 
ber,  like  him,  who  were  attached  to  the 
Union.  The  proclamation  of  Governor 
Hicks,  after  the  fall  of  Sumter,  and  the 
call  by  the  President  for  the  militia  of 
the  various  States,  indicated  the  antag 
onism  of  opinion  and  the  dangerous 
April  effervescence  of  feeling  which  ex- 
1&  isted  in  Maryland.  He  proclaimed : 
"To  THE  PEOPLE  OF  MARYLAND. 

"  The  unfortunate  state  of  affairs  now 
existing  in  the  country  has  greatly  ex 
cited  the  people  of  Maryland. 

"  In  consequence  of  our  peculiar  po 
sition,  it  is  not  to  be  expected  that  the 
people  of  the  State  can  unanimously 
agree  upon  the  best  mode  of  preserving 

24 


the  honor  and  integrity  of  the  State,  and 
of  maintaining  within  her  limits  that 
peace  so  earnestly  desired  by  all  good 
citizens. 

'  The  emergency  is  great.  The  con 
sequences  of  a  rash  step  will  be  fearful. 
It  is  the  imperative  duty  of  every  true 
son  of  Maryland  to  do  all  that  can  tend 
to  arrest  the  threatened  evil.  I  there 
fore  counsel  the  people,  in  all  earnest 
ness,  to  withhold  their  hands  from  what 
ever  may  tend  to  precipitate  us  into  the 
gulf  of  discord  and  ruin  gaping  to  re 
ceive  us. 

"  I  counsel  the  people  to  abstain  from 
all  heated  controversy  upon  the  subject ; 
to  avoid  all  things  that  tend  to  crimina 
tion  and  recrimination,  in  order  that  the 
origin  of  our  evil  day  may  be  forgotten 
now  by  every  patriot,  in  the  earnest  de 
sire  to  avert  from  us  its  fruit. 

"All  powers  vested  in  the  Governor 
of  the  State  will  be  strenuously  ex 
erted  to  preserve  the  peace  and  main 
tain  inviolate  the  honor  and  integrity  of 
Maryland. 

"I  call  upon  the  people  to  obey  the 
laws,  and  to  aid  the  constituted  author 
ities  in  their  endeavors  to  preserve  the 
fair  fame  of  our  State  untarnished. 

"  I  assure  the  people  that  no  troops 
will  be  sent  from  Maryland,  unless  it 
may  be  for  the  defence  of  the  national 
capital. 

"It  is  my  intention  in  the  future,  as 
it  has  been  my  endeavor  in  the  past,  to 
preserve  the  people  of  Maryland  from 
civil  war  ;  and  I  invoke  the  assistance 
of  every  true  and  loyal  citizen  to  aid  me 
in  this  emergency. 


186 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


"  The  people  of  this  State  will,  in  a 
short  time,  have  the  opportunity  af 
forded  them,  in  a  special  election  of 
members  of  Congress  of  the  United 
States,  to  express  their  devotion  to  the 
Union,  or  their  desire  to  have  it  broken 
up.  T,  H.  HICKS. 

"  BALTIMORE,  April  18,  1861." 

Baltimore  especially,  never  renowned 
for  its  respect  for  public  order,  was 
suspected  of  a  disposition  to  combine 
with  the  insurgents  of  Virginia,  in  a 
violent  disruption  of  the  Union. 

The  Virginians  openly  in  arms,  were 
thus  threatening  the  capital  of  the 
United  States  on  one  side  ;  the  disaf 
fected  of  Maryland  on  the  other,  were 
scarcely  restrained  from  violence,  while 
secret  conspirators,  and  a  suspected  pop 
ulation  in  Washington  itself,  aroused  the 
fears  of  the  whole  Northern  people  for 
its  safety  and  quickened  them  to  effort 
in  its  defence.  An  additional  stimulus 
came  in  the  rumor  that  Jefferson  Davis, 
the  President  of  the  Confederate  States, 
was  hurrying  to  the  North,  at  the  head 
of  a  considerable  force  which  was  rap 
idly  increasing  on  the  way.  The  militia 
from  the  nearest  points  pushed  forward 
at  once,  and  the  volunteers  of  all  the 
Northern  States  organized  with  great 
rapidity.  The  large  cities  assumed  a 
warlike  air.  Men  in  uniform  filled  the 
streets  ;  the  public  parks  were  turned 
into  parade  grounds  ;  public  buildings 
were  appropriated  and  rude  structures 
of  wood  raised  for  barracks  ;  and  troops 
were  constantly  marching  in  and  out  on 
their  way  to  Washington. 

The  Sixth  Regiment  of  Massachusetts 


militia  was  the  first  to  march,  and 
passed  through  a  succession  of  !?• 
triumphal  ovations  from  town  to  town, 
greeted  on  their  arrival  with  the  cheers 
of  immense  multitudes  of  enthusiastic 
people,  and  urged  forward  on  their 
patriotic  mission  with  inspiriting  shouts 
of  encouragement.  After  having  thus 
triumphantly  passed  through  New  York 
and  Philadelphia,  this  noble  regiment 
arrived  in  Baltimore,  where  a  different 
reception  awaited  it.  It  was  half-  April 
past  ten  o'clock  in  the  morning  19* 
when  the  Massachusetts  men  reached 
the  city.  Here  horses  were  attached 
to  the  cars  to  convey  them  from  one 
end  to  the  other  of  the  city  to  reach 
the  depot  of  the  Baltimore  and  Wash 
ington  Railroad.  The  regiment  filled 
eleven  cars.  Meeting  with  no  opposition 
on  their  arrival,  or  indication  even  of  an 
unfriendly  spirit,  the  regiment  started 
in  the  most  cheerful  mood.  Fears,  it  is 
true,  had  been  expressed  by  some  anx 
ious  inhabitants  of  the  danger  of  an  at 
tack,  but  these  were  now  deemed  only 
the  alarms  of  the  timid.  The  cars,  how 
ever,  had  only  proceeded  the  length  of 
two  blocks,  or  squares  of  houses,  when 
it  became  clear  that  the  anxiety  of  the 
Baltimoreans  was  not  unfounded.  A 
great  mass  of  excited  people  so  ob 
structed  the  streets  that  the  horses  could 
hardly  push  through  it.  This  mob  at 
the  same  time  began  with  hootings, 
yells,  and  threatening  cries,  to  try  to 
provoke  the  Massachusetts  men.  The 
soldiers,  however,  neither  showed  them 
selves  nor  responded  to  the  insults  they 
were  receiving.  Stones,  brickbats,  and 


BALTIMORE   MOB. 


187 


bits  of  pavement  torn  from  the  side 
walks  were  now  thrown  by  the  infuria 
ted  mob  against  the  cars,  smashing  the 
windows  and  bruising  some  of  the 
troops.  In  spite,  however,  of  this  at 
tack,  nine  of  the  cars  moved  steadily 
on,  and  deposited  their  inmates  in  safety 
at  the  depot.  Two  cars,  with  the  rest 
of  the  Massachusetts  men,  were  yet  be 
hind. 

In  the  mean  time,  the  Baltimore  mob 
had  succeeded  in  obstructing  the  track 
by  means  of  large  and  heavy  iron 
anchors,  lying  near  by,  which  they 
dragged  into  the  street  and  placed 
across  the  rails.  The  mob  having  ac 
complished  this  work,  began  to  exult 
with  loud  shouts  for  "  the  South,"  "  Jef 
ferson  Davis,"  "  South  Carolina,"  and 
"  secession,"  to  give  vent  to  their  hatred 
of  the  North  by  groans  for  "Lincoln" 
and  "  Massachusetts,"  and  to  attack  the 
soldiers,  from  some  of  whom  they  suc 
ceeded  in  snatching  the  muskets. 

It  was  now  determined  to  abandon 
the  cars,  and  march  through  the  streets 
to  the  depot.  The  one  hundred  men, 
accordingly,  who  were  all  that  were  left 
behind  of  the  regiment,  alighted,  and 
forming,  prepared  to  push  forward. 
Just  as  they  began  to  move  they  were 
met  by  a  large  throng  crowding  down 
the  street,  with  a  secession  flag  borne 
at  their  head.  As  they  a  pproached  they 
saluted  the  little  band  of  Massachusetts 
men  with  a  volley  of  stones,  and  cried  out 
to  them  that  they  could  not  proceed 
through  the  city,  and  that  if  they  at 
tempted  it,  "  not  a  white  nigger  of  them 
would  be  left  alive." 


Nothing  daunted,  the  soldiers  con 
tinued  their  march,  when  the  missiles 
from  the  mob  began  to  fly  thick  and 
fast.  The  crowd  increased  at  every 
step  and  became  more  violent  each 
moment,  hurling  paving  stones  and 
brickbats  at  the  soldiers  continually. 
Two  of  them  had  been  struck  and 
knocked  down  by  stones,  when  there 
came  a  shot  from  either  pistol  or  gun. 
The  captain  in  command  of  the  Massa 
chusetts  men  now  ordered  them  to 
prime  their  guns,  which  had  been  hith 
erto  loaded  though  not  capped,  and  to 
protect  themselves.  The  soldiers  ac 
cordingly  fired  into  the  people,  who, 
with  renewed  fury,  returned  the  shot 
by  an  increased  volley  of  missiles  and 
the  discharge  of  revolvers.  The  Mayor 
of  Baltimore  at  last  came  forward,  and 
occasionally  putting  himself  at  the  head 
of  the  troops,  made  a  show  of  protec 
tion,  which  proved,  however,  of  little 
effect.  The  Massachusetts  men  were 
forced  to  fight  their  way  through  the 
streets  to  the  depot,  a  mile  distant. 
The  route  was  a  continued  scene  of 
struggle  between  the  mob  and  the  sol 
diers — the  one  hurling  missiles  of  all 
kinds,  and  occasionally  discharging  re 
volvers  and  guns,  and  the  other  return 
ing  the  attack  with  a  regular  musket 
fire  from  their  ranks.  Many,  both  sol 
diers  and  citizens,  fell  dead  by  the  way 
side,  some  of  whom  were  borne  away 
by  their  comrades,  while  others  were 
carried  into  the  nearest  apothecary 
shops.  Reaching  the  depot,  the  little 
band  of  soldiers,  who  had  thus  cut  their 
way  through  the  infuriated  mob,  onoe 


188 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


more  joined  their  fellows  who  awaited 
them,  and  the  whole  regiment  prepared 
to  start  for  Washington.  The  mob,  how 
ever,  had  followed,,  and  still  beset  them. 

"The  scene  while  the  troops  were 
changing  cars,"  wrote  an  eye-witness, 
"  was  indescribably  fearful.  Taunts, 
clothed  in  the  most  fearful  language, 
were  hurled  at  them  by  the  panting 
crowd,  who,  almost  breathless  with  run 
ning,  passed  up  to  the  car  windows,  pre 
senting  knives  and  revolvers,  and  cursed 
up  into  the  faces  of  the  soldiers.  The 
police  were  thrown  in  between  the  cars, 
and  forming  a  barrier,  the  troops 
changed  cars,  many  of  them  cocking 
their  muskets  as  they  stepped  on  the 
platform. 

' '  After  embarking,  the  assemblage  ex 
pected  to  see  the  train  move  off,  but  its 
departure  was  evidently  delayed  in  the 
vain  hope  that  the  crowd  would  dis 
perse  ;  but  no,  it  swelled ;  and  the 
troops  expressed  to  the  officers  of  the 
road  their  determination  to  go  at  once, 
or  they  would  leave  the  cars  and  make 
their  way  to  Washington. 

"While  the  delay  was  increasing  the 
excitement,  a  wild  cry  was  raised  on  the 
platform,  and  a  dense  crowd  ran  down 
the  platform,  and  along  the  railroad 
toward  the  Spring  Gardens,  until  the 
track  for  a  mile  was  black  with  an  ex 
cited,  rushing  mass.  The  crowd,  as  it 
went,  placed  obstructions  of  every  de 
scription  on  the  track.  Great  logs  and 
telegraph  poles,  requiring  a  dozen  or 
more  men  to  move  them,  were  laid  across 
the  rails,  and  stones  rolled  from  the 
embankment. 


"  A  body  of  police  followed  after  the 
crowd,  both  in  a  full  run,  and  removed 
the  obstructions  as  fast  as  they  were 
placed  on  the  track.  Various  attempts 
were  made  to  tear  up  the  track  with 
logs  of  wood  and  pieces  of  timber,  and 
there  was  a  great  outcry  for  pickaxes 
and  handspikes,  but  only  one  or  two 
could  be  found.  The  police  interfered 
on  every  occasion,  but  the  crowd  grow 
ing  larger  and  more  excited,  would  dash 
off  at  a  break-neck  run  for  another 
position  farther  on,  until  the  county  line 
was  reached.  The  police  followed,  run 
ning,  until  forced  to  stop  from  fatigue. 
At  this  point  many  of  the  throng  gave 
it  up  from  exhaustion  ;  but  a  crowd, 
longer-winded,  dashed  on  for  nearly  a 
mile  farther,  now  and  then  pausing  to 
attempt  to  force  the  rails,  or  place  some 
obstruction  upon  them.  They  could  be 
distinctly  seen  for  a  mile  along  the  track, 
where  it  makes  a  bend  at  the  Washington 
road  bridge.  When  the  train  went  out, 
the  mass  of  people  had  almost  returned 
to  the  depot." 

In  the  same  railroad  train  by  which 
the  Massachusetts  regiment  had  come 
from  Philadelphia,  there  were  some 
Pennsylvania  troops.  These  formed  one 
half  of  the  Washington  Brigade,  and  con 
sisted  of  six  companies  of  the  First  Reg 
iment,  under  the  command  of  Lieuten 
ant-Colonel  Berry,  and  four  companies 
of  the  Second  Regiment,  under  Lieu 
tenant-Colonel  Schoenleber  and  Major 
Gullman.  Being,  however,  unarmed, 
they  did  not  venture  an  attempt  to  force 
their  way,  and  remained  in  the  cars  at 
the  depot  where  they  had  at  first  arrived. 


AGITATION   IN   MARYLAND. 


191 


Union,  seemed  so  overwhelmed  by  the 
responsibilities  of  his  position,  or  so 
awed  by  the  manifestations  of  disaffec 
tion  in  his  State,  as  to  be  incapable  of 
action.  In  conjunction  with  the  Mayor 
of  Baltimore,  he  sent  a  telegraphic  dis 
patch  to  the  President  of  the  United 
States,  which  clearly  revealed  his  agita 
ted  condition  : 

"  MAYOR'S  OFFICE,  BALTIMORE,  i 
April  19,  1861. 

"To  His  EXCELLENCY  THE  PRESIDENT  OF  THE 
UNITED  STATES  : 

"  SIR  :  A  collision  between  the  citizens 
and  the  Northern  troops  has  taken  place 
in  Baltimore,  and  the  excitement  is 
fearful.  Send  no  more  troops  here. 
We  will  endeavor  to  prevent  all  blood 
shed. 

"A  public  meeting  of  citizens  has 
been  called,  and  the  troops  of  the  State 
and  the  city  have  been  ordered  out  to 
preserve  the  peace.  They  will  be 
enough.  Respectfully, 

"  THOS.  H.  HICKS,  Governor. 
"  GEO.  WM.  BROWN,  Mayor." 

This  was  immediately  followed  by  the 
sending  of  three  commissioners  to  ex 
plain,  personally,  to  the  President  of 
the  United  States,  the  trepidation  of  the 
authorities  caused  by  the  riot  at  Balti 
more,  and  the  continued  threats  of  the 
disaffected.  These  gentlemen  were  pro 
vided  with  the  following  manifesto  : 

"MAYOR'S  OFFICE,  BALTIMORE,  ) 
April  19,  1861.  ) 

"To  His  EXCELLENCY  THE  PRESIDENT  OF  THE 

UNITED  STATES  : 

"  Sra  :  This  will  be  presented  to  you 
by  the  Hon.  H.  Lenox  Bond,  Geo.  W. 


Dobbin,  and  John  C.  Brune,  Esqrs.,  who 
will  proceed  to  Washington  by  an  ex 
press  train,  at  my  request,  in  order  to 
explain  fully  the  fearful  condition  of  our 
affairs  in  this  city.  The  people  are  ex 
asperated  to  the  highest  degree  by  the 
passage  of  troops,  and  the  citizens  are 
universally  decided  in  the  opinion  that 
no  more  troops  should  be  ordered  to 
come. 

"  The  authorities  of  the  city  did  their 
best  to-day  to  protect  both  strangers 
and  citizens,  and  to  prevent  a  collision, 
but  in  vain ;  and  but  for  their  great 
efforts  a  fearful  slaughter  would  have 
occurred. 

"Under  these  circumstances,  it  is  my 
solemn  duty  to  inform  you  that  it  is  not 
possible  for  more  soldiers  to  pass  through 
Baltimore,  unless  they  fight  their  way 
at  every  step. 

' '  I  therefore  hope  and  trust,  and  most 
earnestly  request,  that  no  more  troops 
be  permitted  or  ordered  by  the  Govern 
ment  to  pass  through  the  city.  If  they 
should  attempt  it,  the  responsibility  for 
the  bloodshed  will  not  rest  upon  me. 

"  With  great  respect,  your  obedient 
servant, 

"  GEO.  WM.  BROWN,  Mayor. 

"  I  have  been  in  Baltimore  since 
Tuesday  evening,  and  co-operated  with 
Mayor  Brown  in  his  untiring  efforts  to 
allay  and  prevent  the  excitement  and 
suppress  the  fearful  outbreak  as  indicated 
above,  and  I  fully  concur  in  all  that  is 
said  by  him  in  the  above  communication. 

"  Very  respectfully  your  obedient 
servant,  THOS.  H.  HICKS, 

"  Governor  of  Maryland." 


192 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


President  Lincoln's  answer  was  tend 
erly  considerate  of  the  nervous  agitation 
of  the  Maryland  officials,  and  indicated 
as  well  by  its  complacent  concessions 
how  at  that  early  period  the  Govern 
ment  was  embarrassed  by  the  manoeuvres 
of  its  enemies. 

"WASHINGTON,  April  20,  1861. 
"  GOVERNOR  HICKS  AND  MAYOR  BROWN  : 

"  GENTLEMEN  :  Your  letter,  by  Messrs. 
Bond,  Dobbin,  and  Brune,  is  received. 
I  tender  you  both  my  sincere  thanks  for 
your  efforts  to  keep  the  peace  in  the 
trying  situation  in  which  you  are  placed. 
For  the  future,  troops  must  be  brought 
here,  but  I  make  no  point  of  bringing 
them  through  Baltimore. 

"  Without  any  military  knowledge 
myself,  of  course  I  must  leave  details  to 
General  Scott.  He  hastily  said  this 
morning,  in  the  presence  of  these  gen 
tlemen,  '  March  them  around  Baltimore, 
and  not  through  it.' 

"  I  sincerely  hope  the  General,  on 
fuller  reflection,  will  consider  this  prac 
ticable  and  proper,  and  that  you  will 
not  object  to  it. 

"  By  this  a  collision  of  the  people  of 
Baltimore  with  the  troops  will  be 
avoided,  unless  they  go  out  of  their 
way  to  seek  it.  I  hope  you  will  exert 
your  influence  to  prevent  this. 

11  Now  and  ever  I  shall  do  all  in  my 
power  for  peace,  consistently  with  the 
maintenance  of  the  Government. 
"Your  obedient  servant, 

"  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN." 

The  Governor's  agitation  was  not 
calmed,  however,  by  the  good-natured 
sympathy  of  President  Lincoln  and  his 


readiness  of  concession.  On  the  con 
trary,  each  day  the  disaffected  people  of 
Maryland  became  more  threatening  and 
their  Governor  more  alarmed.  He  now 
begged  that  no  more  troops  should  be 
sent  not  only  through  Baltimore,  but 
through  Maryland,  while  he  proposed, 
with  a  strange  disregard  of  the  dignity 
of  the  Government  to  which  he  claimed 
to  be  loyal,  that  the  English  ambassador 
at  Washington  should  be  invited  to 
mediate  between  the  United  States  and 
its  rebellious  citizens ! 

"  EXECUTIVE  CHAMBER,  ANNAPOLIS,  ) 
April  22,  1861.  J 

"  To  His  EXCELLENCY  A.  LINCOLN,  PRESIDENI 
OF  THE  UNITED  STATES  : 

SIR  :  I  feel  it  my  duty,  most  respect 
fully,  to  advise  you  that  no  more  troops 
be  ordered  or  allowed  to  pass  through 
Maryland,  and  that  the  troops  now  off 
Annapolis  be  sent  elsewhere,  and  I  most 
respectfully  urge  that  a  truce  be  offered 
by  you,  so  that  the  effusion  of  blood 
may  be  prevented.  I  respectfully  sug 
gest  that  Lord  Lyons  be  requested  to 
act  as  mediator  between  the  contending 
parties  of  our  country. 

"I  have  the  honor  to  be,  very  re 
spectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

"Tnos.  H.  HICKS." 

The  President,  on  receiving  this  re 
markable  missive,  no  longer  trusted  to 
his  own  amiable  and  informal  mode  of 
dealing  with  his  adversaries,  but  sub 
mitted  the  Governor's  dispatch  to  the 
secretary  of  state,  to  be  dealt  with  ac 
cording  to  that  distinguished  statesman's 
more  official  and  dignified  manner  : 


A  DIGNIFIED  REBUKE  FROM  SECRETARY  SEWARD. 


193 


"DEPARTMENT  OF  STATE,  ) 
April  22,  1861.          J 

"  His  EXCELLENCY  Tnos.  H.  HICKS,  GOVERNOR 
OF  MARYLAND  : 

"  SIR  :  I  have  had  the  honor  to  re 
ceive  your  communication  of  this  morn 
ing,  in  which  you  inform  me  that  you 
have  felt  it  to  be  your  duty  to  advise 
the  President  of  the  United  States  to 
order  elsewhere  the  troops  then  off  An 
napolis,  and  also  that  no  more  may  be 
sent  through  Maryland  ;  and  that  you 
have  further  suggested  that  Lord  Lyons 
be  requested  to  act  as  mediator  between 
the  contending  parties  in  our  country, 
to  prevent  the  effusion  of  blood. 

"  The  President  directs  me  to  ac 
knowledge  the  receipt  of  that  communi 
cation,  and  to  assure  you  that  he  has 
weighed  the  counsels  which  it  contains 
with  the  respect  which  he  habitually 
cherishes  for  the  Chief  Magistrates  of 
the  several  States,  and  especially  for 
yourself.  He  regrets,  as  deeply  as  any 
magistrate  or  citizen  of  the  country  can, 
that  demonstrations  against  the  safety 
of  the  United  States,  with  very  exten 
sive  preparations  for  the  effusion  of 
blood,  have  made  it  his  duty  to  call  out 
the  force  to  which  you  allude. 

"  The  force  now  sought  to  be  brought 
through  Maryland  is  intended  for  noth 
ing  but  the  defence  of  this  capital.  The 
President  has  necessarily  confided  the 
choice  of  the  national  highway,  which 
that  force  shall  take  in  coming  to  this 
city,  to  the  Lieutenant-General  com 
manding  the  army  of  the  United  States, 
who,  like  his  only  predecessor,  is  not 
less  distinguished  for  his  humanity  than 

25 


for  his  loyalty,  patriotism,  and  distin 
guished  public  service. 

"The  President  instructs  me  to  add, 
that  the  national  highway  thus  selected 
by  the  Lieutenant-General  has  been 
chosen  by  him,  upon  consultation  with 
prominent  magistrates  and  citizens  of 
Maryland,  as  the  one  which,  while  a 
route  is  absolutely  necessary,  is  furthest 
removed  from  the  populous  cities  of  the 
State,  and  with  the  expectation  that  it 
would,  therefore,  be  the  least  objection 
able  one. 

"  The  President  cannot  but  remember 
that  there  has  been  a  time  in  the  his 
tory  of  our  country  when  a  General  of 
the  American  Union,  with  forces  de 
signed  for  the  defence  of  its  capital,  was 
not  unwelcome  anywhere  in  the  State 
of  Maryland,  and  certainly  not  at  An 
napolis,  then,  as  now,  the  capital  of 
that  patriotic  State,  and  then,  also,  one 
of  the  capitals  of  the  Union. 

"  If  eighty  years  could  have  oblit 
erated  all  the  other  noble  sentiments  of 
that  age  in  Maryland,  the  President 
would  be  hopeful,  nevertheless,  that 
there  is  one  that  would  forever  remain 
there  and  everywhere.  That  sentiment 
is,  that  no  domestic  contention  whatever 
that  may  arise  among  the  parties  of  this 
Republic  ought  in  any  case  to  be  re 
ferred  to  any  foreign  arbitrament,  least 
of  all  to  the  arbitrament  of  a  European 
monarchy. 

"I  have  the  honor  to  be,  with  distin 
guished  consideration,  your  Excellency's 
most  obedient  servant, 

"WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD." 


194 


THE  WAR   WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


CHAPTER    XYII. 

Indignation  against  Maryland  in  the  North. — To  Washington  through  Baltimore. — An  energetic  Citizen  of  New  York 
addresses  the  President. — An  Editorial  Re-echo.— Increased  Martial  Ardor. — The  Seventh  Regiment. — Its  composi 
tion. — Anticipatory  Heroes. — Their  Departure  from  New  York. — Enthusiasm  of  the  People. — March  of  the  Sev 
enth.— Its  Glorification. — An  Account  hy  an  Historiographer  from  the  Eanks. — The  Eighth  Massachusetts. — 
Obstructions  to  their  March  to  the  Capital. — General  Butler  in  command. — His  Promptitude  and  Energy. — Seizure 
of  the  Ferry-boat  Maryland.— Arrival  at  Annapolis. — Rescue  of  "Old  Ironsides." — The  difficulty  of  the  Achieve 
ment. — Honor  to  Butler. — His  Biography. — Birth  and  Descent. — Education. — Professional  Career. — Prominence  as 
a  Lawyer. — His  Legal  Characteristics. — First  Appearance  in  Public  Life. — A  Delegate  to  the  Democratic  Convention 
at  Charleston. — A  Breckenridge  Elector. — A  Candidate  for  Governor  of  Massachusetts. — Suspiciously  regarded. — 
A  proof  of  Loyalty. — Welcomed  as  a  Defender  of  the  Union.— Appointed  to  Command  by  his  Political  Opponent. — 
His  Energy  and  Success. — National  Gratitude. — Personal  Description  and  Character  of  Butler. — His  Coolness  in 
Danger  illustrated. — Other  proofs  hi  the  course  of  this  History. 


1861, 


THE  attack  of  the  mob  of  Baltimore 
upon  the  Massachusetts  troops,  and  the 
apparent  determination  of  the  se 
cessionists  of  Maryland,  by  ob 
structing  the  railroads,  tearing  up  the 
tracks,  and  burning  the  bridges,  to  cut 
off  all  communication  through  their 
State  between  Washington  and  the 
North,  greatly  angered  the  Northern 
people.  The  universal  cry  was  now, 
"  To  Washington  through  Baltimore  !" 
and  the  determination  was  expressed 
that  the  way  must  be  cleared  at  all  haz 
ards.  An  energetic  citizen*  of  New 
York  addressed  the  President  in  an 
emphatic  letter,  in  which  he  said  :  "It 
is  demanded  of  Government  that  they 
at  once  take  measures  to  open  and 
establish  those  lines  of  communication, 
and  that  they  protect  and  preserve 
them  from  any  further  interruption. 
Unless  this  is  done,  the  people  will  be 
compelled  to  take  it  into  their  own 
hands,  let  the  consequences  be  what  it 

0  Mr.  George  Law. 


may  and  let  them  fall  where  they  will." 
The  press  echoed  these  resolute  senti 
ments  of  a  private  citizen  with  emphatic 
sympathy,  and  declared  :  "If  any  man 
of  position  as  a  military  leader  or  as  a 
strong,  resolute  commander,  would  offer 
to  lead  a  force  through  Baltimore,  with 
or  without  orders,  he  could  have  fifty 
thousand  followers  as  soon  as  they  could 
rush  to  his  standard."  To  this,  an  ed 
itor  added,  alluding  to  the  energetic 
private  citizen  already  referred  to,  that 
he  "  could  raise  in  three  days  volunteers 
enough  to  clear  the  track,  even  if  it 
should  leave  Baltimore  an  ash-heap." 
The  doom  of  that  city  was  foreshadowed 
as  a  second  Sodom  which  must  be  de 
stroyed,  "if  it  is  necessary  first  to  de 
stroy  the  Government  at  Washington 
that  now  defends  it." 

In  the  mean  time,  the  martial  ardor 
of  the  country  was  daily  intensifying. 
The  choice  military  corps  of  the  large 
cities  hurried  forward  to  the  endan 
gered  capital.  The  Seventh  Militia  Reg- 


THE  NEW  YORK  SEVENTH. 


195 


iment  of  the  city  was  the  first  to  move 
of  the  large  force  rapidly  mustering 
everywhere  in  New  York.  This  corps, 
composed  of  young  men  belonging  more 
or  less  to  the  wealthier  classes,  and  long 
admired  for  the  precision  of  their  drill 
and  the  elegance  of  their  tenue,  was  the 
pet  regiment  of  the  city.  When,  there 
fore,  it  was  announced  that  these  youth 
ful  soldiers,  who  had  been  hitherto  the 
mere  ornaments  of  a  gala  parade,  had 
determined  to  come  forward  to  assume 
the  serious  work  of  fighting  for  their 
country,  the  population  of  the  city  ap 
plauded  their  spirited  resolution,  and, 
confident  of  their  good  conduct,  antici 
pated  its  rewards  by  bestowing  upon 
them  the  honors  of  an  accomplished 
April  heroism.  On  the  day  of  their  de- 
19  •  parture  for  Washington  the  city 
was  unusually  excited.  "Never  be 
fore,"  said  a  daily  paper,  "were  the 
people  moved  to  such  a  pitch  of  enthu 
siastic  patriotism.  There  have  been 
gala  days,  and  funeral  pageants,  and 
military  shows,  and  complimentary  re 
ceptions,  and  triumphal  processions  that 
filled  the  streets  with  crowds  of  curi 
ous,  wondering,  sympathetic  people,  but 
never  has  there  been  developed  such  a 
universal,  heartfelt,  deep-rooted,  genu 
ine  enthusiasm.  The  American  colors 
were  prominent  everywhere — on  house 
tops,  on  flagstaffs,  on  horses  attached  to 
all  kinds  of  vehicles,  on  ropes  stretched 
across  the  streets,  on  the  masts  of  ship 
ping  in  the  harbor,  on  breastpins,  on  the 
lappets  of  coats,  on  the  fronts  of  men's 
hats  ;  on  all  sides  the  glorious  old  red, 
white,  and  blue  waved  in  the  joyous 


breeze  and  every  eye  was  dazzled  with 
bright  colors.  The  awful  solemnity  of 
civil  war  came  pressing  home  to  our 
people  who  had  sons,  and  brothers,  and 
fathers  just  departing,  perhaps  never  to 
return.  The  news  of  the  difficulties  in 
Baltimore,  the  struggle  of  the  troops 
with  the  rabble,  the  reported  death  of 
many,  the  rumors  of  an  attack  on  the 
capital,  the  tearing  up  of  railroad 
tracks,  and  all  the  attendant  horrors  of 
internecine  warfare,  struck  terror  into 
many  a  stout  heart,  while  the  tears  of 
kind-hearted  women  flowed  copiously  as 
a  rain-storm." 

"  It  was  many  Fourths- of- July  rolled 
into  one,"  was  the  comprehensive  cli 
max  arrived  at  by  a  writer*  who  had  in 
vain  attempted  an  adequate  description 
of  the  scene. 

The  story  of  the  journey  of  the 
Seventh  to  Philadelphia  ;  its  prudent 
dodging  of  the  rioters  at  Baltimore,  by 
passing  down  the  Delaware  and  up  the 
Chesapeake  ;  its  arrival  and  encamp 
ment  at  Annapolis,  and  its  famous  march 
to  Washington  were  told  again  and  again 
in  daily  newspapers,  in  pictorial  week 
lies,  and  in  grave  monthlies. 

The  regiment  did  not  want  for  his 
toriographers,  as  in  its  gallant  ranks 
there  were  those  who  were  not  unknown 
to  fame  for  their  skill  in  the  literary 
art.  Onef  who  recorded  the  eventful 
progress  of  the  Seventh  to  Washington, 
gave  an  animating  account,  from  which 
the  following  extracts  are  made  : 

"  Swift  through  New  Jersey.    *    *    * 


o  New  York  Tima,  April  20. 

f  Captain  Fitz- James  O'Brien,  in  the  New  York  Tvnet. 


196 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


All  along  the  track  shouting  crowds, 
hoarse  and  valorous,  sent  to  us,  as  we 
passed,  their  hopes  and  wishes.  When 
we  stopped  at  the  different  stations, 
rough  hands  came  in  through  the  win 
dows,  apparently  unconnected  with  any 
one  in  particular  until  you  shook  them, 
and  then  the  subtle  magnetic  thrill  told 
that  there  were  bold  hearts  beating  at 
the  end.  This  continued  until  night 
closed,  and,  indeed,  until  after  midnight. 

"  Within  the  cars  the  sight  was 
strange.  A  thousand  young  men,  the 
flower  of  the  North,  in  whose  welfare 
a  million  of  friends  and  relatives  were 
interested,  were  rushing  along  to  con 
jectured  hostilities  with  the  same  smil 
ing  faces  that  they  would  wear  going  to 
a  '  German'  party  in  Fifth  Avenue.  It 
was  more  like  a  festivity  than  a  march. 
Those  fine  old  songs,  the  chorusses  of 
which  were  familiar  to  all,  were  sung 
with  sweet  voice.  *  *  * 

"  Our  arrival  at  Philadelphia  took 
place  at  four  o'clock.  We  slept  in  the 
cars,  awaiting  orders  from  our  Colonel, 
but,  at  daylight,  hunger — and  it  may  be 
thirst — becoming  imperious,  we  sallied 
out  and  roamed  about  that  cheerless 
neighborhood  that  surrounds  the  depot. 
*  *  *  Finding  that  we  were  likely 
to  remain  for  some  time  in  the  city — al 
though  under  the  impression  that  we 
were  to  go  straight  through  to  Balti 
more — we  wandered  away  from  the 
desert  of  the  depot  and  descended  on 
civilized  quarters.  The  superintendent 
of  the  Deaf  and  Dumb  Asylum  was  a 
man  for  the  emergency.  He  provided 
a  Jiandsome  breakfast  for  all  such  mem 


bers  of  the  Seventh  as  chose  to  partake 
of  it,  and  we  commanded  beefsteak  on 
our  fingers,  and  ordered  tea  by  sign- 
manual.  Great  numbers  of  our  regi 
ment,  being  luxurious  dogs,  went  down 
to  the  Continental  and  Girard  hotels, 
where  they  campaigned  on  marble  floors, 
and  bivouacked  on  velvet  couches  ;  they 
are  such  delicate  fellows,  the  Seventh 
Regiment !  *  * 

"  We,  of  course,  were  entirely  ig 
norant  of  our  route,  or  how  we  were 
going.  The  general  feeling  of  the  regi 
ment  was  in  favor  of  pushing  our  way 
coute  qui  coute  straight  through  Balti 
more.  Rumors  came  along  that  the 
city  was  in  arms.  The  Massachusetts 
troops  had  to  fight  their  way  through, 
killing  eighteen,  and  losing  two  men. 
This  seemed  only  to  stimulate  our  boys, 
and  the  universal  word  was  Baltimore  ! 
But,  as  it  turned  out  afterward,  we  were 
under  a  wise  direction,  and  the  policy 
of  our  Colonel,  to  whom  we  perhaps  are 
altogether  indebted  for  bringing  us  safe 
here,  was,  I  presume,  to  avoid  all  un 
necessary  collision,  and  bring  his  regi 
ment  intact  into  Washington.  The  rails 
were  reported  to  have  been  torn  up  for 
forty  miles  about  Baltimore,  and  as  we 
were  summoned  for  the  defence  of  the 
capital,  it  follows,  according  to  reason, 
that  if  we  could  get  there  without  loss 
we  would  better  fulfil  our  duty.  As  it 
happened  afterward,  we  had  to  run 
through  more  peril  than  Baltimore  could 
have  offered. 

"  There  seemed  but  little  enthusiasm 
in  Philadelphia.  *  *  I  understand 
that  the  people  were  out  in  large  num- 


DODGING   BALTIMORE. 


197 


bers  to  see  us  enter,  but  our  delay  dis 
appointed  them,  and  they  went  home. 
*  *  We  came  and  went  without  a  re 
ception  or  demonstration. 

"  There  was  one  peculiar  difference 
that  I  noticed  existing  between  the 
Massachusetts  regiments  that  we  met  in 
Philadelphia  and  our  men.  The  Massa 
chusetts  men — to  whom  all  honor  be 
given  for  the  splendid  manner  in  which 
they  afterward  acted  in  a  most  trying 
situation — presented  a  singular  moral 
contrast  to  the  members  of  the  Seventh. 
They  were  earnest,  grim,  determined. 
Badly  equipped,  haggard,  unshorn,  they 
yet  had  a  manhood  in  their  look  that 
hardships  could  not  kill.  They  were 
evidently  thinking  all  the  time  of  the 
contest  into  which  they  were  about  to 
enter.  Their  grey,  eager  eyes  seemed 
to  be  looking  for  the  heights  of  Vir 
ginia.  With  us  it  was  somewhat  differ 
ent.  Our  men  were  gay  and  careless, 
confident  of  being  at  any  moment  capa 
ble  of  performing,  and  more  than  per 
forming,  their  duty.  They  looked  battle 
in  the  face  with  a  smile,  and  were  ready 
to  hob-nob  with  an  enemy  and  kill  him 
afterward.  The  one  was  courage  in  the 
rough* ;  the  other  was  courage  bur 
nished.  The  steel  was  the  same  in 
both,  but  the  last  was  a  little  more  pol 
ished. 

"  On  April  20,  at  4.20  P.M.,  we  left 
the  Philadelphia  dock,  on  board  the 
steamer  Boston.  The  regiment  was  in 
entire  ignorance  of  its  destination.  Some 
said  we  were  going  back  to  New  York, 
at  which  suggestion  there  was  a  howl 
of  indignation.  Others  presumed  that 


we  were  going  to  steam  up  the  Poto 
mac — a  course  which  was  not  much  ap 
proved  of,  inasmuch  that  we  were  cooped 
up  in  a  kind  of  river  steamer  that  a  shot 
from  the  fort  at  Alexandria  might  sink 
at  any  moment.  *  *  * 

"  The  first  evening,  April  20,  on  board 
the  Boston,  passed  delightfully.  We 
were  all  in  first-rate  spirits,  and  the 
calm,  sweet  evenings  that  stole  on  us  as 
we  approached  the  South,  diffused  a 
soft  and  gentle  influence  over  us.  The 
scene  on  board  the  ship  was  exceedingly 
picturesque.  Fellows  fumbling  in  hav 
ersacks  for  rations,  or  extracting  sand 
wiches  from  reluctant  canteens  ;  guards 
pacing  up  and  down  with  drawn  bay 
onets  ;  knapsacks  piled  in  corners  ; 
bristling  heaps  of  muskets,  with  sharp, 
shining  teeth,  crowded  into  every  avail 
able  nook  ;  picturesque  groups  of  men 
lolling  on  deck,  pipe  or  cigar  in  mouth, 
indulged  in  the  doke  far  niente,  as  if 
they  were  on  the  blue  shores  of  Capri 
rather  than  on  their  way  to  battle  ;  un 
buttoned  jackets,  crossed  legs,  heads 
leaning  on  knapsacks,  blue  uniforms 
everywhere,  with  here  and  there  a  glint 
of  officers'  red  enlivening  the  foreground 
— all  formed  a  scene  that  such  painters 
as  the  English  Warren  would  have  rev 
elled  in. 

"  I  regret  to  say  that  all  was  not  rose- 
colored.  The  steamer  that  the  Colonel 
chartered  had  to  get  ready  at  three  or 
four  hours'  notice,  he  having  changed 
his  plans,  in  consequence  of  the  tearing 
up  of  the  rails  around  Baltimore.  The 
result  was  that  she  was  imperfectly  pro 
visioned.  As  the  appetites  of  the  men 


198 


THE  WAR   WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


began  to  develop,  the  resources  of  the 
vessel  began  to  appear.  In  the  first 
place,  she  was  far  too  small  to  accom 
modate  a  thousand  men,  and  we  were 
obliged  to  sleep  in  all  sorts  of  impossible 
attitudes.  There  is  an  ingenious  device 
known  to  carpenters  as  'dove-tailing,' 
and  we  were  so  thick  that  we  had  posi 
tively  to  dove-tail,  only  that  there  was 
very  little  of  the  dove  about  it ;  for 
when  perambulating  soldiers  stepped  on 
the  faces  and  stomachs  of  the  sleepers, 
as  they  lay  on  deck,  the  greeting  that 
they  received  had  but  little  flavor  of  the 
olive-branch. 

"  Notwithstanding  that  we  found  very 
soon  that  the  commissariat  was  in  a  bad 
way,  the  men  were  as  jolly  as  sandboys. 
I  never  saw  a  more  good-humored  set 
of  men  in  my  life.  Fellows  who  would 
at  Delmonico's  have  sent  back  a  turban 
de  volatile  aux  truffes  because  the  truffles 
were  tough,  here  cheerfully  took  their 
places  in  file  between  decks,  tin  plates 
and  tin  cups  in  hand,  in  order  to  get  an 
insufficient  piece  of  beef  and  a  vision  of 
coffee.  But  it  was  all  merrily  done. 
The  scant  fare  was  seasoned  with  hilar 
ity  ;  and  here  I  say  to  those  people  in 
New  York  who  have  sneered  at  the 
Seventh  Regiment  as  being  dandies,  and 
guilty  of  the  unpardonable  crimes  of 
cleanliness  and  kid  gloves,  that  they 
would  cease  to  scoff  and  remain  to  bless 
had  they  beheld  the  square,  honest, 
genial  way  in  which  these  military 
Brummells  roughed  it.  Farther  on  you 
will  see  what  they  did  in  the  way  of 
endurance  and  activity. 

"  April  2 1st  was  Sunday.     A  glorious. 


cloudless  day.  We  had  steamed  all 
night,  and  about  ten  o'clock  were  in  the 
vicinity  of  Chesapeake  Bay.  At  eleven 
o'clock  A.M.  we  had  service  read  by  our 
chaplain,  and  at  one  P.  M.  we  were  seven 
miles  from  the  coast.  The  day  was 
calm  and  delicious.  In  spite  of  our 
troubles  with  regard  to  food — troubles, 
be  it  understood,  entirely  unavoidable — 
we  drank  in  with  delight  the  serenity 
of  the  scene.  A  hazy  tent  of  blue  hung 
over  our  heads.  On  one  side  the  dim 
thread  of  shore  hemmed  in  the  sea. 
Flights  of  loons  and  ducks  skimmed 
along  the  ocean,  rising  lazily,  and  spat 
tering  the  waves  with  their  wings  as 
they  flew  against  the  wind,  until  they 
rose  into  air,  and,  wheeling,  swept  into 
calmer  feeding  grounds.  Now  and  then 
the  calm  of  the  hour  was  broken  with 
the  heavy  tramp  of  men  and  the  me 
tallic  voice  of  the  corporal  of  the  guard 
relieving  his  comrades.  At  five  o'clock 
p.  M.  we  passed  a  light-ship  and  hailed 
her,  our  object  being  to  discover  whe 
ther  any  United  States  vessels  were  in 
the  neighborhood  waiting  to  convoy  us 
up  the  Potomac  River.  We  had  heard 
that  the  forts  at  Alexandria  were  ready 
to  open  upon  us  if  we  attempted  to  pass 
up,  and  our  steamer  was  of  such  a  build 
that,  had  a  shell  or  shot  struck  it,  we 
would  have  been  burned  or  drowned. 
It  therefore  behooved  us  to  be  cautious. 
The  answers  we  got  from  the  light-ship 
and  other  vessels  that  we  hailed  in  this 
spot  were  unsatisfactory,  and  although 
the  feelings  of  the  men  were  unanimous 
in  wishing  to  force  the  Potomac,  wiser 
counsels,  as  it  proved,  were  behind  us, 


ARRIVAL   AT  ANNAPOLIS. 


199 


and  we   kept   on.  All   this 

time  we  were  entirely  ignorant  of  where 
we  were  going.  The  officers  kept  all 
secret,  and  our  conjectures  drifted  like  a 
drifting  boat.  On  the  morning  of  the 
22d  we  were  in  sight  of  Annapolis,  off 
which  the  Constitution  was  lying,  and 
there  found  the  Eighth  Regiment  of 
Massachusetts  volunteers,  on  board  the 
Maryland.  They  were  aground,  owing, 
it  is  supposed,  to  the  treachery  of  the 
captain,  whom  they  put  in  irons,  and 
wanted  to  hang.  I  regret  to  say  that 
they  did  not  do  it.  During  the  greater 
portion  of  that  forenoon  we  were  oc 
cupied  in  trying  to  get  the  Maryland 
off  the  sand-bar  on  which  she  was 
grounded.  From  our  decks  we  could 
see  the  men  in  file  trying  to  rock  her, 
so  as  to  facilitate  our  tugging.  These 
men  were  without  water  and  without 
food,  were  well  conducted  and  uncom 
plaining,  and  behaved,  in  all  respects, 
like  heroes.  They  were  under  the  com 
mand  of  Colonel  Butler.  *  *  * 

"  On  the  afternoon  of  the  22d  we 
landed  at  the  Annapolis  dock,  after 
having  spent  hours  in  trying  to  relieve 
the  Maryland.  For  the  first  time  in  his 
life  your  correspondent  was  put  to  work 
to  roll  flour  barrels.  He  was  intrusted 
with  the  honorable  and  onerous  duty  of 
transporting  stores  from  the  steamer  to 
the  dock.  Later  still  ha  descended  to 
the  position  of  mess  servant,  when,  in 
company  with  gentlemen  well-known  in 
Broadway  for  immaculate  kids,  he  had 
the  honor  of  attending  on  his  company 
with  buckets  of  cooked  meat  and  crack 
ers,  the  only  difference  between  him 


and  Co.  and  the  ordinary  waiter  being, 
that  the  former  were  civil. 

"After  this  I  had  the  pleasing  duty 
of  performing  three  hours  of  guard  duty 
on  the  dock  with  a  view  to  protect  the 
baggage  and  stores.  It  was  monotonous 
— being  my  first  guard — but  not  un 
pleasant.  The  moon  rose  calm  and 
white.  A  long  dock  next  to  the  one  on 
which  I  was  stationed  stretched  away 
into  the  bay,  resting  on  its  numerous 
piles,  until  it  looked  in  the  clear  moon 
light  like  a  centipede.  All  was  still  and 
calm,  until  at  certain  periods  the  guard 
challenged  persons  attempting  to  pass. 
There  was  a  holy  influence  in  the  hour, 
and  somehow  the  hot  fever  of  anxiety 
that  had  been  over  us  for  days,  seemed 
to  pass  away  under  the  touch  of  the 
magnetic  fingers  of  the  night. 

' '  We  were  quartered  in  the  buildings 
belonging  to  the  Naval  School  at  An 
napolis.  I  had  a  bunking-place  in  what 
is  there  called  a  fort,  which  is  a  rickety 
structure  that  a  lucifer  match  would  set 
on  fire,  but  furnished  with  imposing 
guns.  I  suppose  it  was  merely  built  to 
practice  the  cadets,  because  as  a  defence 
it  is  worthless.  The  same  evening,  boats 
were  sent  off  from  the  yard,  and  toward 
nightfall  the  Massachusetts  men  landed, 
fagged,  hungry,  thirsty,  but  indomitable. 
At  an  early  hour  there  was  a  universal 
snore  through  the  Naval  School  of  An 
napolis. 

"The  two  days  that  we  remained  at 
Annapolis  were  welcome.  We  had  been 
without  a  fair  night's  sleep  since  we  left 
New  York,  and  even  the  hard  quarters 
we  had  there  were  luxury  compared  to 


200 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


the  dirty  decks  of  the  Boston.  Besides, 
there  were  natural  attractions.  The 
grounds  are  very  prettily  laid  out,  and 
in  the  course  of  my  experience  I  never 
saw  a  handsomer  or  better  bred  set  of 
young  men  than  the  cadets  ;  and  they 
have  proved  loyal,  only  twenty  having 
left  the  school  owing  to  political  con 
viction.  The  remainder  are  sound 
Union  fellows,  eager  to  prove  their  de 
votion  to  the  flag.  After  spending  a 
delightful  time  in  the  Navy  School,  rest 
ing  and  amusing  ourselves,  our  repose 
was  disturbed,  at  9  P.  M.,  April  23d,  by 
rockets  being  thrown  up  in  the  bay. 
The  men  were  scattered  ah1  over  the 
grounds  ;  some  in  bed,  others  walking 
or  smoking,  all  more  or  less  undressed, 
The  rockets  being  of  a  suspicious  char 
acter,  it  was  conjectured  that  a  Southern 
fleet  was  outside,  and  our  drummer  beat 
the  roll-call  to  arms.  From  the  stroke 
of  the  drum  until  the  time  that  every 
man,  fully  equipped  and  in  fighting 
order,  was  in  the  ranks,  was  exactly,  by 
watch,  seven  minutes.  It  is  needless  to 
say  anything  about  such  celerity — it 
speaks  for  itself.  The  alarm,  however, 
proved  to  be  false,  the  vessels  in  the 
offing  proving  to  be  laden  with  the 
Seventy-first  and  other  New  York  regi 
ments  ;  so  that,  after  an  unpremeditated 
trial  of  our  readiness  for  action,  we 
were  permitted  to  retire  to  our  virtuous 
couches,  which  means,  permit  me  to  say, 
a  blanket  on  the  floor,  with  a  military 
overcoat  over  you,  and  a  nasal  concert 
all  around  you  that,  in  noise  and  num 
ber,  outvies  Musard's  celebrated  concerts 
monstres. 


"  On  the  morning  of  the  24th  of 
April  we  started  on  what  afterward 
proved  to  be  one  of  the  hardest  marches 
on  record.  The  secessionists  of  Annap 
olis  and  the  surrounding  district  had 
threatened  to  cut  us  off  in  our  march, 
and  even  went  so  far  as  to  say  that  they 
would  attack  our  quarters.  This,  of 
course,  was  the  drunken  Southern 
ebullition.  A  civilian  told  me  that  he 
met  in  the  streets  of  Annapolis  two 
cavalry  soldiers  who  came  to  cut  our 
throats  without  delay,  but  as  each  brave 
warrior  was  endeavoring  to  hold  the 
other  up,  my  friend  did  not  apprehend 
much  danger. 

"A  curious  revulsion  of  feeling  took 
place  at  Annapolis,  and  indeed  all 
through  Maryland,  after  our  arrival. 

"  The  admirable  good  conduct  which 
characterizes  the  regiment,  the  open 
liberality  which  it  displays  in  all  pecuni 
ary  transactions,  and  the  courteous  de 
meanor  which,  it  exhibits  to  all  classes, 
took  the  narrow-minded  population  of 
this  excessively  wretched  town  by  sur 
prise.  They  were  prepared  for  pillage. 
They  thought  we  were  going  to  sack  the 
place.  They  found,  instead,  that  we 
were  prepared  and  willing  to  pay  liberal 
prices  for  everything,  and  that  even 
patriotic  presentations  were  steadily  re 
fused.  While  we  were  in  the  Navy 
School,  of  course  all  sorts  of  rumors  as 
to  our  operations  were  floating  about. 
It  surprised  me  that  no  one  suggested 
that  we  were  to  go  oX  in  a  balloon  ; 
however,  all  surmises  were  put  to  an 
end  by  our  receiving  orders,  the  evening 
of  the  23d,  to  assemble  in  marching 


MARCH  TO   WASHINGTON. 


201 


order  next  morning.  The  dawn  saw  us 
up.  Knapsacks,  with  our  blankets  and 
overcoats  strapped  on  them,  were  piled 
on  the  green.  A  brief  and  insufficient 
breakfast  was  taken,  our  canteens  filled 
with  vinegar  and  water,  cartridges  dis 
tributed  to  each  man,  and  after  muster 
ing  and  loading,  we  started  on  our  first 
march  through  a  hostile  country. 

"  General  Scott  has  stated,  as  I  have 
been  informed,  that  the  march  that  we 
performed  from  Annapolis  to  the  Junc 
tion  is  one  of  the  most  remarkable  on 
record.  I  know  that  I  felt  it  the  most 
fatiguing,  and  some  of  our  officers  have 
told  me  that  it  was  the  most  perilous. 
We  marched  the  first  eight  miles  under 
a  burning  sun,  in  heavy  marching  order, 
in  less  than  three  hours  ;  and  it  is  well- 
known  that,  placing  all  elementary  con 
siderations  out  of  the  way,  marching  on 
a  railroad  track  is  the  most  harassing. 
We  started  at  about  eight  o'clock  A.  M., 
and  for  the  first  time  saw  the  town  of 
Annapolis,  which,  without  any  disre 
spect  to  that  place,  I  may  say,  looked 
very  much  as  if  some  celestial  school 
boy,  with  a  box  of  toys  under  his  arm, 
had  dropped  a  few  houses  and  men  as 
he  was  going  home  from  school,  and  that 
the  accidental  settlement  was  called  An 
napolis.  Through  the  town  we  marched, 
the  people  unsympathizing,  but  afraid. 
They  saw  the  Seventh  for  the  first  time, 
and  for  the  first  time  they  realized  the 
men  that  they  had  threatened. 

"  The  tracks  had  been  torn  up  be 
tween  Annapolis  and  the  Junction,  and 
here  it  was  that  the  wonderful  qualities 
of  the  Massachusetts  Eighth  Regiment 

26 


came  out.  The  locomotives  had  been 
taken  to  pieces  by  the  inhabitants,  in 
order  to  prevent  our  travel.  In  steps  a 
Massachusetts  volunteer,  looks  at  the 
piece-meal  engine,  takes  up  a  flange,  and 
says  coolly,  '  I  made  this  engine,  and  I 
can  put  it  together  again.'  Engineers 
were  wanted  when  the  engine  was  ready. 
Nineteen  stepped  out  of  the  ranks.  The 
rails  were  torn  up.  Practical  railroad 
makers  out  of  the  regiment  laid  them 
again,  and  all  this,  mind  you,  without 
care  or  food.  These  brave  boys,  I  say, 
were  starving  while  they  were  doing 
this  good  work.  What  their  Colonel 
was  doing  I  can't  say.  As  we  marched 
along  the  track  that  they  had  laid,  they 
greeted  us  with  ranks  of  smiling  but 
hungry  faces.  One  boy  told  me,  with  a 
laugh  on  his  young  lips,  that  he  had  not 
eaten  any  thing,  for  thirty  hours.  There 
was  not,  thank  God,  a  haversack  in  our 
regiment  that  was  not  emptied  into  the 
hands  of  these  ill-treated  heroes,  nor  a 
flask  that  was  not  at  their  disposal. 

"Our  march  lay  through  an  arid, 
sandy,  tobacco-growing  country.  The 
sun  poured  on  our  heads  like  hot  lava. 
The  Sixth  and  Second  companies  were 
sent  on  for  skirmishing  duty,  under  the 
command  of  Captains  Clarke  and  Nevers, 
the  latter  commanding  as  senior  officer. 
A  car,  on  which  was  placed  a  howitzer, 
loaded  with  grape  and  canister,  headed 
the  column,  manned  by  the  engineer  and 
artillery  corps,  commanded  by  Lieu 
tenant  Bunting.  This  was  the  rallying 
point  of  the  skirmishing  party,  on  which, 
in  case  of  difficulty,  they  could  fall  back. 
In  the  centre  of  the  column  came  the 


202 


THE  WAR   WITH  THE   SOUTH. 


cars  laden  with  medical  stores,  and  bear 
ing  our  sick  and  wounded,  while  the 
extreme  rear  was  brought  up  with  a 
second  howitzer,  loaded  also  with  grape 
and  canister.  The  engineer  corps,  of 
course,  had  to  do  the  forwarding  work. 
New  York  dandies,  sir  ! — but  they  built 
bridges,  laid  rails,  and  headed  the  regi 
ment  through  that  terrible  march. 
After  marching  about  eight  miles,  dur 
ing  which  time  several  men  caved  in 
from  exhaustion,  and  one  young  gentle 
man  was  sun-struck  and  sent  back  to 
New  York,  we  halted,  and  instantly, 
with  the  divine  instinct  which  character 
izes  the  hungry  soldier,  proceeded  to 
forage.  The  worst  of  it  was,  there  was 
no  foraging  to  be  done.  The  only  house 
within  reach  was  inhabited  by  a  lethargic 
person,  who,  like  most  Southern  men, 
had  no  idea  of  gaining  money  by  labor. 
We  offered  him  extravagant  prices  to 
get  us  fresh  water,  and  it  was  with  the 
utmost  reluctance  we  could  get  him  to 
obtain  us  a  few  pailfuls.  Over  the 
mantle-piece  of  his  miserable  shanty  I 
saw — a  curious  coincidence — the  portrait 
of  Colonel  Duryea,  of  our  regiment. 

"  After  a  brief  rest  of  about  an  hour, 
we  again  commenced  our  march ;  a 
march  which  lasted  until  the  next  morn 
ing — a  march  than  which,  in  history, 
nothing  but  those  marches  in  which  de 
feated  troops  have  fled  from  the  enemy, 
can  equal.  Our  Colonel,  it  seems,  de 
termined  to  march  by  railroad,  in  pref 
erence  to  the  common  road,  inasmuch 
as  he  had  obtained  such  secret  informa 
tion  as  led  him  to  suppose  that  we  were 
waited  for  on  the  latter  route.  Events 


justified  his  judgment.  There  were 
cavalry  troops  posted  in  defiles  to  cut 
us  off.  They  could  not  have  done  it,  of 
course,  but  they  could  have  harassed  us 
severely.  As  we  went  along  the  rail 
road  we  threw  out  skirmishing  parties 
from  the  Second  and  Sixth  companies, 
to  keep  the  road  clear.  I  know  not  if  I 
can  describe  that  night's  march.  I  have 
dim  recollections  of  deep  cuts  through 
which  we  passed,  gloomy  and  treacher 
ous-looking,  with  the  moon  shining  full 
on  our  muskets,  while  the  banks  were 
wrapped  in  shade,  and  each  moment 
expecting  to  see  the  flash  and  hear  the 
crack  of  the  rifle  of  the  Southern  guer 
rilla.  The  tree  frogs  and  lizards  made 
a  mournful  music  as  we  passed.  The 
soil  on  which  we  traveled  was  soft  and 
heavy.  The  sleepers  lying  at  intervals 
across  the  track  made  the  march  terribly 
fatiguing.  On  all  sides  dark,  lonely 
pine  woods  stretched  away,  and  high 
over  the  hooting  of  owls  or  the  plain 
tive  petition  of  the  whip-poor-will  rose 
the  bass  commands  of  Halt !  Forward ! 
March  ! — and  when  we  came  to  any 
ticklish  spot,  the  word  would  run  from 
the  head  of  the  column  along  the  line, 
'  Holes,'  '  Bridge,  pass  it  along,'  etc. 

"  As  the  night  wore  on,  the  monotony 
of  the  march  became  oppressive.  Owing 
to  our  having  to  explore  every  inch  of 
the  way,  we  did  not  make  more  than  a 
mile,  or  a  mile  and  a  half  an  hour.  We 
ran  out  of  stimulants,  and  almost  out  of 
water.  Most  of  us  had  not  slept  for 
four  nights,  and  as  the  night  advanced, 
our  march  was  almost  a  stagger.  This 
was  not  so  much  fatigue  as  want  of  ex- 


MARCH  OF  THE  EIGHTH  MASSACHUSETTS. 


203 


citement.  Our  fellows  were  spoiling  for 
a  fight,  and  when  a  dropping  shot  was 
heard  in  the  distance,  it  was  wonderful 
to  see  how  the  languid  legs  straightened 
and  the  column  braced  itself  for  action. 
If  we  had  had  even  the  smallest  kind  of 
a  skirmish,  the  men  would  have  been 
able  to  walk  to  Washington.  As  it  was, 
we  went  sleepily  on.  I  myself  fell 
asleep  walking  in  the  ranks.  Numbers, 
I  find,  followed  my  example  ;  but  never 
before  was  there  shown  such  indomitable 
pluck  and  perseverance  as  the  Seventh 
showed  in  that  march  of  twenty  miles. 
The  country  that  we  passed  through 
seemed  to  have  been  entirely  deserted. 
The  inhabitants,  who  were  going  to  kill 
us  when  they  thought  we  daren't  come 
through,  now  vamosed  their  respective 
ranches,  and  we  saw  them  not.  Houses 
were  empty.  The  population  retired 
into  the  interior,  burying  their  money 
and  carrying  their  families  along  with 
them.  They,  it  seems,  were  under  the 
impression  that  we  came  to  ravage  and 
pillage,  and  they  fled  as  the  Gauls  must 
have  fled  when  Attila  and  his  Huns 
came  down  on  them  from  the  North. 
As  we  did  at  Annapolis,  we  did  in 
Maryland  State.  We  left  an  impression 
that  can  not  be  forgotten.  Everything 
was  paid  for.  No  discourtesy  was  of 
fered  to  any  inhabitant,  and  the  sobriety 
of  the  regiment  should  be  an  example 
to  others.  *  *  * 

"  The  secret  of  this  forced  march,  as 
well  as  our  unexpected  descent  on  An 
napolis,  was  the  result  of  Col.  Lefferts' 
judgment,  which  has  since  been  sus 
tained  by  events.  Finding  that  the  line 


along  the  Potomac  was  closed,  and  the 
route  to  Washington  by  Baltimore 
equally  impracticable,  he  came  to  the 
conclusion  that  Annapolis,  commanding, 
as  it  did,  the  route  to  the  capital,  must 
of  necessity  be  made  the  basis  of  mili 
tary  operations.  It  was  important  to 
the  Government  to  have  a  free  channel 
through  which  to  transport  troops,  and 
this  post  presented  the  readiest  means. 
The  fact  that  since  then  all  the  Northern 
troops  have  passed  through  the  line  that 
we  thus  opened,  is  a  sufficient  comment 
on  the  admirable  judgment  that  decided 
on  the  movement.  It  secured  the  in 
tegrity  of  the  regiment,  and  saved  lives 
the  loss  of  which  would  have  plunged 
New  York  into  mourning.  Too  much 
importance  can  not  be  attached  to  this 
strategy." 

The  Eighth  Massachusetts  Regiment, 
which  had  passed  through  New  York  on 
the  day  of  the  departure  of  the  \^r(] 
Seventh  Regiment,  had,  after  reach-  19* 
ing  Philadelphia,  pushed  forward  by  the 
railway  as  far  as  the  Susquehanna 
River.  Here  it  was  found  impossible  to 
continue  the  route  through  Maryland;  in 
consequence  of  the  destruction  of  the 
bridges  -by  the  secessionists.  Brigadier- 
General  Butler,  of  Massachusetts,  had 
accompanied  the  Eighth  on  his  way  to 
Washington  to  assume  the  general  com 
mand  of  the  militia  force  of  his  State, 
sent  to  aid  in  the  defence  of  the  capital. 
He  accordingly  assumed  the  command 
and  directed  the  movements  of  the 
Massachusetts  soldiers  when  thus  ob 
structed  on  their  march.  It  was  by  his 
energy  and  promptitude  of  action  that 


204 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


a  way  was  finally  cleared  to  the  capital. 
General  Butler  seized  the  steam  ferry 
boat  the  Maryland,  on  the  Susquehanna, 
and  embarking  his  troops  sailed  down 
the  river  into  Chesapeake  Bay  and 
took  possession  of  the  city  of  Annapolis. 
Here  his  first  act  was  to  save  the  ship 
Constitution — used  by  the  cadets  of  the 
Naval  School  as  an  exercise  ship,  and 
familiarly  known  as  "  Old  Ironsides,"  one 
of  the  most  revered  of  our  national 
relics — from  the  clutch  of  some  insur 
gents  who  were  about  pouncing  upon 
her.  The  General  learning  of  the  help 
less  condition,  from  want  of  a  crew,  of  the 
old  ship,  mustered  his  men  and  de 
clared  "if  there  are  any  men  in  the 
ranks  who  understand  how  to  manage  a 
ship,  let  them  step  forward."  Fifty-three 
presented  themselves,  and  they  were 
immediately  put  on  board.  The  Mary 
land  then  took  her  in  tow,  and  she  was 
safely  borne  out  of  harm's  way.  The 
General's  announcement  of  the  event 
April  m  hig  order  of  the  day  was  char- 
22.  acteristic : 

"  The  purpose  which  could  only  be 
hinted  at  in  the  orders  of  yesterday  has 
been  accomplished.  The  frigate  Con 
stitution  has  lain  for  a  long  time  at  this 
port,  substantially  at  the  mercy  of  the 
armed  mob  which  sometimes  paralyzes 
the  otherwise  loyal  State  of  Maryland. 
Deeds  of  daring,  successful  contests,  and 
glorious  victories  had  rendered  Old 
Ironsides  so  conspicuous  in  the  naval 
history  of  the  country,  that  she  was 
fitly  chosen  as  the  school  in  which  to 
train  the  future  officers  of  the  navy  to 
like  heroic  acts.  It  was  given  to  Massa 


chusetts  and  Essex  counties  first  to  man 
her  ;  it  was  reserved  to  Massachusetts  to 
have  the  honor  to  retain  her  for  the  ser 
vice  of  the  Union  and  the  laws.  This 
is  a  sufficient  triumph  of  right — a  suffi 
cient  triumph  for  us.  By  this  the  blood 
of  our  friends,  shed  by  the  Baltimore 
mob,  is  so  far  avenged.  The  Eighth 
Regiment  may  hereafter  cheer  lustily 
upon  all  proper  occasions,  but  never 
without  orders.  The  old  Constitution, 
by  their  efforts,  aided  untiringly  by  the 
United  States  officers  having  her  in 
charge,  is  now  '  possessed,  occupied,  and 
enjoyed'  by  the  Government  of  the 
United  States,  and  is  safe  from  all  her 
enemies." 

The  revered  Constitution  had  been 
thus  rescued  with  much  difficulty  from 
imminent  danger.  For  four  days  and 
nights,  previous  to  the  arrival  of  Gen 
eral  Butler,  her  crew  had  been  at 
quarters  with  the  guns  shotted.  The 
insurgents  of  Maryland  were  plotting 
her  destruction  or  capture.  It  may 
easily  be  imagined  that  it  was  a  work 
of  no  little  difficulty  to  move  her, 
threatened  as  she  was  by  the  people  on 
shore.  She  had  four  anchors  and  seven 
chains  out  when  the  Maryland  was 
ordered  by  General  Butler  alongside. 
One  anchor  alone  was. hove  up,  the  rest 
were  slipped,  and  finally  by  lighting  and 
careening,  and  by  dint  of  hard  labor, 
she  was  dragged  over  the  bar.  The 
crew  of  the  Maryland  were  only  kept  to 
their  work  and  duty  by  placing  a  guard 
over  them  armed  with  revolvers.  After 
dragging  her  over  the  bar,  the  vessel 
grounded  on  the  Outer  Spit.  About  ten 


RESCUE  OF  THE  CONSTITUTION. 


205 


P.M.,  information  having  been  brought 
off  that  the  channel  outside  the  ship 
would  be  obstructed,  kedges  were  laid 
out,  and  it  was  endeavored  to  warp  the 
ship  over  the  Spit,  part  of  the  men 
being  at  the  guns.  The  Maryland  hav 
ing  been  run  aground  by  her  officers 
during  the  warping,  a  squall  came  up 
and  drove  the  ship  ashore  again.  At 
daylight  a  steam-tug  from  Havre  de 
Grace  came  in  sight,  and  was  taken  to 
tow  the  ship  out.  She  was  then  taken 
in  tow  by  the  R.  R.  Cuyler,  and  brought 
to  New  York.  Subsequently  she  was 
sent  to  Newport,  Rhode  Island,  whither 
the  Naval  School  formerly  at  Annapolis 
was  removed. 

The  General's  next  operation  was  to 
re-establish  the  railroad  between  An 
napolis  and  Washington.  His  own  ranks 
supplied  skilled  mechanics  to  reconstruct 
the  broken  engines,  and  the  hardy  men 
of  Massachusetts,  aided  by  the  tender 
hands  of  the  gentlemen  of  New  York, 
performed  the  rude  labor  of  laying  the 
iron  rails. 

These  timely  services  of  General 
Butler  won  for  him  the  gratitude  of  the 
whole  Northern  people  who  fondly 
cherished  his  rising  military  repute,  and 
hailed  him  in  advance  as  one  of  their 
future  heroes. 

Benjamin  F.  Butler  was  born  in  Deer- 
field,  Rockingham  County,  New  Hamp 
shire,  in  1818.  He  claims  relationship 
with  the  Cilleys,  a  family  of  Revolution 
ary  renown,  from  which  sprang  the 
Honorable  Jonathan  Cilley,  who  was 
killed  in  a  duel  with  his  associate  in 
Congress,  Graves,  of  Kentucky.  Young 


Butler  was  educated  at  a  Baptist  college 
in  Waterville,  Maine.  He  subsequently 
studied  law,  and  removing  to  Massachu 
setts  commenced  its  practice  at  Lowell. 
Here  he  soon  acquired  prominence  as  a 
successful  advocate  in  jury  cases.  He 
was  remarkable  for  his  devotion  to  the 
interests  of  his  clients,  and  the  oratori 
cal  vehemence  with  which  he  defended 
their  cause.  With  an  impulsive  nature, 
and  great  flexibility  and  readiness  of 
speech,  restrained  by  no  over-fastidious 
ness  of  rhetoric,  his  eloquence  is  distin 
guished  rather  by  its  force  than  its  re 
finement. 

Though  long  prominent  as  an  active 
politician  of  the  Democratic  party,  his 
first  appearance  in  public  life  was  in 
1853,  when  he  became  a  member  of 
the  Legislature  of  Massachusetts.  In 
the  same  year  he  was  elected  to  the  Con 
stitutional  Convention,  and  in  1859-60 
was  senator  of  the  State.  In  May,  1860, 
he  was  chosen  a  delegate  to  the  Demo 
cratic  Convention,  which  first  met  at 
Charleston.  In  the  rupture  which 
ensued  in  the  party,  he  sided  with  the 
Southern  faction,  and  was  a  member  of 
the  subsequent  convention  at  Baltimore 
which  nominated  Breckenridge  for  Presi 
dent.  He  was  appointed  one  of  the 
Presidential  electors  for  Massachusetts, 
and  headed  the  electoral  list  on  the 
Breckenridge  ticket.  He  was  also  nom 
inated  as  the  candidate  for  Governor 
of  Massachusetts,  by  that  portion  of  the 
Democratic  party  supposed  to  be  favor 
able  to  the  policy  of  the  slave  States. 

Though  suspiciously  regarded  in  the 
anti-slavery  State  of  Massachusetts  as  a 


206 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


political  ally  of  the  "States  Rights" 
men  of  the  South,  he,  on  the  first  overt 
act  of  Southern  rebellion,  proved  his 
loyalty  to  the  Union  by  coming  forward 
among  the  earliest  to  offer  his  services 
in  its  defence.  Governor  Andrew,  of 
Massachusetts,  though  always  his  politi 
cal  opponent,  was  glad  to  welcome  so 
spirited  and  able  a  co-operator  in  the 
common  cause  of  national  unity,  and 
appointed  him  commander  of  the  Eighth 
Massachusetts  Regiment.  Leading  this 
corps  to  the  defence  of  the  capital,  he 
found  his  progress  suddenly  obstructed  • 
and  an  occasion  offering  for  the  exercise 
of  those  energies  which  characterize  him, 
he  exerted  them  with  a  spirit  and  a  suc 
cess  which  won  for  him  the  gratitude  of 
the  whole  nation.  His  picture  was  thus 
forcibly  drawn  at  this  time  as  "in  the 
prime  of  life,  being  forty-three  years  of 
age.  Though  somewhat  unwielclly  in  ap 
pearance,  he  is  possessed  of  great  physical 
activity.  His  expression,  disfigured  by 
a  cast  in  his  left  eye,  might  be  thought 
severe  and  even  sinister  by  the  casual 
observer,  but  by  his  friends  he  is  es 
teemed  as  an  amiable  companion,  and 
by  his  subordinates  readily  obeyed  as  a 
popular  commander. 

''  With  his  acknowledged  energy  in 
action,  fertility  of  resource,  and  cool 
ness  in  danger,  there  is  reason  to  be 
lieve  when  his  natural  impulsiveness  of 
character  has  been  duly  tempered  by 
military  experience,  that  he  will  become 
one  of  the  most  efficient  leaders  in  the 
present  war." 

As  proof  of  his  coolness  and  intre 
pidity  in  danger,  the  following  incident 


is  told.     It  occurred  in  Lowell,  Massa 
chusetts,  in  1856. 

"  It  was  during  the  Presidential  con 
test,  and  Hon.  Rufus  Choate  had  been 
invited  to  address  the  conservative  citi 
zens.  The  largest  hall  of  the  city  was 
crowded  to  excess  ;  the  audience  was 
wild  with  enthusiasm,  as  the  brilliant 
orator  swayed  them  by  his  eloquence  ; 
but  in  the  midst  of  the  applause  a  jar 
was  felt,  a  crash  was  heard,  and  every 
face  save  one  turned  pale  as  the  cry 
went  forth,  '  The  floor  is  sinking '/  The 
man  whose  cheek  knew  no  pallor  was 
General  Butler.  He  sprang  up  and 
calmed  the  fears  of  the  multitude  by 
telling  them  that  he  did  not  apprehend 
the  least  danger  ;  that  the  architect  was 
present ;  but  to  allay  any  misgiving,  he 
would  go  with  the  architect  and  exam 
ine  the  building.  An  immediate  in 
vestigation  showed  that  the  edifice  was 
in  the  greatest  possible  danger,  and  a 
sudden  movement,  a  rush  on  the  part  of 
the  assembly,  would  result  in  the  slaugh 
ter  of  thousands.  Forgetful  of  himself, 
he  bravely  pushed  through  the  dense 
crowd.  He  did  not  shriek — he  showed 
no  marks  of  trepidation — but  with  a 
bland  countenance  whispered  a  few  ap 
parently  pleasant  and  assuring  words  to 
Mr.  Choate.  Mr.  Butler  then  turned  to 
the  audience,  and  in  a  calm,  clear  voice 
remarked  :  '  My  friends,  there  is  no 
present  danger ;  but  as  the  house  is 
overcrowded,  it  will  be  better  to  quietly 
adjourn  to  the  open  air  ;  and  I  there 
fore  invite  you  to  the  front  of  the  Mer- 
rimack  House.'  The  whole  thing  was 
accomplished  in  a  few  moments.  It 


CHARACTER   OF   GENERAL  BUTLER. 


207 


was  only  by  Mr.  Butler's  self-possession 
that  the  catastrophe  was  avoided.     On 


viz.,    '  Mr.   Choate,   I   must    clear   this 
house,  or  we  shall  all  be  in  h — 11  in  five 


this  occasion  he  showed  more  cool  cour-  \  minutes  !'"*     Before  the  close  of  this 
age  than  any  battle  will  ever  call  into  j  history,  there  will  be  found  other  more 


requisition.  In  the  life  of  Mr.  Choate 
we  find  what  the  words  were  that 
blandly  fell,  sotto  voce,  from  Mr.  Butler, 


memorable  incidents  recorded,  in  which 
Butler  has  given  ample  proof  of  his 
characteristic  energy  and  courage. 


CHAPTER    XVIII. 

Perplexities  of  President  Lincoln  and  his  Cabinet. — Humiliating  Expedients. — The  Governor  of  Maryland  and  the 
Mayor  of  Baltimore  summoned  to  Washington. — The  Conference  with  the  President.— Opinion  of  General  Scott. — 
The  Federal  Authority  agrees  not  to  bring  Troops  through  Baltimore. — End  of  the  Conference.— Another  Inter 
view. — Troops  Recalled  from  Cockeysville. — The  continued  Movement  of  Troops  to  Washington. — The  Route  by 
Annapolis  kept  open  by  General  Butler. — Opposition  from  Maryland. — A  Protest  from  the  Governor. — Response  of 
Butler. — Another  Letter  from  Butler.— A  pertinent  Question  as  to  the  Loyalty  of  Maryland. — A  Rebuke  to  the 
Governor. — Another  Protest  from  Governor  Hicks. — The  Legislature  of  Maryland  convened. — A  Home-thrust  from 
Butler. — Fastidious  regard  for  Maryland. — Offer  to  suppress  a  Slave  Insurrection. — The  offer  declined. — The  Legis 
lature  of  Maryland  meets  at  Frederick.— The  Message  of  the  Governor. — Amiable  Rhetoric. — Gentleness,  Peace, 
and  Neutrality. — The  Secession  tendencies  of  the  Legislature.— Hesitation. — Union  Meetings. — A  forcible  Appeal 
to  Loyalty. — Movement  of  Butler  to  the  Relay  House. — Indirect  Action  of  the  Legislature. — The  "Board  of  Public 
Safety." — Its  purpose. — Defeated  by  the  Conservatives. — Animosity  of  the  Legislature. — Expression  of  Opinion  in 
regard  to  the  Re-opening  of  Communications. — A  quasi  Justification  of  the  violence  of  the  Maryland  Rioters. — 
Guarantees  demanded  from  the  Federal  Government. — Commissioners  sent  to  the  President. — Their  Report. — 
Sympathy  with  Secession  manifested. 


1861. 


THE  President  and  his  cabinet,  beset 
by  a  rebellion  the  extent  of  which  it  was 
impossible  to  measure,  and  unpre 
pared  to  meet  it  with  the  scattered 
resources  of  a  government  they  were  so 
suddenly  called  to  administer,  were  nat 
urally  perplexed.  Surrounded  with  dan 
gers,  the  greater  as  they  were  unde 
fined,  and  prevented  from  the  exercise 
of  powers  which,  however  great,  were 
yet  beyond  their  control,  the  Federal 
authorities  were  obliged  to  resort  to  the 
humiliating  expedient  of  temporizing 
with  the  insurgents  of  Maryland.  The 
President  accordingly  summoned  the 
Governor  of  Maryland  and  the  Mayor 


of   Baltimore    to    Washington    to  \ 
' '  consult"  with  them  for  ' '  the  pres-     21. 
ervatiqn  of  the  peace  of  Maryland." 

"  Governor  Hicks  not  being  at  hand, 
Mayor  Brown,  with  several  notable  cit 
izens,  proceeded  without  him  to  the 
capital  in  obedience  to  the  summons  of 
the  President.  An  audience  was  imme 
diately  granted  by  President  Lincoln, 
accompanied  by  all  the  members  of  his 
cabinet  and  Lieutenant-General  Scott. 
A  long  conversation  and  discussionf  en- 


o  Harper's  Weekly. 

f  The  occurrences  at  this  interview  are  related  as  re 
ported  in  the  "  statement"  of  Mayor  Brown,  National  I*- 
Wigencer,  April  22. 


208 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


sued.  The  President  recognized  the 
good  faith  of  the  city  and  State  author 
ities  of  Maryland,  and  insisted  upon  his 
own.  He  admitted  the  excited  state  of 
feeling  in  Baltimore,  and  his  desire  and 
duty  to  avoid  the  fatal  consequences  of 
a  collision  with  the  people.  He  urged, 
on  the  other  hand,  the  absolute,  irre 
sistible  necessity  of  having  a  transit 
through  the  State  for  such  troops  as 
might  be  necessary  for  the  protection 
of  the  Federal  capital.  The  protection 
of  Washington,  he  asseverated  with 
great  earnestness,  was  the  sole  object 
of  concentrating  troops  there,  and  he 
protested  that  none  of  the  troops  brought 
through  Maryland  were  intended  for  any 
purposes  hostile  to  the  State  or  aggres 
sive  as  against  the  Southern  States. 
Being  now  unable  to  bring  them  up  the 
Potomac  in  security,  the  Government 
must  either  bring  them  through  Mary 
land  or  abandon  the  capital. 

"  General  Scott  being  called  upon 
for  his  opinion,  said  that  troops  might 
be  brought  through  Maryland,  without 
passing  through  Baltimore,  by  either 
carrying  them  from  Perryville  to  An 
napolis  and  thence  by  rail  to  Wash 
ington,  or  by  bringing  them  to  the  Re 
lay  House,  on  the  Northern  Central 
Railroad,  and  marching  them  to  the  Re 
lay  House,  on  the  Washington  Railroad, 
and  thence  transporting  them  by  rail  to 
the  capital.  If  the  people  of  Maryland 
would  permit  the  troops  to  go  by  either 
of  these  routes  uninterruptedly,  the  ne 
cessity  of  their  passing  through  Balti 
more  might  be  avoided.  If,  however,  the 
General  declared,  the  people  would  not 


allow  them  to  take  this  circuitous  route, 
the  soldiers  would  be  obliged  to  select 
their  own  best  course,  and,  if  need  be, 
fight  their  own  way  through  Baltimore, 
a  result  which  he  most  earnestly  depre 
cated. 

"  The  President  expressed  his  hearty 
concurrence  with  the  desire  of  the  Gen 
eral  to  avoid  a  collision,  and  said  that 
no  more  troops  should  be  ordered  to 
pass  through  Baltimore,  if  they  were 
permitted  to  go  uninterruptedly  by  ei 
ther  of  the  routes  suggested  by  General 
Scott.  The  secretary  of  war,  Cameron, 
gave  his  assent  to  the  decision  of  Mr. 
Lincoln. 

"  Mayor  Brown  assured  the  President 
that  the  city  authorities  would  use  all 
lawful  means  to  prevent  their  citizens 
from  leaving  Baltimore  to  attack  the 
troops  in  passing  at  a  distance  ;  but  he 
urged  at  the  same  time  the  impossibility 
of  their  being  able  to  promise  anything 
more  than  their  best  efforts  in  that  di 
rection.  The  excitement  was  great,  he 
told  the  President ;  the  people  of  all 
classes  were  fully  aroused,  and  it  was 
impossible  for  any  one  to  answer  for 
the  consequences  of  the  presence  of 
Northern  troops  anywhere  within  the 
borders  of  Maryland.  He  reminded  the 
President,  also,  that  the  jurisdiction  of 
the  city  authorities  was  confined  to  their 
own  population,  and  that  he  could  give 
no  promises  for  the  people  elsewhere, 
because  he  would  be  unable  to  keep 
them  if  given.  The  President  frankly 
acknowledged  this  difficulty,  and  said 
that  the  Government  would  only  ask 
the  city  authorities  to  use  their  best 


THROUGH  MARYLAND. 


209 


efforts  with  respect  to  those  under  their 
jurisdiction. 

"  The  interview  terminated  with  the 
distinct  assurance  on  the  part  of  the 
President,  that  no  more  troops  would 
be  sent  through  Baltimore,  unless  ob 
structed  in  their  transit  in  other  di 
rections,  and  with  the  understanding 
that  the  city  authorities  should  do  their 
best  to  restrain  their  own  people. 

"  The  Mayor  and  his  companions,  be 
fore  departing,  urged  upon  the  Presi 
dent  in  the  most  earnest  manner  a 
course  of  policy  which  would  give  peace 
to  the  country,  and  especially  the  with 
drawal  of  all  orders  contemplating  the 
passage  of  troops  through  any  part  of 
Maryland." 

The  Mayor  had,  however,  just  as  he 
was  about  leaving  the  capital,  received 
a  dispatch  informing  him  of  the  march 
of  Pennsylvania  troops  to  Cockeysville, 
in  Maryland,  only  distant  fifteen  miles 
from  Baltimore.  This  appeared  to  him 
as  a  threatening  approach,  and  he  hur 
ried  with  his  dispatch  to  the  President, 
who  expressed  great  surprise  at  its  pur 
port,  and  immediately  summoned  Gen 
eral  Scott  and  the  secretary  of  war,  who 
at  once  appeared,  in  company  with  the 
other  members  of  the  cabinet.  The 
dispatch  containing  intelligence  of  the 
movement  of  the  Pennsylvania  troops 
was  now  submitted  to  the  whole  .con 
clave.  Mr.  Lincoln  having  declared  that 
he  had  no  idea  that  a  force  was  to 
move  on  that  day  to  Cockeysville,  urged 
emphatically  the  immediate  recall  of  the 
troops,  to  avoid  the  slightest  suspicion 
of  bad  faith  on  his  part  in  summoning 
27 


the  Mayor  of  Baltimore  to  Washington, 
and  allowing  troops  to  advance  toward 
the  city  during  his  absence.  The  Pres 
ident  then  expressed  his  desire  that  the 
troops  might,  if  practicable,  be  sent  back 
at  once  to  York  or  Harrisburg. 

o 

General  Scott  warmly  concurred,  and 
immediately  issued  an  order  to  that  ef 
fect  and  delivered  it  to  an  aid-de-camp, 
who  departed  on  the  instant.  At  the 
same  time  assurances  were  given  that 
the  troops  at  Cockeysville  were  not  in 
tended  to  march  through  Baltimore,  but 
to  the  Relay  House,  on  the  Baltimore 
and  Ohio  Railroad. 

The  military  activity,  however,  of  the 
free  States  was  quickly  relieving  the 
Government  from  its  position  of  per 
plexity  and  humiliation.  The  militia 
regiments  already  organized,  and  the 
volunteer  corps  forming  with  wonderful 
rapidity,  kept  daily  moving  on  toward 
the  capital.  Some  reached  Annapolis 
by  the  way  of  Philadelphia,  while  others 
were  transported  directly  thither  from 
Northern  ports  on  steamers  chartered 
by  the  Government  for  the  purpose. 
The  route  from  Annapolis  to  Washing 
ton,  through  a  disaffected  State,  was 
kept  clear  by  the  energetic  action  of 
General  Butler,  who  continued  to  hold 
the  chief  command  in  that  quarter. 

This  spirited  officer  met  with  great 
opposition  in  Maryland  from  the  au 
thorities  of  that  State,  either  intimidated 
by  the  rebellious,  or  disposed  to  sympa 
thize  with  their  disloyalty.  Governor 
Hicks  had  repaired  to  Annapolis,  the 
capital  of  Maryland,  and  remonstrated 
against  Butler's  landing  of  the  troops : 


210 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


April  "I  would  most  earnestly  advise," 
20.  he  wrote,  "that  you  do  not  land 
your  men  at  Annapolis.  The  excite 
ment  here  is  very  great,  and  I  think 
that  you  should  take  your  men  else 
where.  I  have  telegraphed  to  the  sec 
retary  of  war,  advising  against  your 
landing  your  men  here." 

To  this  communication  Butler  merely 
answered,  in  the  first  place,  that  the  ar 
rival  of  his  command  at  Annapolis  was 
the  result  of  circumstances  beyond  his 
control,  and  that  their  landing  was  a 
necessary  part  of  the  performance  of  his 
duty  to  the  Federal  Government.  Re 
ceiving  no  reply,  he  wrote  another  com 
munication  to  the  Governor,  demanding 
a  direct  answer  to  a  question  very  per- 
April  tinent  to  the  loyalty  of  the  State 
22.  of  Maryland:  "I  desire  of  your 
Excellency  an  immediate  reply,"  wrote 
Butler,  "  whether  I  have  the  permission 
of  the  State  authorities  of  Maryland  to 
land  the  men  under  my  command,  and 
of  passing  quietly  through  the  State  on 
my  way  to  Washington,  respecting  pri 
vate  property,  and  paying  for  what  I 
receive,  and  outraging  the  rights  of 
none — a  duty  which  I  am  hound  to  do 
in  obedience  to  the  requisitions  of  the 
United  States."  At  the  same  time  Gen 
eral  Butler  took  occasion  to  object  to 
the  sectional  character  the  Governor 
had  attributed  to  the  State  troops,  sum 
moned  to  the  defence  of  the  Union  :  "I 
beg  leave,"  he  said,  "to  call  your  Ex 
cellency's  attention  to  what  I  hope  I 
may  be  pardoned  for  deeming  an  ill-ad 
vised  designation  of  the  men  under  my 
command.  They  are  not  Northern 


troops  ;  they  are  a  part  of  the  whole 
militia  of  the  United  States,  obeying  the 
call  of  the  President." 

Governor  Hicks  withheld  his  consent 
to  the  landing  of  the  troops,  but  con 
tented  himself  with  a  protest  against 
the  movement,  declaring,  that  ' '  in  view 
of  the  excited  condition"  of  Maryland, 
he  considered  it  an  "  unwise  step  on  the 
part  of  the  Government." 

In  the  mean  time,  Governor  Hicks, 
though  hitherto  he  had  firmly  refused, 
summoned  the  Legislature  to  meet  <ii 
Annapolis.  This  was  a  timid  con-  \^r\[ 
cession  to  the  secessionists,  who  26. 
were  believed  to  control  that  body. 
Butler  having,  in  spite  of  protests  and 
threatened  resistance,  landed  his  troops, 
had,  in  order  to  secure  their  transit, 
taken  possession  of  the  Annapolis  and 
Elk  Ridge  Railroad.  The  Governor 
protested  against  this  seizure  of  the 
railroad,  declaring  that  its  military  pos 
session  would  prevent  the  members  of 
the  Legislature  from  assembling  at  An 
napolis,  the  capital.  He,  however,  thus 
exposed  his  secession  proclivities,  if  not 
his  complicity  with  the  rebellious,  which 
he  had  vainly  attempted  to  conceal,  but 
which  had  caused  his  ready  compliance 
with  their  demands.  Butler,  in  his 
answer  to  the  Governor's  protest,  thrust 
this  charge  of  prevarication  home  to 
him :, 

"HEADQUARTERS,  THIRD  BRIGADE, U.  S.  MIL.,  | 
ANNAPOLIS,  MD.,  April  23,  1861.  f 

"To  His  EXCELLENCY  THOS.  H.  HICKS,  GOV 
ERNOR  OF  MARYLAND  : 

"You  are  credibly  informed  that  I 
have  taken  possession  of  the  Annapolis 


BUTLER  AT  ANNAPOLIS. 


211 


and  Elk  Ridge  Railroad.  It  might  have 
escaped  your  memory,  but  at  the  official 
meeting  between  your  Excellency,  and 
the  Mayor  of  Annapolis,  and  the  au 
thorities  of  the  Government  and  myself, 
it  was  expressly  stated  as  the  reason 
why  I  should  not  land,  and  that  my 
troops  could  not  land,  because  the  com 
pany  had  taken  up  the  rails,  and  they 
were  private  property.  It  is  difficult  to 
see  how  it  could  be  that  if  my  troops 
could  not  pass  over  the  railroad  one 
way,  the  members  of  the  Legislature 
could  pass  the  other  way.  I  have  taken 
possession  for  the  purpose  of  preventing 
the  carrying  out  of  the  threats  of  the 
mob,  as  officially  represented  to  me  by 
the  master  of  transportation  of  this  city, 
'  that  if  my  troops  passed  over  the  rail 
road,  the  railroad  should  be  destroyed.7 

"  If  the  government  of  the  State  had 
taken  possession  of  the  railroad  in  any 
emergency,  I  should  have  long  waited 
before  I  entered  upon  it.  But,  as  I  had 
the  honor  to  inform  your  Excellency  in 
regard  to  insurrection  against  the  laws 
of  Maryland,  I  am  here  armed  to  main 
tain  those  laws,  if  your  Excellency  de 
sires,  and  the  peace  of  the  United  States, 
against  all  disorderly  persons  whatever. 
I  am  endeavoring  to  save,  and  not  to 
destroy,  to  obtain  means  of  transporta 
tion,  so  I  can  vacate  the  capital  prior  to 
the  sitting  of  the  Legislature,  and  not 
be  under  the  painful  necessity  of  occu 
pying  your  beautiful  city  while  the  Leg 
islature  is  in  session.  I  have  the  honor 
to  be  your  Excellency's  obedient  serv 
ant,  Br.-Gen.  B.  F.  BUTLER." 

While  thus  resolute,  however,  in  the 


performance  of  his  duty  to  the  General 
Government,  Butler  was  not  less  solic 
itous  to  uphold  the  institutions  and  sup 
port  the  laws  of  Maryland.  His  fastid 
ious  regard  for  the  State  was  manifest 
on  the  occasion  of  a  threatened  rising 
of  the  negroes.  Butler  offered  the  aid 
of  his  troops  in  suppressing  the  rumored 
insurrection. 

"HEADQUARTERS  THIRD  BRIG.  MASS.  V.  MIL.,  ) 
ANNAPOLIS,  April  23,  1861.  J 

"  To  HIS  EXCELLENCY  THOMAS  H.  HICKS,  GOV 
ERNOR  OF  THE  STATE  or  MARYLAND  : 

1 '  I  did  myself  the  honor,  in  my  com 
munication  of  yesterday,  wherein  I  asked 
permission  to  land  the  portion  of  the 
militia  of  the  United  States  under  my 
command,  to  state  that  they  were  armed 
only  against  the  disturbers  of  the  peace 
of  the  State  of  Maryland  and  of  the 
United  States. 

"  I  have  understood  within  the  last 
hour  that  some  apprehensions  are  en 
tertained  of  an  insurrection  of  the  negro 
population  of  this  neighborhood.  I  am 
anxious  to  convince  all  classes  of  per 
sons  that  the  forces  under  my  command 
are  not  here  in  any  way  to  interfere 
with  or  countenance  any  interference 
with  the  laws  of  the  State.  I  am  there 
fore  ready  to  co-operate  with  your  Ex 
cellency  in  suppressing  most  promptly 
and  effectively  any  insurrection  against 
the  laws  of  Maryland. 

"  I  beg,  therefore,  that  you  announce 
publicly  that  any  portion  of  the  forces 
under  my  command  is  at  your  Excel 
lency's  disposal,  to  act  immediately  for 
the  preservation  and  quietness  of  the 
peace  of  this  community. 


212 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE*  SOUTH. 


"  And  I  have  the  honor  to  be  your 
Excellency's  obedient  servant, 

"BENJAMIN  F.  BUTLER, 
"  General  of  Third  Brigade." 

The  Governor  gratefully  acknowl 
edged  this  tender  of  service,  but,  confi 
dent  in  the  ability  of  the  citizens  them 
selves  to  suppress  any  insurrection  of 
the  slave  population  of  Maryland,  de 
clined  General  Butler's  conciliatory  but 
officious  offer. 

The  Legislature  of  Maryland,  under 
the  pretence  that  it  was  not  safe  to  meet 
in  Annapolis,  the  capital,  while  in  the 
military  possession  of  General  Butler 
with  Northern  troops,  convened  at  Fred 
erick.  The  Governor,  in  his  message, 
April  gave  a  resume  of  his  action,  and 
27.  after  bewailing  the  angry  disposi 
tion  of  the  State,  strove,  in  a  strain 
of  amiable  rhetoric,  to  compose  it  by 
counseling  gentleness,  peace,  and  neu 
trality. 

"  It  is  my  duty,"  he  said,  "  to  advise 
you  of  my  own  convictions  of  the  proper 
course  to  be  pursued  by  Maryland  in 
the  emergency  which  is  upon  us.  It  is 
of  no  consequence  now  to  discuss  the 
causes  which  have  induced  our  troubles. 
Let  us  look  to  our  distressing  present 
and  to  our  portentous  future.  The  fate 
of  Maryland,  and  perhaps  of  her  sister 
border  slave  States,  will  undoubtedly 
be  seriously  affected  by  the  action  of 
your  honorable  body.  Therefore  should 
every  good  citizen  bend  all  his  energies 
to  the  task  before  us,  and  therefore 
should  the  animosities  and  bickerings 
of  the  past  be  forgotten,  and  all  strike 
hands  in  the  bold  cause  of  restoring 


peace  to  our  State  and  to  our  country. 
I  honestly  and  most  earnestly  entertain 
the  .conviction,  that  the  only  safety  of 
Maryland  lies  in  preserving  a  neutral 
position  between  our  brethren  of  the 
North  and  of  the  South.  We  have  vio 
lated  no  right  of  either  section.  We 
have  been  loyal  to  the  Union.  The  un 
happy  contest  between  the  two  sections 
has  not  been  commenced  or  encouraged 
by  us,  although  we  have  suffered  from 
it  in  the  past.  The  impending  war  has 
not  come  by  any  act  or  any  wish  of  ours. 
We  have  done  all  we  could  to  avert  it. 
We  have  hoped  that  Maryland  and  other 
border  slave  States,  by  their  conserva 
tive  position  and  love  for  the  Union, 
might  have  acted  as  mediators  between 
the  extremes  of  both  sections,  and  thus 
have  prevented  the  terrible  evils  of  a 
prolonged  civil  war.  Entertaining  these 
views,  I  cannot  counsel  Maryland  to 
take  sides  against  the  General  Govern 
ment  until  it  shall  commit  outrages  on 
us  which  would  justify  us  in  resisting 
its  authority.  As  a  consequence,  I  can 
give  no  other  counsel  than  that  we  shall 
array  ourselves  for  union  and  peace, 
and  thus  preserve  our  soil  from  being 
polluted  with  the  blood  of  brethren. 
Thus,  if  war  must  be  between  the  North 
and  South,  we  may  force  the  contending 
parties  to  transfer  the  field  of  battle  from 
our  soil,  so  that  our  lives  and  property 
may  be  secure." 

There  was  a  strong  disposition  on  the 
part  of  a  majority  of  the  Legislature  of 
Maryland  to  precipitate  the  State  into 
secession.  Checked,  however,  by  the 
increased  manifestation  of  loyalty  to  the 


DEFEAT   OF  SECESSION   IN  MARYLAND. 


213 


Union,  on  the  part  of  some  of  their  fel 
low-citizens,  and  awed  by  the  rapid  ac 
cumulation  of  United  States  troops  in 
Maryland  and  in  Washington,  they  hes 
itated.  Meetings  had,  in  the  mean  time, 
gathered  in  Baltimore  and  other  parts 
of  the  State,  and  passed  resolutions  of 
loyalty  to  the  Union.  The  United  States 
flag  began  to  be  unfurled,  and  secession 
badges  and  colors  to  disappear.  There 
was,  however,  in  the  rapid  mustering 
of  the  Northern  militia,  a  more  forcible 
appeal  in  behalf  of  the  Union.  The 
concentration  at  Annapolis  of  a  large 
May  force,  and  the  movement  of  Gen- 
5t  eral  Butler  to  the  Relay  House,  at 
the  junction  of  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio 
and  Baltimore  and  Washington  rail 
ways,  only  seven  miles  south  of  Balti 
more,  and  commanding  its  most  import 
ant  communications,  caused  even  the 
most  headstrong  of  the  Maryland  Legis 
lature  to  pause  before  taking  the  dan 
gerous  step  of  secession  to  which  they 
had  been  otherwise  so  inclined.  Find 
ing  the  Federal  Government  prepared 
to  vindicate  its  authority,  and  fearful  of 
bringing  upon  their  State  its  armed 
vengeance,  the  secessionists  gave  up  all 
hope  of  the  direct  accomplishment  of 
their  purpose,*  but  strove  to  secure  its 
fulfilment  by  indirect  action.  Not  ven 
turing  to  pass  an  act  of  immediate  se 
cession,  they  made  an  effort  to  bring 
it  about  sooner  or  later  through  the  es 
tablishment  of  a  "  Board  of  Public 
Safety,"  to  be  officered  and  controlled 
by  their  own  friends.  This  board  was 

*  A  vote,  however,  was  taken,  which  resulted  in  fifty- 
three  against  and  thirteen  for  secession  from  the  Union. 


intended  to  assume  the  executive  power 
of  the  State  in  place  of  the  regularly 
constituted  authorities,  whose  supposed 
fidelity  to  the  Union  was  an  obstacle  to 
the  designs  of  the  secessionists.  Thus 
they  hoped  to  accomplish  indirectly  their 
fixed  purpose  of  wresting  Maryland  from 
the  Union.  Their  intention,  however, 
being  obvious,  was  at  once  opposed  and 
defeated  by  the  timely  interposition  of 
the  conservatives  of  the  State.  At  a  con 
vention  which  met  at  Baltimore,  the 
following  resolutions  were  passed  : 

"  Resolved,  That  the  Convention,  in 
the  name  of  the  order-loving  people  of 
Baltimore,  do  solemnly  protest  against 
the  attempt  now  making  in  the  Legis 
lature  of  Maryland  to  inaugurate  a  mil 
itary  despotism,  by  the  enactment  of  a 
bill  to  create  a  Committee  of  Public 
Safety,  which,  under  a  profession  of 
providing  for  the  protection,  safety, 
peace,  and  defence  of  the  State,  would, 
if  enacted  into  a  law,  confer  on  an  irre 
sponsible  body  powers  which  are  uncon 
stitutional  and  tyrannical  in  principle, 
and  which,  by  withdrawing  from  the 
citizen  all  guarantees  now  enjoyed  for 
his  individual  security,  must  endanger 
the  public  peace  ;  and  in  the  event  of 
the  enactment  of  that  bill,  we  shall  es 
teem  it  our  duty  to  avail  ourselves  of 
all  constitutional  remedies  for  defeating 
its  execution  and  vindicating  public 
liberty. 

"  Resolved,  secondly,  That  the  mea 
sures  enacted  and  enacting  by  the  Leg 
islature  are  indicative  of  a  purpose  on 
the  part  of  the  majority  thereof,  to  pre 
cipitate  Maryland  into  a  struggle  with  the 


2U 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


constitutional  authorities  of  the  Union, 
and  to  effect,  by  indirect  action,  a  re 
sult  which  they  acknowledge  they  are 
unable  to  accomplish  by  direct  legisla 
tion  on  the  subject,  and  that  we  depre 
cate  any  efforts  to  change  the  relations  at 
present  existing  between  the  Union  and 
this  State,  by  any  authority  whatsoever." 
The  secessionists  of  the  Legislature, 
though  thwarted  in  their  plans  of  hos 
tility,  did  not  conceal  their  animosity 
to  the  Northern  States  and  the  Federal 
Government.  When  called  upon  by  the 
Mayor  of  Baltimore  for  action  in  regard 
to  the  restoration  of  the  communications 
between  that  city  and  other  parts  of  the 
country,  which  had  been  closed  by  the 
destruction  of  railroad  bridges,  and  the 
hostile  attitude  of  the  people  of  Mary 
land,  a  committee  was  appointed  to  con- 
eider  the  subject.  In  their  report,  while 
they  confessed  that  ' '  the  almost  total 
interruption  of  direct  communication 
between  Baltimore  and  the  North,  by 
destruction  of  bridges  upon  the  North 
ern,  Central,  and  Philadelphia  railroads, 
is  an  evil  very  aggravated  in  its  charac 
ter,  not  only  in  itself  but  in  its  manifest 
bearings  upon  the  prosperity  of  the 
State  and  its  commercial  metropolis," 
they  could  not  refrain  from  a  quasi 
justification  of  the  violence  which  had 
caused  it.  The  committee  declared  that 
"in  the  face  of  a  danger  which  would 
seem  inevitable,  if  facilities  for  invasion 
were  offered  to  the  fanatical  and  excited 
multitudes  of  the  Northern  cities,  where 
animosity  to  Baltimore  and  Maryland  is 
measured  by  no  standard,  and  who  pub 
licly  threaten  our  destruction,  without 


subordination  even  to  the  Federal  au 
thority,  it  could  hardly  be  consistent 
with  the  commonest  prudence  to  re 
open  the  avenues  which  would  bring 
them  to  our  very  doors."  Adding, 
' '  that  the  channels  of  intercourse  with 
the  Northern  States  cannot  be  effectually 
re-established  without  a  guarantee  from 
some  quarter  of  the  safety  and  peace  of 
Maryland,"  the  committee  recommended 
that  this  should  be  sought  from  the 
Federal  Government. 

Three  commissioners  were  accordingly 
appointed  to  communicate  with  the 
President  of  the  United  States  "  in  re 
gard  to  the  present  and  any  proposed 
military  use  or  occupation  of  the  soil 
and  property  of  the  State  by  the  Gen 
eral  Government."  Having  proceeded 
to  the  capital  and  communicated  with 
Mr.  Lincoln  and  his  cabinet,  the  commis 
sioners  duly  reported  the  result.  The 
report  is  a  cautiously  worded  document, 
but  the  sympathy  of  its  authors  with 
secession  is  manifest,  in  spite  of  their 
technical  adherence  to  the  legal  obliga 
tions  of  loyalty. 

"To  THE  HONORABLE  GENERAL  ASSEMBLY  ov 

MARYLAND : 

"  The  undersigned  commissioners  have 
the  honor  to  report  to  the  General  jfay 
Assembly  of  Maryland  that  they  6t 
waited  in  person  on  the  President  of  the 
United  States  on  the  4th  inst.,  and  pre 
sented  him  with  a  copy  of  the  joint  res 
olutions  adopted  by  your  honorable  body 
on  the  2d  inst.  They  were  received  by 
the  President  with  respectful  courtesy, 
and  made  such  representations  as  were 
necessary  to  convey  to  him  the  sense  of 


REPORT   OF  MARYLAND   COMMISSIONERS. 


215 


the  General  Assembly  of  Maryland,  in 
relation  to  the  occupation  of  the  capital 
of  the  State  by  Federal  troops,  and  the 
forcible  seizure  of  property  of  the  State, 
and  of  private  citizens  on  the  Annapolis 
Railroad,  and  on  the  Washington  Branch 
of  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  Railroad  ; 
and  in  this  connection  his  attention  was 
called  to  the  suspension  of  intercourse 
between  Baltimore  and  Washington,  and 
other  parts  of  the  State  with  Annapolis, 
and  the  indignity  put  upon  the  State 
while  still  in  the  Federal  Union,  by  such 
an  interference  with  the  private  rights 
of  its  citizens,  and  by  such  an  occupation 
of  its  soil  and  ways  of  communication 
by  the  Federal  Government.  Full  ex 
planations  were  exchanged  between  the 
undersigned  and  the  secretary  of  war 
and  secretary  of  state,  who  were  present 
and  participated  in  the  discussion,  as  to 
the  facts  and  circumstances  rendered 
necessary  by  the  extraordinary  incidents 
accompanying  the  passage  of  the  Fed 
eral  troops  through  Maryland  en  route  to 
the  city  of  Washington,  and  especially 
in  reference  to  those  acts  of  the  author 
ities  of  the  city  of  Baltimore,  which 
arrested  the  progress  of  the  troops  by 
the  railroads  leading  from  Pennsylvania 
and  Delaware  into  Maryland,  and  of  the 
opposition  to  the  landing  of  the  troops 
subsequently  at  Annapolis  by  the  Gov 
ernor  of  the  State,  and  in  conjunction 
with  the  action  of  the  authorities  of  the 
State.  The  hostile  feeling  manifested 
by  the  people  to  the  passage  of  these 
troops  through  Maryland  was  considered 
and  treated  with  entire  frankness  by  the 
undersigned,  who,  while  acknowledging 


all  the  legal  obligations  of  the  State  to 
the  Federal  Government,  set  forth  fully 
the  strength  of  the  sympathy  felt  by  a 
large  portion  of  our  people  for  our 
Southern  brethren  in  the  present  crisis. 
Although  many  of  the  instances  and 
circumstances  referred  to  were  regarded 
in  different  lights  by  the  undersigned 
and  the  Federal  Government,  even  to 
the  extent  of  a  difference  of  opinion  as 
to  some  of  the  facts  involved,  yet  in  re 
gard  to  the  general  principle  at  issue  a 
concurrence  of  opinion  was  reached. 
The  President  concurred  with  the  under 
signed  in  the  opinion  that  so  long  as 
Maryland  has  not  taken,  and  was  not 
about  taking,  a  hostile  attitude  to  the 
Federal  Government,  that  the  executive 
military  occupation  of  her  ways  of  com 
munication,  and  the  seizure  of  the  prop 
erty  of  her  citizens,  would  be  without 
justification  ;  and  what  has  been  referred 
to  in  this  connection,  so  far  as  it  oc 
curred,  was  treated  by  the  Government 
as  an  act  of  necessity  and  self-preserva 
tion.  The  undersigned  did  not  feel 
themselves  authorized  to  enter  into  any 
engagement  with  the  Federal  Govern 
ment  to  induce  it  to  change  its  relations 
to  the  State  of  Maryland,  considering 
it  proper  under  the  circumstances  to 
leave  the  entire  discretion  and  responsi 
bility  of  the  existing  state  of  things  to 
that  Government,  making  such  repre 
sentations  as  they  deem  proper  to  vindi 
cate  the  moral  and  legal  aspects  of  the 
question,  and  especially  insisting  on  its 
obligation  to  relieve  the  State  promptly 
from  restraint  and  indignity,  and  to  ab 
stain  from  all  action  in  the  transportation 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


of  troops  that  can  be  regarded  as  in 
tended  for  chastisement  or  prompted  by 
resentment.  The  undersigned  are  not 
able  to  indicate  to  what  extent  or  to 
what  degree  the  executive  discretion 
will  be  exercised  in  modifying  the  rela 
tions  which  now  exist  between  the  State 
of  Maryland  and  the  Federal  Govern 
ment,  and  in  the  particular  matter  of  the 
commercial  communication  between  the 
city  of  Baltimore  and  the  other  part  of 
the  country,  brought  to  the  attention  of 
the  General  Assembly  by  the  Mayor  and 
City  Council  of  Baltimore  ;  but  they 
feel  authorized  to  express  the  opinion 
that  some  modification  may  be  expected. 
The  undersigned  feel  painfully  confident 


that  a  war  is  to  be  waged  to  reduce  all 
the  seceding  States  to  allegiance  to  the 
Federal  Government,  and  that  the  whok- 
military  power  of  the  Federal  Govern- 
ment  will  be  exerted  to  accomplish  that 
purpose  ;  and  though  the  expression  of 
this  opinion  is  not  called  for  by  the  res 
olution  of  your  honorable  bodies,  yet? 
having  had  the  opportunity  to  ascertain 
its  entire  accuracy,  and  because  it  will 
explain  much  of  the  military  prepara 
tions  and  movements  of  the  troops 
through  the  State  of  Maryland,  it  is 
proper  to  bring  it  to  your  attention. 
"  OTHO  SCOTT, 
"ROBERT  M.  McLANE. 
"  WM.  J.  Ross." 


CHAPTER    XIX. 

The  rapid  Response  to  the  President's  Call  for  Troops. — The  Capital  pronounced  safe. — Maryland  Awed. — Virginia  kept 
in  check. — Increased  Resources  of  the  Government. — Reinforcement  of  Fortress  Monroe. — Description  of  Fortress 
Monroe. — The  importance  of  its  Position. — Its  Construction. — Site. — Communications  with  the  Mainland. — The 
Outer  Walls. — The  form  of  the  Fort.— The  Armament.— Late  Additions.— The  Moat.— The  Water  Battery.^-The 
Gates. — The  Redoubt. — How  Commanded.— Its  Approaches. — How  Defended. — The  Defects  of  the  Fort. — The  Ex 
terior.— The  Hygeia  Hotel.— Old  Point  Comfort.— Importance  of  the  Post.— Danger  of  losing  it.— Anxiety  of  the 
North.— Reinforcements  from  Massachusetts.— Increased  Authority  and  Vigor  of  the  Federal  Government. — New 
Military  Departments.— Another  Call  from  the  President  for  Troops.— His  Proclamation.— The  swift  Answer  of  the 
North. — Virginia  and  North  Carolina  included  in  the  Blockade. — Increase  of  the  Fleet. — Purchase  of  Merchant 
Steamers. — General  Butler's  Fortifications  at  the  Relay  House.— Command  of  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  Railroad.  - 
Reconstruction  of  Bridges  and  Opening  of  Communications. — Fort  McHenry  Reinforced. — Its  effect  upon  Baltimore. 
— Description  of  the  Fortress. — The  good  conduct  of  its  Commander. — Position  of  the  Fort. — Reaction  of  Sentiment 
in  Maryland. — Union  Feeling  claimed  to  be  predominant. — Union  Meetings  and  Union  Orators.— Speech  of  Reverdy 
Johnson.— Presentation  of  Flag  to  the  Home  Guard  of  Frederick. — Great  Crowds  of  Unionists. — Remarkable  dis 
play  of  Union  Emblems. — Manly  Rhetoric  of  Johnson. — Sensible  Advice  to  Marylanders. — A  fervid  Appeal  in 
behalf  of  the  United  States  Flag. — The  Secessionists  awed  to  silence. — Secret  efforts  to  advance  Secession. — The 
City  of  Baltimore  tranquilized.— Disbandment  of  the  City  Soldiery. — Butler  Marches  into  the  City.— His  Reception. 
— Encampment  on  Federal  Hill. — Proclamation  of  Butler. — Seizure  of  Arms.— Arrest  of  prominent  Citizens.— Good 
effects  of  Decision. — The  Governor  of  Maryland  takes  Courage. — He  responds  to  the  President's  Call  for  Troops. — 
A  Proclamation  Modified  to  suit  Equivocal  Loyalty.— Comparative  Propriety  of  the  Legislature.— A  Spirit  of  Dis 
affection  finds  vent. — The  last  Act  of  the  Legislature.— The  Route  through  Baltimore  opened. — The  first  great 
Victory  for  the  Union. 


1861. 


SUCH  had  been  the  promptitude  with 
which  the  North  had  responded  to 
the  proclamation,  of  the  15th  of 


April,  of  the  President  calling  forth  the 
militia,  that  in  less  than  ten  days  after, 
more  than  twenty  thousand  troops  had 


FORTRESS   MONROE. 


217 


inarched.  The  capital,  which  was  sup 
posed  to  have  been  in  imminent  danger 
from  Virginia  and  Maryland,  was  now 
pronounced  safe.  The  insurgents  of  the 
former  State  in  arms  against  the  Federal 
Government,  and  who  had  mustered  to 
the  number  of  several  thousands,  and  en 
camped  on  the  banks  of  the  Potomac 
opposite  to  Washington,  were  kept  in 
awe  by  the  militia  which  had  rapidly 
accumulated  at  the  capital.  Maryland, 
dominated  by  a  considerable  Federal 
force  in  possession  of  the  channels  of 
communication,  also  feared  any  longer  to 
make  violent  demonstration  of  its  dis 
affection,  and  appeared  suddenly  to  be 
converted  to  loyalty. 

The  Federal  Government  strength 
ened  thus  by  the  military  ardor  and 
promptitude  of  the  loyal  States,  was 
enabled  not  only  to  provide  for  the  im 
mediate  defence  of  the  capital,  and  to 
check  the  rebellious  tendencies  of  Mary 
land,  but  to  reinforce  a  post  of  the 
greatest  importance  in  the  future  con 
duct  of  the  war.  This  was  Fortress 
Monroe,  the  most  extensive  work  of 
defence  in  the  United  States.  Situated 
at  the  mouth  of  the  Chesapeake,  it  com 
mands  the  only  approaches  from  the  sea 
to  Maryland  and  Virginia,  and  to  the 
various  rivers,  the  Susquehannah,  the 
Potomac,  Rappahannock,  York,  James, 
and  the  numerous  small  streams  and 
creeks  which  empty  into  the  bay,  and 
thus  find  their  outlet  to  the  Atlantic 
Ocean. 

Fortress  Monroe  was  designed  by  the 
celebrated  French  engineer  General 
Barnard,  in  1819,  then  in  the  service  of 

28 


the  United  States.  Fort  Wool,  on  the 
Rip  Raps,  intended  to  cross  fire  with  it, 
is  yet  incomplete.  Fortress  Monroe 
is  built  upon  a  peninsula  connected 
with  the  mainland  by  a  narrow  strip  of 
sand  beach,  not  more  than  forty  rods  in 
width.  In  addition  to  this  communica 
tion,  there  has  been  constructed  a  cause 
way  with  a  bridge  toward  its  end  which 
leads  from  the  fort  to  the  road  on  the 
mainland  which  passes  to  Hampton. 
This  passage  is  so  narrow  and  so  com 
pletely  commanded  by  some  of  the 
heaviest  guns  of  the  fort,  as  to  render 
any  approach  in  that  direction  almost 
impracticable.  The  waters  of  the  bay 
which  flow  in  between  the  peninsula 
and  the  mainland,  enclosed,  as  it  were, 
like  a  lake,  between  the  natural  neck  of 
sand  and  the  artificial  causeway,  vary  in 
width  from  one  to  three  miles. 

The  outer  walls  of  Fortress  Monroe 
embrace  an  area  of  nearly  sixty-five 
acres,  of  which  twenty-five  regularly 
laid  out  and  shaded  by  a  fine  growth  of 
live  oak  form  the  parade  ground.  The 
work  is  bastioned,  and  is  of  an  irregular 
heptagon  form.  The  walls,  constructed 
of  granite  and  embanked  with  thick 
mounds  of  sand  and  clay,  rise  to  a  height 
of  thirty-five  feet.  On  the  ramparts 
are  mounted  heavy  guns,  some  of  which 
are  forty-two  pounders  and  others  co- 
lumbiads.  These  being  en  barbette  are 
uncovered.  There  are  about  seventy 
large  casemates,  which  are  bomb  and 
shot  proof.  Some  of  these  are  appro 
priated  for  officers'  quarters,  and  others 
for  guard-houses  and  general  barracks. 
The  embrasures,  though  intended  orig- 


21S 


THE   WAR   WITH   THE   SOUTH. 


inally  for  forty-two  pounders,  are  suffi 
ciently  large  for  columbiads  of  the  great 
est  size. 

The  armament  of  the  fortress  as  orig 
inally  recorded  in  the  official  statement 
was  composed  of  forty-two  forty-two 
pounders,  a  hundred  and  thirty-nine 
thirty-two  pounders,  ten  twenty-four 
pounders,  fourteen  eighteen  pounders, 
twenty-five  twelve  pounders,  twelve  field 
pieces,  sixteen  flank  howitzers,  twenty 
heavy  eight-inch  howitzers,  five  light 
eight-inch  howitzers,  three  thirteen-inch 
mortars,  seven  heavy  ten-inch  mortars, 
three  light  ten-inch  mortars,  five  light 
eight-inch  mortars,  five  sixteen-inch 
stone  mortars,  and  fifteen  cohorns,  mak 
ing  in  all  three  hundred  and  seventy-one 
guns. 

This  armament,  however,  has  been 
much  modified  and  considerably  aug 
mented  since.  Columbiads  of  various 
calibres  have  been  liberally  supplied, 
and  mortars  of  various  construction  and 
other  cannon  added,  so  that  its  ramparts 
now  frown  with  the  most  formidable 
enginery  of  war  yet  constructed. 

A  broad  and  deep  moat  surrounds 
the  whole  work.  This  is  faced  with 
dressed  granite,  and  when  flooded  by 
the  opening  of  the  gates,  is  supplied 
with  water,  varying  from  eight  to  fifteen 
feet  in  depth,  and  from  seventy-five  to  a 
hundred  and  fifty  feet  in  breadth,  present 
ing  a  formidable  obstacle  to  be  overcome 
in  an  attempted  assault. 

As  the  fort  was  chiefly  intended  to 
protect  the  approaches  from  sea,  the 
chief  labor  and  expense  were  concen 
trated  upon  the  work  in  that  direction. 


Here  is  what  is  termed  the  Water 
Battery,  which  is  constructed  of  stone, 
of  a  thickness  so  great,  and  of  a  masonry 
so  solid,  that  it  is  supposed  to  be  proof 
against  any  weight  of  metal.  It  has 
forty-two  embrasures,  originally  mounted 
with  that  number  of  forty-two  pounders. 
Presenting  a  formidable  front  to  the  sea, 
this  defence  would  seem  impregnable  to 
a  naval  attack  from  without.  The  slope 
of  the  battery  is  laid  with  green  turf, 
like  the  ramparts  of  the  rest  of  the 
fortress,  and  in  times  of  peace  was  a 
favorite  promenade  for  the  fashionable 
frequenters  of  the  peninsula  seeking  the 
fresh  breezes  of  the  ocean. 

On  the  north  side  of  the  fort  there  is 
a  postern  gate,  which  leads  to  a  redoubt 
or  outerwork,  built  to  protect  the  land 
side,  which,  as  the  work  was  never  in 
tended  except  as  a  protection  against  a 
foreign  enemy,  was  left,  as  in  all  our 
coast  defences,  comparatively  weak. 
Since,  however,  the  commencement  of 
this  civil  war,  great  efforts  have  been 
made  to  give  additional  strength  to  this 
portion  of  the  works.  Heavy  guns  and 
mortars  have  been  mounted  to  command 
the  artificial  causeway  and  the  strip  of 
beach  which  join  the  peninsula  with  the 
mainland.  The  surface  of  the  country 
in  the  immediate  neighborhood,  more 
over,  being  generally  level,  there  is 
hardly  a  favorable  point  for  commencing 
the  operations  of  a  siege.  The  only 
rising  ground  for  many  miles  is  a  slight 
elevation  with  trees  on  either  side,  at 
the  extremity  of  the  neck  of  land. 
This,  however,  is  so  commanded  by  the 
guns  of  the  fort  as  to  be  untenable 


FORT  MONROE  SECURED. 


219 


On  the  beach  outside  of  the  walls 
there  is  a  fifteen-inch  columbiad  placed 
there  for  practice,  and  for  additional  de 
fence  against  an  attack  from  the  sea. 
It,  however,  also  commands  the  neck  of 
land,  and  would  seem  to  check  the  ap 
proach  of  the  most  ventursome  in  that 
direction.  The  whole  cost  of  the  ex 
tensive  works  of  Fortress  Monroe  has 
been  estimated  at  nearly  three  millions. 
The  greatest  deficiency  of  the  fort  is  the 
precariousness  of  its  supply  of  water. 
An  attempt  was  made  some  fifteen  years 
ago  to  bore  an  Artesian  well,  but  the 
effort  was  abandoned,  and  the  only  de 
pendence  at  present  is  upon  large  cis 
terns,  which  are  supplied  by  the  rains. 

Outside  of  the  fort  are  the  numerous 
foundries  and  work  and  machine  shops, 
where  large  quantities  of  munitions  of 
war  can  be  rapidly  fabricated.  There 
is  a  wharf  on  the  southern  side  of  the 
peninsula,  three  hundred  yards  distant 
from  the  fort,  where  vessels  of  the 
greatest  draft  of  water  can  lie.  About 
a  quarter  of  a  mile  distant,  and  on  the 
western  side  of  the  walls,  stood  the 
"Hygeia  Hotel,"  a  famous  resort  in  past 
summers  for  the  planters  of  the  South 
in  search  of  the  sea  breeze  at  "Old 
Point  Comfort,"  as  the  peninsula  is 
called.  Within  the  fort  itself  there  is  a 
group  of  nearly  fifty  houses  of  brick  and 
wood,  forming  quite  a  village,  and  on 
one  side  of  the  parade  ground  is  a 
seemly  Episcopal  chapel. 

To  secure  this  important  post  became 
at  once  a  matter  of  the  greatest  moment. 
Placed  as  it  was  within  the  boundaries 
of  a  State  already  in  open  rebellion,  and 


threatened  by  a  force  gathered  appar 
ently  for  the  purpose  of  attempting  to 
wrest  it  from  the  meagre  garrison  which 
held  it,  there  was  great  danger  of  its 
loss.  Massachusetts,  however,  which 
had  been  foremost  in  pouring  out  her 
resources  of  men  and  money  in  defence 
of  the  Union,  came  to  the  rescue,  and 
promptly  sent  one  of  her  regiments  of 
militia  to  aid  in  its  defence.  Embarking 
on  board  of  the  steamer  Maine,  at 
Boston,  the  Fourth  Regiment  of  Massa 
chusetts  militia  sailed  directly  to  the 
Chesapeake,  and  landed  in  safety  Aprji 
at  Fortress  Monroe  on  the  20th  of  20f 
April. 

The  Government,  encouraged  by  the 
enthusiasm  of  loyalty  of  the  people,  and 
fortified  by  their  generosity  of  service, 
began  to  assert  with  more  confidence, 
and  to  vindicate  with  more  firmness,  its 
contemned  authority.  New  military  de 
partments  were  organized.  The  j\nri[ 
District  of  Columbia,  Fort  Wash-  27. 
ington  and  the  adjacent  country,  and 
the  State  of  Maryland  as  far  as  Bladens- 
burgh,  were  erected  into  the  Department 
of  Washington,  and  placed  under  the 
command  of  Colonel  J.  K.  F.  Mansfield, 
inspector-general,  with  his  headquarters 
at  the  capital.  That  part  of  Maryland 
including  the  country  for  twenty  miles 
on  each  side  of  the  railroad  from  An 
napolis  to  the  city  of  Washington,  as  far 
as  Bladensburgh,  was  formed  into  a  new 
military  department,  entitled  the  De 
partment  of  Annapolis,  and  Butler,  with 
the  rank  of  brigadier-general  of  Massa 
chusetts  volunteers,  assigned  to  the 
command,  with  his  headquarters  at  An- 


220 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


napolis.  To  these  was  added  a  third, 
the  Department  of  Pennsylvania,  includ 
ing  that  State,  the  State  of  Delaware, 
and  all  of  Maryland  not  within  the 
other  departments,  and  the  command 
given  to  Major- General  Patterson,  with 
his  headquarters  at  Philadelphia,  or  any 
other  point  which  he  might  be  tempo 
rarily  occupying. 

This  was  soon  after  followed  by  this 

May    proclamation  of  the  President  call- 

**•      ing  for  volunteers  for  three  years, 

and  an  increase  of  the  regular  army  and 

navy  : 

"  Whereas  existing  exigencies  demand 
immediate  and  adequate  measures  for 
the  protection  of  the  national  Constitu 
tion  and  the  preservation  of  the  national 
Union,  by  the  suppression  of  the  insur 
rectionary  combinations  now  existing  in 
several  States  for  opposing  the  laws  of 
the  Union  and  obstructing  the  execution 
thereof,  to  which  end  a  military  force  in 
addition  to  that  called  forth  by  my 
proclamation  of  the  fifteenth  day  of 
April  in  the  present  year  appears  to  be 
indispensably  necessary,  now,  therefore, 
I,  Abraham  Lincoln,  President  of  the 
United  States,  and  Commander-in-chief 
of  the  Army  and  Navy  thereof,  and  of 
the  militia  of  the  several  States,  when 
called  into  actual  service,  do  hereby  call 
into  the  service  of  the  United  States 
forty-two  thousand  and  thirty-four  vol 
unteers,  to  serve  for  a  period  of  three 
years,  unless  sooner  discharged,  and  to 
be  mustered  into  service  as  infantry  and 
cavalry.  The  proportions  of  each  arm 
and  the  details  of  enrolment  and  organ 
ization  will  be  made  known  through  the 


department  of  war ;  and  I  also  direct 
that  the  regular  army  of  the  United 
States  be  increased  by  the  addition  of 
eight  regiments  of  infantry,  one  regi 
ment  of  cavalry,  and  one  regiment  of 
artillery,  making  altogether  a  maximum 
aggregate  increase  of  22,714  officers  and 
enlisted  men,  the  details  of  which  in 
crease  will  also  be  made  known  through 
the  department  of  war  ;  and  I  further 
direct  the  enlistment,  for  not  less  than 
one  nor  more  than  three  years,  of  18,000 
seamen,  in  addition  to  the  present  force, 
for  the  naval  service  of  the  United 
States.  The  details  of  the  enlistment 
and  organization  will  be  made  known 
through  the  department  of  the  nav^. 
The  call  for  volunteers,  hereby  made, 
and  the  direction  of  the  increase  of  the 
regular  army,  and  for  the  enlistment  of 
seamen  hereby  given,  together  with  the 
plan  of  organization  adopted  for  the 
volunteers  and  for  the  regular  forces 
hereby  authorized,  will  be  submitted  to 
Congress  as  soon  as  assembled. 

"  In  the  mean  time  I  earnestly  invoke 
the  co-operation  of  all  good  citizens  in 
the  measures  hereby  adopted  for  the 
effectual  suppression  of  unlawful  vio 
lence,  for  the  impartial  enforcement  of 
constitutional  laws,  and  for  the  speediest 
possible  restoration  of  peace  and  order, 
and  with  those  of  happiness  and  pros 
perity  throughout  our  country. 

"  In  testimony  whereof,  I  have  her$- 
unto  set  my  hand,  and  caused  the  seal 
of  the  United  States  to  be  affixed. 

"  Done  at  the  city  of  Washington  this 
third  day  of  May,  in  the  year  of  our 
Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and 


BALTIMORE  AWED. 


sixty-one,  and  of  the  Independence  of 
the  United  States  the  eighty-fifth. 

"  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 
"  By  the  President. 

"  WILLIAM  H.  SEWAKD,  Secretary  of  State." 
All  the  Northern  States  began  to  re 
spond  rapidly  to  this  call  of  the  Presi 
dent  for  additional  troops,  and  the  Gov 
ernment  was  judiciously  availing  itself 
of  its  increased  naval  and  military  re 
sources.  Virginia  and  North  Carolina 
were  included  in  the  blockade  already 
April  declared,  of  South  Carolina,  Geor- 
27.  gia,  Florida,  Alabama,  Louisiana, 
Mississippi,  and  Texas.  Merchant  steam 
ers  were  purchased  or  chartered  to 
strengthen  the  naval  arm,  quite  inade 
quate  to  the  duty  of  watching  so  exten 
sive  a  line  of  sea-coast.  The  various 
ports  on  the  Chesapeake  and  the  Poto 
mac  were  especially  guarded  by  the 
Government  cruisers,  and  the  communi 
cations  of  Virginia  with  the  sea  thus 
effectually  cut  off. 

As  before  stated,  General  Butler,  with 
May  a  large  force,  took  possession  of  the 
5«  Relay  House,  at  the  junction  of 
the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  Railroad,  only 
seven  miles  from  Baltimore.  Here  he 
planted  eight  howitzers  on  the  viaduct 
over  the  Patapsco  River  and  threw  up  en 
trenchments.  He  thus  could  overawe  the 
rebellious  tendencies  of  that  disaffected 
city,  and,  by  commanding  the  Baltimore 
and  Ohio  Railroad,  prevent  the  sending 
of  supplies  to  the  insurgents  of  Virginia 
in  force  at  Harper's  Ferry,  by  their 
sympathizers  in  Maryland.  At  the  same 
time  the  communications  between  Balti 
more  and  the  North  were  being  opened 


by  the  reconstruction  of  the  railroad 
bridges,  destroyed  by  the  rioters  of 
Maryland,  and  troops  from  Pennsylvania 
were  preparing  to  advance. 

Fort  McHenry,  too,  which  had  been 
fortunately  preserved  to  the  Govern 
ment  by  the  resolute  conduct  of  its  Fed 
eral  commander,  Captain  Robinson,  was 
reinforced,  and,  with  its  guns  threaten 
ing  the  destruction  of  their  city,  kept 
the  people  of  Baltimore  discreetly  quiet. 
When  the  Northern  troops  were  at 
tacked  on  their  passage  through  Balti 
more,  Fort  McHenry  had  been  threat 
ened  by  the  mob  ;  but  Captain  Robin 
son  made  it  so  manifest  that  he  was  de 
termined  to  defend  his  post  to  the  last 
extremity,  that  the  most  violently  dis 
posed  forbore  to  attack  him.  Fort 
McHenry  is  an  old-fashioned  work,  built 
many  years  ago.  Though  never  of 
great  strength,  it  succeeded  during  the 
war  of  1812  in  resisting  a  bombardment 
by  the  British  fleet.  Its  guns  were  all 
on  the  parapet,  without  any  protection 
from  casemates,  and  its  armament,  prin 
cipally  composed  of  forty-two  pounders, 
ten-inch  mortars,  and  eight-inch  how 
itzers,  though  originally  deemed  formi 
dable  enough,  would  prove  of  little  ef 
fect  against  the  improved  cannon  of 
more  modern  times.  Situated,  how 
ever,  on  a  point  of  land  between  the 
harbor  of  Baltimore  and  the  Patapsco 
River  which  empties  into  it,  its  posi 
tion  is  favorable  for  defending  the  ap 
proaches,  while  it  commands  at  the 
same  time  a  portion  of  the  city.  Sev 
eral  artillery  companies  were  thrown  in 
to  reinforce  the  garrison,  and  Major 


222 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


Morris  assumed  the  command,  while 
Robinson  was  transferred  to  other 
service. 

The  union  sentiment  of  Maryland  was 
now  claimed  to  be  predominant.  Large 
meetings  were  held  and  addressed  in 
strains  of  loyal  rhetoric  by  leading  poli 
ticians  of  Maryland,  who,  although  their 
fidelity  to  the  Federal  Government  had 
never  been  questioned,  had  hitherto 
been  prevented  from  openly  manifesting 
it.  Reverdy  Johnson,  an  eminent  law 
yer  and  statesman  of  Maryland,  took 
the  occasion  of  the  presentation  of  a 
United  States  flag  by  the  ladies  of  Fred 
erick,  to  the  Home  Guard  of  that  place, 
to  deliver  a  glowing  eulogy  upon  the 
Union.  There  was  a  large  audience 
gathered  to  listen  to  his  ardent  rhetoric. 
The  population  of  the  city  was  swelled 
by  the  influx  of  a  large  number  of 
friends  of  the  Union,  from  the  neigh 
boring  towns  and  villages,  some  in 
troops  on  horseback,  some  in  long  trains 
of  country  vehicles  of  every  kind,  and 
others  in  groups  afoot.  All  came  in 
their  holiday  costume,  and  with  bloom 
ing  manifestations  of  their  loyalty. 
"  Union  cockades  and  badges  were  dis 
played  in  profusion  upon  the  coats  of 
the  jubilant  Union  men,  numbers  of 
whom  were  decidedly  ambitious  in  their 
ideas  of  patriotic  personal  adornment, 
wearing  cockades  as  large  as  sunflow 
ers.  The  stars  and  stripes  fluttered  from 
about  forty  different  points,  and  alto 
gether,"  says  an  exultant  newspaper  re 
porter,  "  Frederick  may  be  said  to  have 
donned  her  holiday  suit  for  the  occa 
sion." 


Reverdy  Johnson's  speech  was  a 
manly  defence  of  the  Government,  and 
a  sensible  exposition  of  the  advantages 
of  the  Union  to  all  the  States,  and  espe 
cially  to  Maryland : 

"I  hope,"  he  said,  "you  will  con 
sider  the  occasion  as  justifying  a  few 
thoughts  as  to  the  duty  and  interest  of 
our  State  in  the  present  emergency.  In 
the  original  causes  which  have  pro 
duced  it,  she,  thank  God,  had  no  share. 
Among  the  foremost  and  bravest  in 
winning  our  independence  ;  among  the 
truest  and  wisest  in  forming  our  Gov 
ernment,  and  among  the  first  in  adopi 
ing  it,  her  sons  have  uniformly  given  it 
a  faithful  and  zealous  support.  No 
treasonable  thought,  so  far  as  we  know, 
ever  entered  the  mind  of  one  of  them  ; 
certainly  no  threat  of  treason  was  ever 
whispered  by  them.  They  ever  felt  the 
immense  advantage  of  the  Union  ;  they 
saw  evidenced  by  everything  around 
them  the  blessings  it  conferred  upon 
Maryland  and  upon  all ;  prosperity  un 
exampled,  a  national  power  increasing 
every  year  with  a  rapidity  and  to  a  de 
gree  never  before  witnessed  in  a  na 
tion's  history,  and  winning  for  us  a  namu 
challenging  the  respect  and  admiration 
of  the  world.  They  saw  in  the  extent 
of  the  country,  and  the  differences  of 
climate  and  habits,  elements  of  strength 
rather  than  of  weakness,  and  appre 
hended  therefore  no  parricidal  efforts  in 
any  quarter  to  destroy  the  Government. 
If  occasionally  murmurs  of  dissatisfac 
tion  were  heard  elsewhere,  they  were 
attributed  to  the  whining  disposition  of 
some  and  the  disappointed  ambition  of 


SPEECH   OF  REVERDY  JOHNSON. 


223 


others.  They  were  ridiculed,  subjected 
to  no  other  punishment,  but  left  to  stand 
as  '  monuments  of  the  safety  with  which 
error  of  opinion  may  be  tolerated  where 
reason  is  left  free  to  combat  it.'  No 
'  whisky  insurrection7  ever  occurred 
within  our  borders ;  no  ordinance  of 
nullification  was  ever  threatened  by  us  ; 
and,  if  we  continue  true  to  patriotic  duty, 
no  ordinance  of  secession,  direct  or  indi 
rect,  open  or  covert,  will  ever  be  adopt 
ed  by  those  in  authority,  or,  if  madly 
adopted,  be  tolerated  by  the  people. 

"  To  this  steadfast  attachment  to  the 
Union  we  are  not  only  bound  by  grati 
tude  to  the  noble  ancestry  by  whose 
patriotic  wisdom  it  was  bequeathed  to 
us,  and  by  the  unappreciable  blessings 
the  bequest  has  conferred  upon  us,  but 
by  the  assurance,  which  the  most  stolid 
intellect  can  hardly  fail  to  feel,  that  its 
destruction  would  not  only  and  at  once 
deprive  us  of  all  these,  but  precipitate 
us  into  irreparable  ruin.  In  this  ruin 
all  would  more  or  less  participate,  but 
our  geographical  position  would  make 
it  to  us  immediate  and  total.  A  peace 
able  disseverance  the  good  and  great 
men  who  have  heretofore  guided  our 
public  councils  ever  predicted  to  be  im 
possible.  The  proclamations  now  trum 
peted  through  the  land,  the  marshaling 
of  hosts  by  thousands  and  tens  of  thou 
sands,  the  whitening  of  our  waters  with 
an  immense  naval  marine,  the  blockade 
of  ports,  the  prostration  of  commerce, 
the  destruction  of  almost  all  civil  em 
ployment,  the  heated  tone  of  the  public 
press  of  all  sections,  belching  forth  the 
most  bitter  enmity — all,  all  testify  to 


the  truth  of  the  prediction.  How  this 
is  to  result,  Heaven  alone  knows. 

"  But  to  my  mind  one  thing  is  cer 
tain  :  the  Government  by  no  single  act 
of  its  own  has  given  cause  for  resist 
ance  to  its  rightful  authority.  The  pow 
ers  which  it  was  exercising  at  the  mo 
ment  when  rebellion  began  to  muster  its 
'  armies  of  pestilence,'  were  clearly  con 
ferred  upon  it  by  the  Constitution.  And 
if  the  Executive,  then  just  legally  cho 
sen,  had  meditated  any  illegal  policy, 
the  friends  of  constitutional  rights  were 
numerous  enough  in  Congress,  had  they 
remained  at  their  posts,  as  they  were 
bound  to  do  by  their  oaths  and  their 
duty  to  the  holy  cause  of  constitutional 
government,  successfully  and  peacefully 
to  have  thwarted  it. 

"The  professed  especial  friends  of 
Southern  rights,  instead  of  this,  rudely 
shot  from  their  spheres,  and,  under  the 
utterly  ridiculous  claim  of  constitutional 
right,  advised  State  secession.  Mad 
men — if  not  worse — they  desecrated, 
too,  in  support  of  this  dogma,  the  name 
of  Calhoun.  He  may  have  committed 
political  errors — who  has  not  ?  His  doc 
trine  of  nullification  was  certainly  one, 
in  the  judgment  of  all  his  great  com 
peers,  sanctioned  by  almost  the  entire 
country,  but  he  never  maintained  the 
nonsensical  heresy  of  rightful  secession. 
On  the  contrary,  long  after  that  of  the 
short-lived  nullification,  in  February, 
1844,  writing  to  his  '  political  friends 
and  supporters'  refusing  to  permit  his 
name  to  be  presented  before  the  then 
approaching  Baltimore  Convention,  he 
said : 


224: 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


"  '  That  each  State  has  the  right  to 
act  as  it  pleases  in  whatever  relates  to 
itself  exclusively,  no  one  will  deny  ;  lut 
it  is  a  perfectly  novel  doctrine  that  any 
State  has  such  a  right  when  she  comes  to 
act  in  concert  with  others  in  reference  to 
what  concerns  the  whole.  In  such  cases 
it  is  the  plainest  dictate  of  common 
sense,  that  whatever  affects  the  whole 
should  be  regulated  by  the  mutual  con 
sent  of  all,  and  not  by  the  discretion  of 
each.1 

"  That  great  philosophical  statesman 
understood,  as  in  another  letter  of  the 
3d  of  July,  1843,  he  invites  his  coun 
trymen  to  understand,  '  in  all  its  great 
and  beautiful  proportions,  the  noble  po 
litical  structure  reared  by  the  wisdom 
and  patriotism  of  our  ancestors,  and  to 
have  the  virtue  and  the  sense  to  pre 
serve  and  protect  it,'  and  declared  it  the 
'  duty  of  the  Federal  Government,  un 
der  the  guarantees  of  the  Constitution, 
promptly  to  suppress  physical  force  as  an 
element  of  change,  and  to  keep  wide  open 
the  door  for  the  free  and  full  action  of 
all  the  moral  elements  in  its  power.' 

"  The  truth  is — and  I  regret  sincerely 
to  believe  it — that  fear  of  a  violation  of 
Southern  rights  was  with  the  prompters 
of  the  rebellion  but  a  pretence. 

' '  What  they  have  done  and  are  still 
doing  at  the  sacrifice  of  the  nation's  wel 
fare,  and  of  the  welfare  of  their  own  sec 
tion,  exerting  every  nerve  to  accomplish, 
was  and  is  but  to  retain  official  power, 
which  they  fancied  was  passing  from 
them.  Look  at  the  usurped  government 
at  Montgomery.  The  mention  of  names 
is  unnecessary  ;  they  are  destined  to  an 


unhappy  immortality.  Those  who  plot 
ted  the  seizure  of  forts,  arsenals,  mints, 
navy-yards,  custom-houses,  the  admitted 
property  of  the  United  States,  seducing 
soldiers  and  sailors  from  their  sworn  al 
legiance — using  the  very  Senate  cham 
ber,  dedicated  and  sacred  to  duty,  as  a 
spot  from  which  to  issue  their  treach 
erous  telegrams — are  there  to  be  seen 
all  in  power,  actual  or  prospective.  The 
fact  too  clearly  tells  the  revolting  story. 
Men  long  enjoying  public  honors,  earn 
ing  through  many  years  of  service  a  na 
tional  fame — owning  their  renown  be 
cause  of  the  world-wide  fame  of  a  glori 
ous  government,  are  striving,  day  and 
night,  to  reduce  it  to  dishonor  and  de 
struction.  Thank  God,  our  consolation 
is  that  the  effort,  however  pregnant  with 
the  present  calamity,  will  fall  short  of 
its  horrid  aim.  They  may  '  as  well 
strike  at  the  heavens  with  their  arms' 
as  lift  them  against  the  '  American 
Union.' 

"  That  the  end  must  fail,  who  can 
doubt  ?  The  recent  census  furnishes 
pregnant  proof  of  this.  It  shows  that 
the  free  States  have  a  population  of 
males,  between  eighteen  and  forty-five, 
of  3,778,000,  and  all  the  slave  States 
only  1,655,000,  arid  the  seceding  States, 
excluding  Virginia,  but  531,000  ;  and  if 
to  this  vast  difference  of  men  is  added 
that  of  wealth,  inventive  skill,  habits  of 
industry,  and  the  absence  of  any  ele 
ment  of  domestic  danger,  the  disparity 
is  infinitely  greater.  In  a  struggle  be 
tween  such  hosts — which  may  God  in 
his  mercy  avert — who  can  fail  to  see 
what  must  be  the  end  ? 


HONOR   TO   THE   FLAG. 


225 


"  But  to  our  State  these  facts  teach  a 
lesson  that  all  can  understand.  If  mad 
and  wicked  enough  to  attempt  it,  what 
could  we  do  to  resist  this  immense 
power  on  our  borders  ?  Call  on  the 
South  ?  Make  our  State  the  battle 
field  ?  How  long  could  the  entire 
South,  if  flying  to  our  succor,  remain 
with  and  aid  us  ?  They  might  assist 
in  drenching  our  land  with  blood  ;  they 
might  witness  with  us  the  desolation 
that  in  such  a  contest  would  be  our 
doom.  They  would  be  compelled  to 
retire  within  their  own  limits,  and  we 
left  alone  in  our  calamity,  to  be  rendered 
the  more  acute  when  we  awoke — as  we 
should — to  the  insanity  and  crime  which 
occasioned  it.  Looking,  therefore,  to 
interest  alone,  adherence  to  the  Gov 
ernment  is  our  clear  policy." 

The  orator  closed  with  a  fervid  appeal 
to  the  reverence  of  his  listeners  for  the 
national  flag. 

"  Though  not  especially  impulsive,  I 
cannot,"  he  said,  "imagine  how  an 
American  eye  can  look  upon  that  stand 
ard  without  emotion.  The  twenty  stars 
added  to  the  first  constellation  tell  its 
proud  history,  its  mighty  influence,  and 
its  unequalled  career.  Are  these  now 
to  be  forgotten  and  lost?  Tell  me  not 
that  this  is  sentiment.  Sentiment,  to  be 
sure  it  is,  but  it  is  one  that  purifies,  and 
animates,  and  strengthens  the  national 
heart.  God  may  be  worshipped  (I 
make  the  comparison  with  all  proper 
reverence)  in  the  open  field,  in  the  stable 
— but  is  there  no  virtue  in  the  cathedral  ? 
Does  not  the  soul  turn  its  thoughts 
heavenwards  the  moment  its  sacred 

29 


threshold  is  crossed  ?  This,  too,  is  senti 
ment,  but  it  is  one  that  honors  our 
nature,  and  proves  our  loyalty  to  the 
Almighty. 

"So  it  is  with  our  national  emblem. 
The  man  who  is  dead  to  its  influence  is 
in  mind  a  fool  or  in  heart  a  traitor.  It 
is  this  emblem  I  am  the  honored  organ 
now  to  present  to  you.  I  need  not 
commend  it  to  your  constant,  vigilant 
care ;  that,  I  am  sure,  it  will  ever  be 
your  pride  to  give  it.  "When,  if  ever 
your  hearts  shall  despond — when,  if  ever 
you  shall  desire  your  patriotism  to  be 
specially  animated,  throw  it  to  the  winds, 
gaze  on  its  beautiful  folds,  remember  the 
years  and  the  fields  over  which,  from  '76 
to  the  present  time,  it  has  been  trium 
phantly  borne  ;  remember  how  it  has 
consoled  the  dying  and  animated  the 
survivor  ;  remember  that  it  served  to 
kindle  even  to  a  brighter  flame  the 
patriotic  ardor  of  Washington — went 
with  him  through  all  the  struggles  of 
the  Revolution,  consoled  him  in  defeat, 
gave  to  victory  an  additional  charm,  and 
that  his  dying  moments  were  consoled 
and  cheered  by  the  hope  that  it  would 
forever  float  over  a  perpetual  union,  and 
you  at  once  feel  its  almost  holy  influence 
and  swear  to  stand  by  and  maintain  it 
till  life  itself  shall  be  no  more." 

With  this  increased  demonstration  of 
Federal  power,  and  this  bolder  mani 
festation  of  loyalty  on  the  part  of  the 
unionists  of  Maryland,  the  secessionists 
no  longer  ventured  upon  an  open  dis 
play  of  their  sentiments.  They,  how 
ever,  still  continued  secretly  to  aid  the 
insurgents  of  Virginia  with  supplies  of 


226 


THE   WAR  WITH  THE   SOUTH. 


men  and  means,  and  to  promote  their 
cause  by  concealed  efforts  to  involve 
the  State  in  the  Southern  insurrection. 

The  city  of  Baltimore  had  suddenly 
become  wondrously  tranquilized,  and 
May  submitted  almost  without  a  mur- 

<>•  mur  to  the  disbandment  of  its 
citizen  soldiery.  A  few  days  subse 
quently,  General  Butler,  who  marched 
May  m^°  ^ne  city  w^h  a  force  of  two 

13.  thousand  men,  of  whom  the  Sixth 
Regiment  of  Massachusetts,  before  so 
cruelly  treated,  formed  a  part,  was 
welcomed  with  apparent  enthusiasm. 
"The  streets  were  crowded  with  ap 
plauding  people,  Union  flags  flung  to 
the  breeze,  and  in  some  instances  the 
private  dwellings  were  illuminated."* 
Butler  immediately  encamped  upon 
Federal  Hill,  an  elevation  commanding 
the  city,  and  proceeded  at  once,  with 
characteristic  energy,  to  secure  the  mili 
tary  occupation  of  Baltimore.  On  the 
next  day  he  issued  this  proclamation  : 

"  DEPARTMENT  OF  ANNAPOLIS,  FEDERAL  HILL,  } 
BALTIMORE,  May  14,  1861.  f 

"A  detachment  of  the  forces  of  the 
Federal  Government  under  my  com 
mand  have  occupied  the  city  of  Balti 
more  for  the  purpose,  among  other 
things,  of  enforcing  respect  and  obedi 
ence  to  the  laws  as  well  of  the  State,  if 
requested  thereto  by  the  civil  authorities, 
as  of  the  United  States,  which  are  being 
violated  within  its  limits  by  some  malig 
nant  and  traitorous  men  ;  and  in  order 
to  testify  the  acceptance,  by  the  Federal 
Government,  of  the  fact  that  the  city 
and  all  the  well-intentioned  portion  of 

0  New  York  ^W*,  May  16. 


its  inhabitants  are  loyal  to  the  Union 
and  the  Constitution,  and  are  to  be  so 
regarded  and  treated  by  all.  To  the 
end,  therefore,  that  all  misunderstanding 
of  the  purposes  of  the  Government  may 
be  prevented,  and  to  set  at  rest  all  un 
founded,  false,  and  seditious  rumors,  to 
relieve  all  apprehensions,  if  any  are  felt 
by  the  well-disposed  portion  of  the  com 
munity,  and  to  make  it  thoroughly 
understood  by  all  traitors,  their  aiders 
or  abettors,  that  their  rebellious  acts 
must  cease,  I  hereby,  by  the  authority 
vested  in  me,  as  commander  of  the  de 
partment  of  Annapolis,  of  which  the 
city  of  Baltimore  forms  a  part,  do  now 
command  and  make  known  that  no 
loyal  and  well-disposed  citizen  will  be 
disturbed  in  his  lawful  occupation  or 
business,  that  private  property  will  not 
be  interfered  with  by  the  men  under  my 
command,  or  allowed  to  be  interfered 
with  by  others,  except  in  so  far  as  it 
may  be  used  to  afford  aid  and  comfort 
to  those  in  rebellion  against  the  Govern 
ment,  whether  here  or  elsewhere,  all  of 
which  property,  munitions  of  war,  and 
that  fitted  to  aid  and  support  the  re 
bellion,  will  be  seized  and  held  subject 
to  confiscation  ;  and,  therefore,  all  manu 
facturers  of  arms  and  munitions  of  war 
are  hereby  requested  to  report  to  me 
forthwith,  so  that  the  lawfulness  of  their 
occupation  may  be  known  and  under 
stood,  and  all  misconstruction  of  their 
doings  be  avoided.  No  transportation 
from  the  city  to  the  rebels  of  articles 
fitted  to  aid  and  support  troops  in  the 
field  will  be  permitted,  and  the  fact  of 
such  transportation  after  the  publication 


BUTLER   IN   BALTIMORE. 


227 


of  this  proclamation  will  be  taken  and 
received  as  proof  of  illegal  intention  on 
the  part  of  the  consignees,  and  will  ren 
der  the  goods  liable  to  seizure  and  con 
fiscation. 

"The  Government  being  ready  to  re 
ceive  all  such  stores  and  supplies, 
arrangements  will  be  made  to  contract 
for  them  immediately  ;  and  the  owners 
and  manufacturers  of  such  articles  of 
equipment,  and  clothing,  and  munitions 
of  war,  and  provisions  are  desired  to 
put  themselves  in  communication  with 
the  commanding  General,  in  order  that 
their  workshops  may  be  employed  for 
loyal  purposes,  and  the  artisans  of  the 
city  resume  arid  carry  on  their  wonted 
profitable  occupations. 

"  The  acting  assistant-quarter-master 
and  commissary  of  subsistence  of  the 
United  States  here  stationed,  has  been 
instructed  to  procure  and  furnish  at  fair 
prices  40,000  rations  for  the  use  of  the 
army  of  the  United  States,  and  further 
supplies  will  be  drawn  from  the  city  to 
the  full  extent  of  its  capacity  if  the 
patriotic  and  loyal  men  choose  so  to 
furnish  supplies. 

"  All  assemblages,  except  the  ordinary 
police  of  armed  bodies  of  men,  other 
than  those  regularly  organized  and  com 
missioned  by  the  State  of  Maryland  and 
acting  under  the  orders  of  the  Governor 
the  root',  for  drill  and  other  purposes,  are 
forbidden  within  the  department. 

•'  All  officers  of  the  militia  of  Mary 
land  having  command  within  the  limits 
of  the  department,  are  requested  to  re 
port  through  their  officers  forthwith  to 
the  General  in  command,  so  that  he  may 


be  able  to  know  and  distinguish  the 
regularly  commissioned  and  loyal  troops 
of  Maryland  from  armed  bodies  who 
may  claim  to  be  such. 

'  The  ordinary  operations  of  the  cor 
porate  government  of  the  city  of  Balti 
more  and  of  the  civil  authorities  will 
not  be  interfered  with,  but,  on  the  con 
trary,  will  be  aided  by  all  the  power  at 
the  command  of  the  General  upon  proper 
call  being  made  ;  and  all  such  authori 
ties  are  cordially  invited  to  co-operate 
with  the  General  in  command  to  carry 
out  the  purposes  set  forth  in  the  procla 
mation,  so  that  the  city  of  Baltimore 
may  be  shown  to  the  country  to  be, 
what  she  is  in  fact,  patriotic  and  loyal 
to  the  Union,  the  Constitution,  and  the 
laws.  No  flag,  banner,  ensign,  or  de 
vice  of  the  so-called  Confederate  States, 
or  of  any  of  them,  will  be  permitted  to 
be  raised  or  shown  in  this  department, 
and  the  exhibition  of  either  of  them  by 
evil-disposed  persons  will  be  deemed, 
and  taken  to  be,  evidence  of  a  design  to 
afford  aid  and  comfort  to  the  enemies 
of  the  country.  To  make  it  the  more 
apparent  that  the  Government  of  the 
United  States  by  far  more  relies  upon 
the  loyalty,  patriotism,  and  zeal  of  the 
good  citizens  of  Baltimore  and  vicinity 
than  upon  any  exhibition  of  force  calcu 
lated  to  intimidate  them  into  that  obe 
dience  to  the  laws  which  the  Govern 
ment  doubts  not  will  be  paid  from  in 
herent  respect  and  love  of  order,  the 
commanding  General  has  brought  to  the 
city  with  him,  of  the  many  thousand 
troops  in  the  immediate  neighborhood, 
which  might  be  at  once  concentrated 


228 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE   SOUTH. 


here,  scarcely  more  than  an  ordinary 
guard,  and,  until  it  fails  him,  he  will 
continue  to  rely  upon  that  loyalty  and 
patriotism  of  the  citizens  of  Maryland 
which  have  never  yet  been  found  want 
ing  to  the  Government  in  time  of  need. 
The  General  in  command  desires  to  greet 
and  treat  in  this  part  of  his  department  all 
the  citizens  thereof  as  friends  and  broth 
ers,  having  a  common  purpose,  a  common 
loyalty,  and  a  common  country.  Any 
infractions  of  the  laws  by  the  troops  un 
der  his  command,  or  any  disorderly,  un- 
soldierlike  conduct,  or  any  interferences 
with  private  property,  he  desires  to  have 
immediately  reported  to  him,  and  he 
pledges  himself  that  if  any  soldier  so  far 
forgets  himself  as  to  break  those  laws 
that  he  has  sworn  to  defend  and  en 
force,  he  shall  be  most  rigorously  pun 
ished. 

"  The  General  believes  that  if  the 
suggestions  and  requests  contained  in 
this  proclamation  are  carried  out  by  the 
co-operation  of  all  good  and  Union-lov 
ing  citizens,  and  peace,  and  quiet,  and 
certainty  of  future  peace  and  quiet  are 
thus  restored,  business  will  resume  its 
accustomed  channels,  trade  take  the 
place  of  dulness  and  inactivity,  efficient 
labor  displace  idleness,  and  Baltimore 
will  be,  in  fact,  what  she  is  entitled  to 
be — in  the  front  rank  of  the  commercial 
cities  of  the  nation. 

"  Given   at   Baltimore,  the  day  and 
year  herein  first  above  written. 
"BENJ.  F.  BUTLER, 
"  B.-G.  Com.  Depart,  of  Annapolis." 

This  was  soon  followed  by  the  seizure 
of  a  large  quantity  of  arms,  amounting 


to  "fifteen  dray-loads,"  which  had  been 
secreted  by  the  secessionists  of  Balti 
more,  and  the  arrest  of  some  leading 
citizens  suspected  of  conniving  at  the 
overthrow  of  the  Federal  authority. 
These  decided  measures  produced  an 
immediate  effect.  The  Governor  of  Ma 
ryland,  who  had  been  so  intimidated  by 
the  disaffected  of  his  State  that  he  had 
not  hitherto  ventured  to  pay  full  alle 
giance  to  that  government  to  which  he 
claimed  to  be  loyal,  now,  after  a 
delay  of  a  month,  responded  favor- 
ably  to  the  President's  call  for  troops. 
He  yet,  however,  was  constrained  to  deal 
tenderly  with  the  uncertain  temper  of 
his  fellow-citizens,  and  to  qualify  his 
appeal  to  arms  in  defence  of  the  Union, 
by  a  condition  to  suit  their  equivocal 
loyalty. 

"Whereas  the  President  of  the  United 
States,  by  his  proclamation  of  April  15, 
1861,  has  called  upon  me,  the  Governor 
of  Maryland,  for  four  regiments  of  in 
fantry  or  riflemen,  to  serve  for  a  period 
of  three  months,  the  said  requisition 
being  made  in  the  spirit  and  in  pursu 
ance  of  the  law  ;  and 

"Whereas  to  the  said  requisition  has 
been  added  the  written  assurance  of  the 
secretary  of  war,  that  said  four  regi 
ments  shall  be  detailed  to  serve  within 
the  limits  of  the  State  of  Maryland,  or 
for  the  defence  of  the  capital  of  the 
United  States,  and  not  to  serve  beyond 
the  limits  aforesaid  ; 

"  Now,  therefore,  I,  Thomas  Holliday 
Hicks,  Governor  of  Maryland,  do,  by 
this  my  proclamation,  call  upon  loyal 
citizens  of  Maryland  to  volunteer  their 


THE   FIRST  VICTORY. 


services  to  the  extent  of  four  regiments, 
as  aforesaid,  to  serve  during  a  period  of 
three  months  within  the  limits  of  Mary 
land,  or  for  the  defence  of  the  capital  of 
the  United  States,  to  be  subject  under 
the  conditions  aforesaid,  to  the  orders 
of  the  Commander-in-chief  of  the  army 
of  the  United  Spates. 

"  Given  under  my  hand  and  the  great 
seal  of  the  State  of  Maryland,  at  the  city 
of  Frederick,  this  14th  day  of  May,  1861. 
"  THOS.  H.  HICKS." 

The  Legislature,  too,  was  frightened 

into  comparative  propriety,  and  brought 

Way  its  refractory  proceedings  to  a  close 

'*•    by   a   sudden    adjournment.      The 

spirit   of  disaffection,    however,    which 

May  prevailed,  was   made   manifest  by 

10»    the  adoption,  a  few  days  before,  of 

these  resolutions  : 

"  Whereas  the  war  against  the  Con 
federate  States  is  unconstitutional  and 
repugnant  to  civilization,  and  will  re 
sult  in  a  bloody  and  shameful  overthrow 
of  our  institutions ;  and  while  recog 
nizing  the  obligations  of  Maryland  to 
the  Union,  we  sympathize  with  the  South 
in  the  struggle  for  their  rights — for  the 


sake  of  humanity,  we  are  for  peace 
and  reconciliation,  and  solemnly  protest 
against  this  war,  and  will  take  no  part 
in  it ;  therefore, 

' '  Resolved,  That  Maryland  implores 
the  President,  in  the  name  of  God,  to 
cease  this  unholy  war,  at  least  until 
Congress  assembles  ;  that  Maryland  de 
sires  and  consents  to  the  recognition  of 
the  independence  of  the  Confederate 
States.  The  military  occupation  of  Ma 
ryland  is  unconstitutional,  and  she  pro 
tests  against  it,  though  the  violent  in 
terference  with  the  transit  of  Federal 
troops  is  discountenanced  ;  that  the  vin  • 
dication  of  her  rights  be  left  to  time  and 
reason,  and  that  a  convention,  under 
existing  circumstances,  is  inexpedient." 

The  last  act  of  the  Legislature  of  Ma 
ryland  was  to  appoint  two  commission 
ers  to  visit  President  Jefferson  Davis, 
two  to  visit  President  Lincoln,  two  to 
visit  Richmond,  and  two  to  visit  Penn 
sylvania. 

The  route  through  Baltimore  to  the 
capital  was  now  secured,  and  the  Fed 
eral  Government  could  claim  its  first 
great  victory  in  the  struggle  for  the  as 
sertion  of  its  authority. 


230 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


CHAPTER    XX. 

Increased  Energy  of  the  Government. — Augmenting  force  of  Secession. — Progress  of  North  Carolina  to  Secession. — 
Seizure  of  United  Stat«s  Mint  and  Arsenal.— Action  of  the  Governor.— Convening  of  the  Legislature. — Denuncia 
tion  of  the  President's  Proclamation. — Ordinance  of  Secession. — Union  with  the  Confederate  States. — Action  of 
Arkansas. — Seizure  of  Federal  Property. — Act  of  Secession. — Sanguine  hopes  entertained  of  Tennessee. — Union 
Sentiment  in  Tennessee.— A  Vote  against  a  Convention.— Disregarded  by  the  Governor.— Legislature  Convened. — 
Military  League  with  the  Southern  Confederacy.— Ratification  of  League.— Opposition  in  the  Legislature.— Question 
submitted  to  the  People.— Strange  Contrast.— Arbitrary  Action.— Pretended  Submission  to  the  Will  of  the  People. 
—Apology  of  the  Tennessee  Legislature.— The  strong  Union  Sentiment  in  Eastern  Tennessee. — Description  of  East 
Tennessee.— Character  of  the  Population.— Opposition  to  the  Action  of  the  Legislature. — A  Convention  called  at 
Knoxville. — Its  object. — The  unavailing  resistance  in  East  Tennessee. — Ratification  by  the  People  of  the  State  of 
the  Ordinance  of  Secession. — Great  Encouragement  for  the  Union  in  Western  Virginia.— Description  of  Western 
Virginia. — Geographical  and  Social  Characteristics.— Whites  and  Blacks. — Free  Labor. — Sympathy  with  the  North. 
— Enterprise  and  Thrift. — Immense  Resources. — Future  Prospects. — Disputes  with  Eastern  Virginia. — Difference  of 
Interests. — Unequal  Taxation. — Opposition  to  Secession. — Union  Meetings. — Convention  in  Western  Virginia  — 
"New  Virginia." — Action  of  the  Convention. — An  ardent  Appeal  for  the  Union. — Rallying  to  Arms.— Union  En 
thusiasm. — Union  Military  Companies. — Union  Preachers. — The  first  Encounter  in  Western  Virginia. — A  bloodless 
beginning  of  a  Bloody  War. 


1861. 


WHILE  the  Federal  Government  was 
asserting  its  authority  with  in 
creased  energy  and  power,  and  the 
Union  sentiment  of  the  North  was  daily 
strengthening,  the  Southern  rebellion  was 
augmenting  with  even  greater  force  and 
rapidity.  North  Carolina  was  passing 
through  the  various  phases  of  defiance 
and  spoliation  of  the  General  Govern 
ment  which  had  marked  the  career  of 
the  other  slave  States  in  their  progress 
to  secession.  Her  Governor  had  reso 
lutely  and  contemptuously  refused  the 
call  of  the  President  for  the  State's  quota 
of  troops  for  the  defence  of  the  Union. 
April  The  United  States  Branch  Mint 
21»  had  been  seized  and  held  by  a 
military  force  under  his  command,  and 
April  on  the  next  day  the  Federal  arsenal 
22.  at  Fayetteville,  filled  with  muni 
tions  of  war  belonging  to  the  United 


States,  was  forced  to  surrender  to  the 
State  authorities.  At  the  same  time  the 
Governor  of  North  Carolina  called  for 
thirty  thousand  volunteers,  in  addition 
to  the  regular  militia,  and  ordered  them 
to  be  ready  at  a  moment's  notice. 

These  acts,  the  purport  of  which 
was  obvious,  were  followed  by  \^r\\ 
the  Governor's  proclamation  con-  26. 
vening  the  Legislature.  In  this  docu 
ment  he  denounced  President  Lincoln's 
proclamation  and  Secretary  Cameron's 
requisition  for  seventy-five  thousand 
troops,  the  u  high-handed  act  of  tyran 
nical  outrage,"  the  object  of  which  was 
"the  violent  subversion  of  the  liberties 
of  a  free  people  constituting  a  large 
part  of  the  whole  population  of  the 
United  States ;  it  is  not  only,"  the  Gov 
ernor  added,  "in  violation  of  all  con 
stitutional  law,  utter  disregard  of  every 


SECESSION   OF   NORTH   CAROLINA. 


231 


sentiment  of  humanity  and  Christian 
civilization,  and  conceived  in  a  spirit  of 
aggression  unparalleled  by  any  act  of 
recorded  history,  but  is  a  direct  step 
toward  the  subjugation  of  the  whole 
South,  and  the  conversion  of  a  free  re 
public,  inherited  from  our  fathers,  into  a 
military  despotism,  to  be  established  by 
worse  than  foreign  enemies  on  the  ruins 
of  our  once  glorious  Constitution  of 
equal  rights."  He  closed  by  an  appeal 
to  the  fidelity  of  the  people  of  North 
Carolina,  to  the  "sovereign"  authority 
of  their  State.  "  I  furthermore  ex 
hort,"  he  said,  "  all  good  citizens 
throughout  the  State  to  be  mindful  that 
their  first  allegiance  is  due  to  the  sover 
eignty  which  protects  their  homes  and 
dearest  interests,  as  their  first  service  is 
due  for  the  sacred  defence  of  their 
hearths,  and  of  the  soil  which  holds  the 
graves  of  our  glorious  dead.  United 
action  in  defence  of  the  sovereignty  of 
North  Carolina,  and  of  the  rights  of  the 
South,  becomes  now  the  duty  of  all." 
May  In  three  weeks  after,  a  convention 
20«  "declared  and  ordained  that  the 
ordinance  adopted  by  the  State  of  North 
Carolina,  in  the  Convention  of  1789, 
whereby  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States  was  ratified  and  adopted,  and 
also  all  acts  and  parts  of  acts  of  the 
General  Assembly  ratifying  and  adopting 
amendments  to  the  said  Constitution, 
are  hereby  repealed,  rescinded,  and 
abrogated." 

It  was  then  "  declared  and  ordained" 
that,  the  union  with  the  United  States 
being  dissolved,  and  North  Carolina  in 
full  possession  of  the  "rights  of  sov 


ereignty,  the  State  accepts  the  Constitu 
tion  of  the  '  Confederate  States  of  Amer 
ica,'  and  will  enter  into  federal  association 
with  them,  when  admitted  in  due  form. 
North  Carolina  thus  gave  in  her  adher 
ence  to  the  new  confederacy,  and  joined 
in  the  armed  combination  to  dissolve  the 
old  Union. 

Arkansas  was  the  next  to  follow.  She 
began,  too,  with  spoliation.  At  April 
Napoleon,  the  Federal  depot  was  22t 
seized  by  order  of  the  Governor,  and 
military  supplies  belonging  to  the  United 
States,  consisting  of  one  hundred  and 
fifty  thousand  ball  cartridges,  a  hundred 
Maynard  rifles,  two  hundred  cavalry 
saddles,  and  five  hundred  sabres,  were 
appropriated  by  the  State.  Fort  Smith, 
too,  which  had  cost  the  Federal  Gov 
ernment  over  three  hundred  thousand 
dollars,  was  forced  to  surrender.  The 
State  troops  upon  taking  possession  \pr|] 
raised  the  Confederate  flag  amid  25t 
the  firing  of  cannon  and  the  exulting 
cheers  of  the  people,  who  gave  shouts 
of  applause  for  the  citizen  soldiery  of 
Arkansas,  its  Governor,  and  for  Jeffer 
son  Davis. 

These  usual  preliminaries  of  disrup 
tion  were  soon  followed  by  the  ^ay 
act  of  secession  from  the  Federal  7t 
Union,  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution 
of  the  Confederate  States,  and  the  ad 
mission  of  the  State  as  another  member 
of  the  Southern  Confederacy. 

Tennessee,  the  last  to  attach  her 
fortunes  to  the  chances  of  the  new  con 
federacy,  it  was  fondly  hoped  by  the 
North  would  have  clung  to  the  old 
Union.  Though  her  Governor,  who  was 


232 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


known  to  be  in  league  with  the  Confed 
erates,  had  responded  so  defiantly  to  the 
President's  requisition  for  troops,  there 
was  yet  believed  to  be  a  loyalty  to  the 
Federal  Government  so  strong,  particu 
larly  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  State, 
that  it  could  counteract  the  machinations 
of  those  political  leaders  of  Tennessee 
who  were  striving  to  wrest  her  from  the 
Union.  This  belief  was  encouraged  by 
the  vote  of  the  State  on  the  question  of 
holding  a  convention  for  the  considera 
tion  of  the  policy  of  seceding.  By  a 
large  majority,  the  people  of  Tennessee 
decided  against  the  convention.  The 
Governor,  though  thus  rebuked  by  this 
expression  of  popular  will,  gave  it  no 
heed,  but  persisted  in  his  determination 
to  force  the  State  out  of  the  Union. 
He  accordingly  convened  the  Legislature 
—the  majority  of  which  accorded  with 
him  in  sentiment — for  the  purpose  of 
accomplishing  indirectly  what  seemed 
impracticable  through  the  direct  action 
of  the  suffrage  of  the  people.  The 
Legislature  having  met,  both  Houses 
May  passed  at  once,  in  secret  session, 

1«  a  joint  resolution  authorizing  the 
Governor  to  enter  into  a  military  league 
with  the  Confederate  States.  Three 
commissioners  were  accordingly  ap 
pointed  ;  and  having  held  a  conference 
with  an  agent  of  the  new  government, 
May  expressly  delegated  for  the  pur- 

?•  pose,  the  following  was  agreed  to  : 
11  The  State  of  Tennessee,  looking  to 
a  speedy  admission  into  the  confederacy 
established  by  the  Confederate  States  of 
America,  in  accordance  with  the  Consti 
tution  for  the  Provisional  Government 


of  said  States,  enters  into  the  following 
temporary  convention,  agreement,  and 
military  league  with  the  Confederate 
States,  for  the  purpose  of  meeting 
pressing  exigencies  affecting  the  com 
mon  rights,  interests,  and  safety  of  said 
States  and  said  Confederacy  : 

"First.  Until  said  State  shall  become 
a  member  of  said  Confederacy,  accord 
ing  to  the  Constitutions  of  both  powers, 
the  whole  military  force  and  military 
operations,  offensive  and  defensive,  of 
said  State  in  the  impending  conflict  with 
the  United  States  shall  be  under  the 
chief  control  and  direction  of  the  Presi 
dent  of  the  Confederate  States  upon  the 
same  basis,  principles,  and  footing  as  if 
said  State  were  now  and  during  the  in 
terval  a  member  of  said  Confederacy  ; 
said  force,  together  with  that  of  the 
Confederate  States,  to  be  employed  for 
the  common  defence. 

"  Second.  The  State  of  Tennessee  will, 
upon  becoming  a  member  of  said  Con 
federacy,  under  the  permanent  Constitu 
tion  of  said  Confederate  States,  if  the 
same  shall  occur,  turn  over  to  the  said 
Confederate  States  all  the  public  prop 
erty,  naval  stores,  and  munitions  of  war 
of  which  she  may  then  be  in  possession, 
acquired  from  the  United  States,  on  the 
same  terms  and  in  the  same  manner  as 
the  other  States  of  said  Confederacy 
have  done  in  like  cases. 

"Third.  Whatever  expenditure  of 
money,  if  any,  the  said  State  of  Tennes 
see  shall  make  before  she  becomes  a 
member  of  said  Confederacy,  shall  be 
met  and  provided  for  by  the  Confederate 
States. 


TENNESSEE  FORCED   FROM   THE   UNION. 


233 


"  This  convention  entered  into  and 
agreed  on,  in  the  city  of  Nashville, 
Tennessee,  on  the  seventh  day  of  May, 
A.D.  1861,  by  Henry  W.  Hilliard,  the 
duly  authorized  commissioner  to  act  in 
the  matter  for  the  Confederate  States, 
and  Gustavus  A.  Henry,  Archibald  0. 
W.  Totten,  and  Washington  Barrow, 
commissioners,  duly  authorized  to  act  in 
like  manner  for  the  State  of  Tennessee. 
The  whole  subject  to  the  approval  and 
ratification  of  the  proper  authorities  of 
both  governments,  respectively. 

"In  testimony  whereof,  the  parties 
aforesaid  have  hereunto  set  their  hands 
and  seals,  the  day  and  year  aforesaid, 
in  duplicate  originals. 

"HENRY  W.  HILLIARD, 

'•  Commissioner  for  the  Confederate 
States  of  America. 

"  GUSTAVUS  A.  HENRY, 
"A.  0.  W.  TOTTEN, 
"WASHINGTON  BARROW, 

"  Commissioners  on  the  part  of  Ten- 


n 


nessee. 

The  Legislature  hastened  to  ratify 
this  league,  and  thus  secure  the  future 
secession  of  the  State,  by  an  act  which, 
placing  the  military  resources  under 
the  control  of  the  Confederate  States, 
would  enable  them  to  repress  by  coer 
cion  any  appearance  of  dissatisfaction 
in  Tennessee.  There  was,  however, 
a  manifestation  of  opposition,  even  in 
the  Legislature,  to  this  disregard  of  the 
voice  of  the  people.  The  resolution 
ratifying  the  league  was  opposed  in  the 
Senate  by  a  vote  of  six  to  fourteen,  four 
not  having  voted  at  all ;  and  in  the 

30 


House  by  a  vote  of  fifteen  to  forty-two, 
eighteen  having  withheld  their  votes. 

After  having  thus  deprived  the  people 
of  all  independence  of  action,  the  Legis 
lature,  with  an  affected  regard  for  the 
popular  will,  formally  submitted  to  the 
vote  of  the  State  a  question  which  they 
had  already  decided  by  an  act  of  their 
own,  in  defiance  of  the  declared  senti 
ment  of  a  majority  of  their  fellow-cit 
izens.  The  following  is  a  curious  con 
trast  to  the  league  already  formed  with 
the  Confederate  States.  The  semblance 
of  deference  to.  popular  will  and  the 
reality  of  arbitrary  power,  not  seldom 
combined,  was  never  more  strikingly 
manifest  than  in  these  two  doc-  jjay 
uments  emanating  from  the  same  6. 
source  : 

"  SEC.  1.  Be  it  enacted  by  the  General 
Assembly  of  the  State  of  Tennessee,  That 
immediately  after  the  passage  of  this 
act,  the  Governor  of  this  State  shall,  by 
proclamation,  direct  the  sheriffs  of  the 
several  counties  in  this  State  to  open  and 
hold  an  election  at  the  various  voting  pre 
cincts  in  their  respective  counties  on  the 
8th  day  of  June,  1861 ;  that  the  said  sher 
iffs,  or,  in  the  absence  of  the  sheriffs,  the 
coroner  of  the  county,  shall  immediately 
advertise  the  election  contemplated  by 
this  act ;  that  said  sheriffs  appoint  a 
deputy  to  hold  said  election  for  each 
voting  precinct,  and  that  said  deputy 
appoint  three  judges  and  two  clerks  for 
each  precinct ;  and  if  no  officer  shall, 
from  any  cause,  attend  any  voting  pre 
cinct  to  open  and  hold  said  election, 
then  any  justice  of  the  peace,  or,  in  the 
absence  of  a  justice  of  the  peace,  any  re- 


234 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE   SOUTH. 


spectable  freeholder  may  appoint  an  offi 
cer,  judges,  and  clerks  to  open  and  hold 
said  election.  Said  officers,  judges,  and 
clerks  shall  be  sworn  as  now  required 
by  law,  and  who,  after  being  so  sworn, 
shall  open  and  hold  an  election,  open 
and  close  at  the  time  of  day  and  in  the 
manner  now  required  by  law  in  elec 
tions  for  members  to  the  General  As 
sembly. 

"  SEC.  2.  Be  it  further  enacted,  That  at 
said  election  the  following  declaration 
shall  be  submitted  to  a  vote  of  the  qual 
ified  voters  of  the  State  of  Tennessee, 
for  their  ratification  or  rejection  : 

"  DECLARATION  OF  INDEPENDENCE  AND 
ORDINANCE  DISSOLVING  THE  FEDERAL  RE 
LATION  between  the  State  of  Tennessee 
and  the  United  States  of  America. 

"First.  We,  the  people  of  the  State 
of  Tennessee,  waiving  an  expression  of 
opinion  as  to  the  abstract  doctrine  of 
secession,  but  asserting  the  right  as  a 
free  and  independent  people  to  alter, 
reform,  or  abolish  our  form  of  govern 
ment  in  such  manner  as  we  think  proper, 
do  ordain  and  declare  that  all  the  laws 
and  ordinances  by  which  the  State  of 
Tennessee  became  a  member  of  the  Fed 
eral  Union  of  the  United  States  of  Amer 
ica  are  hereby  abrogated  and  annulled, 
and  that  all  obligations  on  our  part 
be  withdrawn  therefrom  ;  and  we  do 
hereby  resume  all  the  rights,  functions, 
and  powers  which  by  any  of  said  laws 
and  ordinances  were  conveyed  to  the 
Government  of  the  United  States,  and 
absolve  ourselves  from  all  the  obliga 
tions,  restraints,  and  duties  incurred 
thereto  ;  and  do  hereby  henceforth  be 


come  a  free,  sovereign,  and  independent 
State. 

"  Second.  We  furthermore  declare  and 
ordain,  that  Article  10,  Sections  1  and  2 
of  the  Constitution  of  the  State  of  Ten 
nessee,  which  requires  members  of  the 
General  Assembly,  and  all  officers,  civil 
and  military,  to  take  an  oath  to  support 
the  Constitution  of  the  United  States, 
be,  and  the  same  are  hereby  abrogated 
and  annulled  ;  and  all  parts  of  the  Con 
stitution  of  the  State  of  Tennessee  mak 
ing  citizenship  of  the  United  States  a 
qualification  for  office,  and  recognizing 
the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  as 
the  supreme  law  of  this  State,  are  in 
like  manner  abrogated  and  annulled. 

"  Third.  We  furthermore  ordain  and 
declare,  that  all  rights  acquired  and 
vested  under  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States,  or  under  any  act  of  Con 
gress  passed  in  pursuance  thereof,  or 
under  any  laws  of  this  State,  and  not 
incompatible  with  this  ordinance,  shall 
remain  in  force,  and  have  the  same 
effect  as  if  this  ordinance  had  not  been 
passed. 

"SEC.  3.  Be  it  further  enacted,  That 
said  election  shall  be  by  ballot,  that 
those  voting  for  the  Declaration  and  Or 
dinance  shall  have  written  or  printed 
on  their  ballots  '  Separation,'  and  those 
voting  against  it  shall  have  written  or 
printed  on  their  ballots  '  No  Separa 
tion.7  That  the  clerks  holding  said 
election  shall  keep  regular  scrolls  of  the 
voters,  as  now  required  by  law  in  the 
election  of  members  to  the  General  As 
sembly  ;  that  the  clerks  and  judges  shall 
certify  the  same,  with  the  number  of 


SECESSION   OF  TENNESSEE. 


235 


votes  for  'Separation/  and  the  number 
of  votes  for  '  No  Separation.'  The  offi 
cer  holding  the  election  shall  return  the 
same  to  the  sheriff  of  the  county,  at  the 
county  seat,  on  the  Monday  next  after 
the  election.  The  sheriff  shall  imme 
diately  make  out,  certify,  and  send  to 
the  Governor  the  number  of  votes  polled, 
and  the  number  of  votes  for  '  Separa 
tion,'  and  the  number  for  'No  Separa 
tion,'  and  file  one  of  the  original  scrolls 
with  the  clerk  of  the  county  court ;  that 
upon  comparing  the  vote  by  the  Gov 
ernor  in  the  office  of  the  secretary  of 
state,  which  -shall  be  at  least  by  the  24th 
day  of  June,  1861,  and  may  be  sooner 
if  the  returns  are  all  received  by  the 
Governor,  if  a  majority  of  the  votes 
polled  shall  be  for  '  Separation,'  the 
Governor  shall,  by  his  proclamation, 
make  it  known,  and  declare  all  con 
nection  by  the  State  of  Tennessee  with 
the  Federal  Union  dissolved,  and  that 
Tennessee  is  a  free,  independent  gov 
ernment,  free  from  all  obligations  to,  or 
connection  with,  the  Federal  Govern 
ment  ;  and  that  the  Governor  shall  cause 
'  the  vote  by  counties'  to  be  published, 
the  number  for  '  Separation,'  and  the 
number  for  'No  Separation,'  whether  a 
majority  vote  for  '  Separation'  or  '  No 
Separation.' 

"  SEC.  4.  Be  it  further  enacted,  That  in 
the  election  to  be  held  under  the  pro 
visions  of  this  act,  upon  the  Declaration 
submitted  to  the  people,  all  volunteers 
and  other  persons  connected  with  the 
service  of  this  State,  qualified  to  vote 
for  members  of  the  Legislature  in  the 
counties  where  they  reside,  shall  be  en 


titled  to  vote  in  any  county  in  the  State 
where  they  may  be  in  active  service,  or 
under  orders,  or  on  parole,  at  the  time 
of  said  election ;  and  all  other  voters 
shall  vote  in  the  county  where  they  re 
side,  as  now  required  by  law  in  voting 
for  members  of  the  General  Assembly. 

"  SEC.  5.  Be  it  further  enacted,  That  at 
the  same  time,  and  under  the  rules  and 
regulations  prescribed  for  the  election 
hereinbefore  ordered,  the  following  or 
dinance  shall  be  submitted  to  the  popu 
lar  vote.  To  wit : 

"  AN  ORDINANCE  for  the  adoption  of 
the  Constitution  of  the  Provisional  Gov 
ernment  of  the  Confederate  States  of 
America. 

"We,  the  people  of  Tennessee,  sol 
emnly  impressed  by  the  perils  that  sur 
round  us,  do  hereby  adopt  and  ratify 
the  Constitution  of  the  Provisional  Gov 
ernment  of  the  Confederate  States  of 
America,  ordained  and  established  at 
Montgomery,  Alabama,  on  the  8th  day 
of  February,  1861,  to  be  in  force  during 
the  existence  thereof,  or  until  such  time 
as  we  may  supersede  it  by  the  adoption 
of  a  permanent  constitution. 

"SEC.  6.  Be  it  further  enacted,  tThat 
those  in  favor  of  the  adoption  of  said 
Provisional  Constitution,  and  thereby 
securing  to  Tennessee  equal  representa 
tion  in  the  deliberations  and  councils  of 
the  Confederate  States,  shall  have  writ 
ten  or  printed  on  their  ballots  the  word 
'  Representation  ;'  opposed,  the  words 
'No  Representation.' 

"  SEC.  7.  Be  it  further  enacted,  That  in 
the  event  the  people  shall  adopt  the 
Constitution  of  the  Provisional  Govern- 


236 


THE  WAR  WITH   THE   SOUTH. 


election  herein  ordered,  it  shall  be  the 
duty  of  the  Governor  forthwith  to  issue 
writs  of  election  for  delegates  to  repre 
sent  the  State  of  Tennessee  in  the  said 
Provisional  Government.  That  the  State 
shall  be  represented  by  as  many  dele 
gates  as  it  was  entitled  to  members  of 
Congress  to  the  recent  Congress  of  the 
United  States  of  America,  who  shall  be 
elected  from  the  several  congressional 
districts  as  now  established  by  law,  in 
the  mode  and  manner  now  prescribed 
for  the  election  of  members  of  Congress 
of  the  United  States. 

"  SEC.  8.  Be  it  further  enacted,  That 
this  act  shall  take  effect  from  and  after 
its  passage.  "W.  C.  WHITTHORNE, 

'  Speaker  of  House  of  Rep. 

"B.  L.  STOVALL, 
"  Speaker  of  the  Senate." 
The  Tennessee  Legislature,  conscious 
that  their  arbitrary  action  in  this  mat 
ter  was  inconsistent  with  their  professed 
deference  to  the  popular  will,  issued  a 
labored  apology  of  their  conduct.     In 
regard  to  the  secrecy  of  their  session, 
they  confessed  that  it  was  the  first  time 
in   the   history   of  the    State    that   the 
"rule"  had  been  adopted,  but  justified 
and  strove  to  dignify  it  by  some  honored 
historic  parallels.     The  people  of  Ten 
nessee  were  reminded  that  the  conven 
tion  which  framed  the  Declaration  of 
Independence  of  the  United  States,  and 
that  which  framed  the  Constitution  of 
the  United  States,  held  their  sessions  in 
secret,  and  that  the  Senate  of  the  United 
States  not  infrequently  sits  with  closed 
doors.     To  those  who  had  "  taken  occa 


sion  to  condemn"  them,  they  answered 
with  the  sneer  that  they  "may  be  purer 
than  those  who  framed  the  Declaration 
of  Independence,  but  we  very  much 
doubt  whether  they  will  have  greater 
hold  upon  public  confidence." 

In  justification  of  their  course,  they 
declared  that  "  the  country  was  excited, 
and    the    public   demands    imperious ;" 
that  they  desired  to  legislate   uninflu 
enced   and   unretarded   by  the    crowds 
that   would    have    otherwise    attended 
their  deliberations,  and  that  the  western 
part  of  Tennessee  was  in   an   exposed 
condition,     with     no    military    defence 
whatever  ;  that  the  towns  and  counties 
bordering  on  the  Mississippi  were  liable 
to  be  assailed  by  the  armed  forces  col 
lected  at  Cairo,  and  they  desired  that  no 
act  on  their  part  should  form  the  pre 
text  for  such  an  invasion,  so  long  as  it 
could  be  avoided.      "  Our  fellow-citizens 
of  West  Tennessee  and  of  Arkansas  are 
laboring  night  and  day,"  they  said,  "  to 
erect  batteries  on  the  river  to  prevent 
the  descent  of  the  enemy.     A  duty  that 
we  owed  to  them  and  to  the  cause  of 
humanity  demanded  that  we  should  not 
make  our  action  known  till  the  latest 
possible  moment.     If  some  desired  light 
while  we  were  at  work,  we  equally  de 
sired  to  save  the  blood  and  property  of 
Tennesseeans." 

This  no  doubt  was  a  satisfactory  ex 
cuse  to  the  secessionists  of  Tennessee, 
but  hardly  a  sufficient  motive  in  the 
opinion  of  the  loyal  for  depriving  them 
of  their  constitutional  rights,  to  uphold 
which  that  "  enemy"  so  denounced  by 
the  Legislature  was  in  arms. 


UNIONISTS   OF   EAST  TENNESSEE. 


237 


Throughout  Tennessee  there  was  un 
doubtedly  a  strong  attachment  to  the 
Union,  but  particularly  in  the  eastern 
part  of  the  State,  a  region  bordering  on 
the  Alleghany  range,  where  the  people, 
possessed  of  but  few  slaves,  had  few 
interests  in  common  with  the  lordly 
planters  of  the  rest  of  the  State.  In 
habiting  a  country  the  land  of  which 
can  only  be  cultivated  profitably  by  the 
personal  labor  of  the  proprietors,  the 
people  of  East  Tennessee  have  learned 
to  depend  upon  their  own  resources. 
They  have  thus  become  industrious  and 
Belf-reliant,  and  acquired  a  respect  for 
labor  which,  as  it  assimilates  them  to 
the  people  of  the  North,  tends  to  with 
draw  their  sympathies  from  the  South 
ern  slaveholders,  who,  with  negroes  to 
do  their  work,  exult  in  the  aristocracy 
of  idleness. 

The  action  of  the  Tennessee  Legisla 
ture  was  particularly  odious  to  the  inde 
pendent  yeomen  of  East  Tennessee,  and 
they  immediately  called  a  convention  to 
be  held  in  Knoxville,  "disapproving," 
as  they  declared,  "  of  the  hasty  and  in 
considerate  action  of  our  General  As 
sembly,  and  sincerely  desirous  to  do,  in 
the  midst  of  the  troubles  which  surround 
us.  what  will  be  best  for  our  country 
and  for  all  classes  of  our  citizens."  The 
resistance,  however,  of  this  portion  of 
the  State  proved  at  that  time  of  little 
avail  to  the  cause  of  the  Union,  and  did 
not  prevent  the  people  of  Tennessee, 
under  the  terrorism,  doubtless,  of  the  mil 
itary  power,  from  sanctioning,  by  a  large 
majority  of  votes,  the  arbitrary  action 
of  the  Legislature. 


Though  the  Federal  Government  was 
disappointed  in  its  anticipations  of  sup 
port  in  Tennessee,  it  found  great  en 
couragement  in  Yirginia,  where  the 
people  of  the  northwestern  district,  in 
spite  of  the  secession  of  the  State,  had 
taken  a  bold  stand  for  the  Union.  This 
portion  of  Virginia,  bounded  on  the 
east  by  the  Alleghany  range  of  mount 
ains,  on  the  north  and  west  by  the  free 
States  of  Pennsylvania  and  Ohio,  and 
on  the  south  by  the  Kanawha  valley, 
watered  by  the  river  of  that  name  which 
empties  into  the  Ohio,  has  much  of  the 
geographical  and  social  characteristics 
of  the  North.  It  is  thus  described, 
"  The  negro  element  is  very  small, 
there  being  but  fifteen  thousand  slaves 
to  three  hundred  and  fifty-five  thousand 
four  hundred  and  ninety-two  whites ; 
while  in  the  middle  district,  between  the 
Blue  Ridge  and  the  Alleghanies,  the 
proportion  of  slaves  is  forty-eight  thou 
sand  and  forty  to  two  hundred  and  forty- 
three  thousand  one  hundred  and  fifty- 
five  whites  ;  and  in  Eastern  Yirginia, 
lying  between  the  Blue  Ridge  and  the 
Atlantic,  the  number  of  slaves  reaches 
the  large  proportion  of  four  hundred 
and  thirty-eight  thousand  four  hundred 
and  sixteen  to  four  hundred  and  forty- 
eight  thousand  nine  hundred  and  thirty- 
two  whites. 

"The  proportion  of  the  negro  to  the 
white  population,  moreover,  has  been 
rapidly  decreasing  in  Western  Virginia. 
The  number  of  slaves,  it  is  true,  through 
out  the  whole  State,  has  lessened  during 
the  last  ten  years,  but  it  is  only  in  the 
middle  and  western  districts,  and  espe- 


238 


THE   WAR   WITH  THE   SOUTH. 


cially  in  the  latter,  where  the  whites 
have  much  augmented  in  number.  Of 
the  whole  increase  of  the  white  popula 
tion  of  the  State,  from  1850  to  1860, 
estimated  at  one  hundred  and  fifty-two 
thousand  seven  hundred  and  seventy- 
nine,  no  less  than  seventy-nine  thousand 
eight  hundred  and  twelve — more  than 
one-half  of  the  total  increase — was  in 
Western  Virginia. 

' '  A  comparative  freedom  from  slavery 
has  produced  not  only  a  social  diversity, 
but  a  difference  of  interest,  which  had 
long  tended  greatly  to  weaken  the  alliance 
of  the  western  district  with  the  rest  of 
the  State.  There  are,  besides,  natural 
influences  which,  at  the  same  time,  have 
continued  to  strengthen  the  sympathy 
of  Western  Virginia  with  the  North. 
The  abundant  resources  of  coal  and  iron 
have  attracted  the  enterprise  of  North 
ern  capitalists  and  caused  an  immigration 
of  working-men  to  a  country  where  the 
slaves  are  so  few  as  neither  to  degrade 
nor  to  compete  with  free  labor.  The 
close  proximity,  moreover,  of  the  States 
of  Pennsylvania  and  Ohio,  between 
which  Western  Virginia  is  wedged,  has 
naturally  brought  it  into  such  an  intimate 
social  and  trading  relationship  with  them, 
that  it  has  become  emulous  of  the  spirit 
of  enterprise  which,  under  the  impulse 
of  freedom,  animates  its  neighbors.  Its 
chief  city,  Wheeling,  is  already  so  alive 
with  the  zealous  activity  of  commerce 
and  manufactures,  that  it  rivals  in  pros 
perity  some  of  the  most  flourishing 
communities  of  the  North.  The  whole 
region  has  immense  resources  for  the 
support  of  a  large  and  thriving  popula 


tion.  With  a  wholesome  climate,  cooled 
by  the  bracing  atmosphere  of  the 
mountains  ;  with  a  soil  of  valley  and  hill 
side  enriched  by  the  flow  of  numerous 
•rivers,  and  sources  of  wealth  in  its 
forests,  its  water  power,  its  minerals,  its 
navigable  streams,  and  its  railroad  com 
munications,  Western  Virginia  presents 
a  seductive  invitation  to  enterprise  and 
a  certain  promise  of  liberal  reward. 
While  the  affinities  of  this  district  are 
thus  naturally  with  its  energetic  neigh 
bors  of  the  free  North,  local  political 
differences,  apart  from  an  original  an 
tagonism,  have  for  a  long  time  existed 
to  interrupt  its  relations  with  the  pre 
dominant  slave  power  of  the  State." 

"Presuming  upon  its  political  strength, 
Eastern  Virginia  had  executed  vast  pro 
jects  of  improvement,  especially  for  its 
own  benefit,  and  imposed  an  unequal 
weight  of  the  prodigal  expenditure  in 
curred,  upon  the  western  district.  A 
tax  was  laid,  but  all  slaves  under  twelve 
years  of  age  were  exempted.  As  East 
ern  Virginia  was  chiefly  engaged  in  rais 
ing  negroes  for  the  Southwestern  slave- 
markets,  this  exemption  of  a  large 
portion  of  what  was  one  of  their  most 
valuable  products,  was  considered  an 
unjust  exception  in  favor  of  its  own 
interests.  Western  Virginia  complained 
grievously,  and  finally  strove  in  conse 
quence  to  separate  from  the  eastern  part 
of  the  State.  Efforts  to  this  effect  had 
been  made,  and  seemed  at  one  time  to 
have  nearly  succeeded. 

An  opposition  to  the  action  of  the 
political  leaders  of  Eastern  Virginia  in 
their  movement  toward  wresting  the 


ACTION   OF   WESTERN   VIRGINIA. 


239 


State  from  the  Union,  naturally  came 
from  the  inhabitants  of  the  west.  At 
the  convention  which  met  on  the  17th 
of  April  at  Richmond,  the  delegates 
from  Western  Virginia  protested  almost 
unanimously  against  the  act  of  secession 
which  was  passed.  Such  was  the  pop 
ular  indignation  to  which  they  exposed 
themselves  by  their  firm  resistance  to 
the  prevalent  disunion  sentiment  of  that 
locality,  that  they  barely  escaped  with 
their  lives  from  the  excited  mob  of  the 
rebellious  city. 

Not  satisfied  with  protests,  Western 
Virginia  determined  to  resisi  by  action 
the  violent  disruption  of  its  relations 
with  the  Union.  Large  meetings  were 
held,  and  it  was  recommended  at  a 
April  gathering  in  Harrison  County, 
22.  that  the  people  of  all  the  coun 
ties  of  Northwestern  Virginia  should 
appoint  delegates,  not  less  than  five 
in  number,  of  "their  wisest,  best,  and 
discreetest  men,"  to  meet  in  conven 
tion  at  Wheeling,  on  the  13th  of  May, 
to  "  consult  and  determine  upon  such 
action  as  the  people  of  Northwestern 
Virginia  should  take  in  the  present 
fearful  emergency." 

This  recommendation  met  with  gen 
eral  approval,  and  accordingly  delegates, 
representing  thirty  of  the  fifty  western 
May  counties,  assembled  at  Wheeling. 
13.  The  long-desired  object  of  many 
Western  Virginians  became  the  prom 
inent  subject  of  discussion,  on  the  propo 
sition  of  Mr.  Carlile  for  the  separation 
of  the  western  district  of  Virginia  from 
the  rest,  and  its  organization  into  a  State 
r,o  be  called  "  New  Virginia.'- 


This,  however,  was  not  adopted,  on 
the  ground  that  it  acknowledged  the 
principle  of  secession,  and  thus  seemed 
to  justify  the  act  of  the  secessionists  of 
Virginia,  against  whom  and  their  doc 
trines  the  loyal  men  of  the  West  had 
arrayed  themselves.  Mr.  Carlile's  res 
olution  of  separation  being,  however, 
changed  into  one  of  inquiry  as  to  its 
policy,  became  more  acceptable,  and  hi 
this  form  was  adopted. 

The  convention,  waiving  for  the  pres 
ent  the  question  of  separation,  contented 
itself  with  passing  resolutions  denounc 
ing  the  action  of  the  secessionists  of  the 
State,  expressing  its  own  loyal  attach 
ment  to  the  Union,  recommending  the 
citizens  to  vote  against  the  act  of  seces 
sion  to  be  submitted  to  their  suffrage, 
and  in  case  it  should  be  passed,  to  ap 
point  delegates  to  a  general  convention 
to  meet  for  the  purpose  of  devising  such 
measures  and  taking  such  action  as  the 
welfare  and  safety  of  the  people  they 
represent  might  demand.  Closing  with 
this  ardent  appeal  to  the  loyalty  of  the 
people  of  Northwestern  Virginia,  the 
convention  adjourned  : 

"In  obedience  to  the  fourteenth*  res 
olution  of  the  convention  which  met  in 
this  city  on  the  13th  instant,  we  earn 
estly  conjure  you  to  enter  actively  and 
immediately  upon  the  great  work  of 
preparing  your  neighbors  and  friends, 

o  "Resolved,  That  each  county  represented  in  this  con 
vention,  and  any  others  that  may  be  disposed  to  co  ope 
rate  with  us,  be  requested  to  appoint  a  committee  of  five, 
whose  duty  it  shall  be  to  see  that  all  things  that  may  be 
necessary  to  be  done  be  attended  to,  to  carry  out  the  ob 
jects  of  this  convention,  and  to  correspond  with  the  cen 
tral  committee." 


240 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


as  well  as  yourselves,  for  the  firm,  stern, 
and  decided  stand  necessary  to  be  taken 
and  adhered  to  at  all  hazards,  and  main 
tained  at  any  and  every  cost,  if  we  would 
preserve  to  ourselves  and  transmit  to 
our  posterity  that  unity  of  government 
which  constitutes  us  one  people,  which 
we  justly  regard  as  the  palladium  of  our 
liberties  and  the  main  pillar  in  the  edi 
fice  of  our  independence.  In  this  way, 
and  in  this  way  alone,  we  can  save  our 
selves  from  the  innumerable  evils  conse 
quent  upon  secession  and  all  the  horrors 
of  civil  war. 

"  Why  should  the  people  of  North 
western  Virginia  allow  themselves  to  be 
dragged  into  the  rebellion  inaugurated 
by  ambitious  and  heartless  men,  who 
have  banded  themselves  together  to  de 
stroy  a  government  formed  for  you  by 
your  patriot  fathers,  and  which  has  se 
cured  to  you  all  the  liberties  consistent 
with  the  nature  of  man,  and  has,  for 
near  three-fourths  of  a  century,  shel 
tered  you  in  sunshine  and  in  storm, 
made  you  the  admiration  of  the  civil 
ized  world,  and  conferred  upon  you  a 
title  more  honored,  respected,  and  re 
vered  than  that  of  king  or  potentate — 
the  title  of  American  citizen.  Will  you 
passively  surrender  it  and  submit  to 
be  used  by  the  conspirators  engaged 
in  this  effort  to  enslave  you,  as  their  in 
struments  by  which  your  enslavement 
is  to  be  effected  ? 

"  Freemen  who  would  remain  free 
must  prove  themselves  worthy  to  be 
free,  and  must  themselves  first  strike 
the  blow. 

11  What  is  secession  ?     A  deed  not  to 


be  accomplished  in  the  broad  glare  of  a 
noonday  sun,  but  a  deed  of  darkness, 
which  had  to  be  performed  in  secret 
conclave  by  the  reckless  spirits  who  ac 
complished  it,  in  contempt  of  the  people, 
their  masters  under  our  form  of  govern 
ment,  but  whom  the  leaders  in  this 
work  of  destruction  have  determined  to 
enslave. 

"  What  is  secession  ?  Bankruptcy, 
ruin,  civil  war,  ending  in  military  des 
potism.  Prior  to  the  adoption  of  the 
ordinance  of  secession  in  Virginia,  and 
to  the  passage  by  the  Legislature  of  the 
bill  calling  a  convention,  all  was  peace, 
and  the  great  business  interests  of  our 
State  were  uninterrupted.  From  the 
hour  that  it  was  proclaimed  the  ordi 
nance  of  secession  had  been  passed, 
business  of  every  description  has  been 
paralyzed  ;  State,  corporation,  and  indi 
vidual  credit  is  prostrate,  and  bank 
ruptcy  and  ruin  stare  us  in  the  face,  and 
war,  civil  war,  with  all  its  attendant 
horrors,  is  upon  us.  Secession,  all  now 
see,  is  war.  It  is  preceded  by  war,  ac 
companied  and  sustained  by  war,  ush 
ered  into  being  by  war. 

"  Who  are  to  stand  the  brunt  of  this 
contest  ?  Will  it  be  those  who  have 
clamored  loudest  for  secession,  and  who 
have  done  the  most  to  bring  on  the 
present  crisis  ?  These  are  the  first  to 
flee  from  the  very  approach  of  danger. 
They  hurry,  in  every  train  and  by  every 
coach,  from  the  anticipated  scenes  of 
disturbance.  Will  the  disunion  major 
ity  of  the  Richmond  Convention  come 
into  the  ranks  and  shoulder  the  musket 
in  the  strife  which  they  have  inaugu- 


ADDRESS   OF   LOYAL   VIRGINIANS. 


241 


rated  ?  They  will  keep  at  a  respectful 
distance  from  danger.  They  will  fill 
the  lucrative  offices  and  secure  the  rich 
appointments  which  appertain  to  the 
new  order  of  things.  They  will  luxuri 
ate  on  two  or  three  or  four  hundred  dol 
lars  per  month,  with  horses,  and  serv 
ants,  and  rations  to  match,  while  the 
Union-loving  people  will  be  called  upon, 
for  the  honor  of  Virginia  and  two  shil 
lings  per  day,  to  do  the  fighting  and  un 
dergo  the  hardships  of  war.  '  We  are 
all  Virginians,'  say  they  ;  '  the  State 
must  be  sustained,  and,  right  or  wrong, 
we  must  all  fight  for  Virginia,'  etc. 

"What  is  it  to  fight  for  Virginia? 
What  is  it  to  sustain  the  State  ?  Is  it  to 
urge  her  upon  a  course  which  leads  to 
visible  and  gaping  destruction  ?  Is  this 
the  way  and  the  only  way  in  which  we 
can  testify  our  devotion  to  the  common 
wealth  ?  If  the  feelings  which  actuated 
our  Revolutionary  fathers  be  not  all 
dead  in  us,  we  shall  exhibit  our  love  for 
Virginia  by  repudiating  this  tyrannical 
rule  which  the  Richmond  Convention 
has  endeavored  to  impose,  and  not  suffer 
ourselves  to  be  sold  like  sheep  from  the 
shambles.  The  people  yet  hold  their 
destinies  in  their  own  hands ;  it  is  for 
them  to  accept  or  reject  a  tyranny 
worse  many  times  than  that  from  which 
the  war  of  '76  delivered  us — not  the 
tyranny  of  one  man,  but  of  many. 

"But,  people  of  Northwestern  Vir 
ginia,  why  should  we  thus  permit  our 
selves  to  be  tyrannized  over  and  made 
slaves  of  by  the  haughty  arrogance  and 
wicked  machinations  of  would-be  Eastern 
despots  ?  Are  we  submissionists,  craven 

31 


cowards,  who  will  yield  to  daring  ambi 
tion  the  rich  legacy  of  freedom  which  we 
have  inherited  from  our  fathers,  or  are 
we  men  who  know  our  rights,  and  know 
ing,  dare  maintain  them  ?  If  we  are, 
we  will  resist  the  usurpers,  and  drive 
from  our  midst  the  rebellion  sought  to 
be  forced  upon  us.  We  will,  in  the 
strength  of  our  cause,  resolutely  and 
determinedly  stand  by  our  rights  and 
our  liberties,  secured  to  us  by  the  strug 
gles  of  our  Revolutionary  fathers  and 
the  authors  of  the  Constitution  undei 
which  we  have  grown  and  prospered 
beyond  all  precedent  in  the  world's 
history  ;  we  will  maintain,  protect,  and 
defend  that  Constitution  and  the  Union 
with  all  our  strength  and  with  all  our 
powers,  ever  remembering  that  '  Resist 
ance  to  tyrants  is  obedience  to  God.' 

"  We  utterly  repudiate  the  war  sought 
to  be  forced  upon  us  without  and  against 
the  consent  and  earnest  protestations 
of  the  people  who  have  not  produced 
it,  but  who  have,  we  regret  to  say,  thus 
far  offered  no  resistance,  but  have  sub 
mitted  to  the  filling  up  of  armies  and 
the  quartering  of  troops  in  their  midst ; 
taking  for  the  purpose  our  young  me  a 
who  had,  in  a  time  of  profound  peace, 
and  with  no  expectation  of  ever  being 
called  upon  to  aid  in  a  rebellion,  attached 
themselves  to  the  volunteer  corps  of  our 
State.  The  people,  stunned  by  the 
magnitude  of  the  crime,  have  for  a  time 
offered  no  resistance  ;  but  as  returning 
reason  enables  them  to  perceive  dis 
tinctly  the  objects  and  purposes  of  the 
vile  perpetrators  of  this  deed,  their 
hearts  swell  within  them,  and  already 


242 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE   SOUTH. 


the  cry  has  gone  up  from  our  mountains 
and  our  valleys,  'Resistance  to  tyrants 
is  obedience  to  God.' 

"Let  us  urge  you,  then,  that  our  re 
sistance  may  be  effectual,  to  act  in  the 
spirit  of  the  resolutions  here  appended, 
adopted  by  the  Convention  whose  com 
mittee  we  are.  Let  all  our  ends  be  di 
rected  to  the  creation  of  an  organized 
resistance  to  the  despotism  of  the  tyrants 
who  have  been  in  session  in  Richmond, 
and  who  are  about  to  reassemble,  that 
we  may  maintain  our  position  in  the 
Union  under  the  flag  of  our  common 
country,  which  has  for  so  many  years 
waved  gracefully  and  protectingly  over 
us,  and  which,  when  we  behold  upon  its 
ample  folds  the  stripes  and  the  stars  of 
freedom,  causes  our  bosoms  to  glow  with 
patriotic  heat,  and  our  hearts  to  swell 
with  honest  love  of  country.  That  this 
flag,  the  symbol  of  our  might,  challenges 
our  admiration,  and  justly  claims  our 
every  effort  against  those  who  have 
dared  to  desecrate  and  dishonor  it,  we 
all  admit.  Let  us,  then,  see  that  we 
take  the  proper  measures  to  make 
effectual  those  efforts. 

"This  Convention  to  assemble  on  the 
llth  proximo  is  looked  to  to  organize 
our  action.  Its  importance,  its  necessity 
will  at  once  strike  your  minds  ;  take 
immediate  steps,  therefore,  to  secure  for 
your  representatives  in  the  Convention 
your  most  determined,  resolute,  temper 
ate,  and  wisest  men.  We  have  already 
detained  you  too  long ;  the  time  for 
action,  prompt,  firm,  and  decided,  has 
come.  In  the  hope  that  our  action  will 
be  that  of  a  united  people,  we  take 


leave  of  you,  confidently  calculating 
that  you  will  give  your  body,  soul, 
strength,  mind,  and  all  the  energies  of 
your  nature  to  the  work  of  saving  your 
country  from  becoming  the  theatre  of  a 
bloody  war,  brought  upon  you  without 
your  consent  and  against  your  will. 
Let  us  show  Mr.  Ex-Secretary  Cobb, 
now  President  of  the  Montgomery  Con 
gress,  that  we  are  not  willing  to  recog 
nize  the  transfer  of  us  made  by  the 
Richmond  Convention,  nor  do  we  intend 
to  allow  our  borders,  as  he  says  they 
will  be,  to  be  made  the  theatre  of  this 
war. 

"Fellow-citizens,  we  ask  you  to  read 
and  ponder  well  the  passage  from  Mr. 
Cobb's  speech  we  recite  : 

"  '  The  people  of  the  Gulf  States  need 
have  no  apprehensions ;  they  might  go 
on  with  their  planting  and  their  other 
business  as  usual ;  the  war  would  not 
come  to  their  section  ;  its  theatre  would 
be  along  the  borders  of  the  Ohio  River 
and  in  Virginia.7 

'  The  Convention  between  Virginia 
and  the  Confederate  States,  by  which 
the  control  of  all  military  operations  is 
placed  in  the  hands  of  President  Davis, 
insures  this  result. 

"  Fellow-citizens,  '  these  are  times 
when  we  must  not  stop  to  count  sacrifi 
ces  and  costs,  where  honor,  and  charac 
ter,  and  self-preservation  are  put  in 
issue.'  The  patriot  and  sage,  Daniel 
Webster,  in  a  speech  delivered  at  Wash 
ington  in  1851,  at  the  laying  of  the 
corner-stone  of  the  addition  to  the  Cap 
itol,  spoke  as  follows : 

1  Ye  men  of  the  Blue  Ridge,  many 


FIRST   CONFLICT  IN   WESTERN   VIRGINIA. 


243 


thousands  of  whom  are  nearer  to  this 
capital  than  the  seat  of  Government  of 
your  own  State,  what  do  you  think  of 
breaking  up  this  great  association  into 
fragments  of  States  and  of  people  ?  I 
know  that  some  of  you,  and  I  believe 
that  you  all  would  be  almost  as  much 
shocked  at  the  announcement  of  such  a 
catastrophe,  as  if  you  were  informed 
that  the  Blue  Ridge  itself  would  soon 
totter  from  its  base  ;  and  ye,  men  of 
Western  Virginia,  who  occupy  the  slope 
from  the  Alleghanies  to  Ohio  and  Ken 
tucky,  what  benefit  do  you  propose  to 
yourselves  by  disunion  ?  If  you  secede, 
what  do  you  "  secede"  from,  and  what  do 
you  "secede"  to?  Do  you  look  for  the 
current  of  the  Ohio  to  change  and  to 
bring  you  and  your  commerce  to  the 
tide-waters  of  Eastern  rivers?  What 
man  in  his  senses  can  suppose  that  one 
would  remain  part  and  parcel  of  Vir 
ginia  in  a  month  after  Virginia  had 
ceased  to  be  a  part  and  parcel  of  the 
United  States  ?' 

"  Fellow-citizens  of  Northwestern  Vir 
ginia,  the  issue  is  with  you.     Your  des 
tiny  is  in  your  own  hands.     If  you  are 
worthy    descendants    of    worthy    sires, 
you  will  rally  to  the   defence   of  your 
liberties,    and   the    Constitution,   which 
has  protected  and  blessed  you,  will  still 
extend  over  you  its  protecting  eegis.     If 
you  hesitate  or  falter,  all  is  lost,  and  you 
and  your  children  to  the  latest  posterity 
are  destined  to  perpetual  slavery. 
"  JOHN  S.  CARLILE,  JAS.  S.  WHEAT,  A. 
WILSON,  C.  D.  HUBBARD,  F.  H.  PIER- 
FONT,    S.   H.    WOODWARD,    C.   TARR, 
G.  R.  LATHAM,  JAMES  W.  PAXTON." 


In  sympathy  with  this  spirited  action 
of  their  political  leaders,  the  people  of 
Western  Virginia  showed  a  sentiment 
of  patriotism,  and  an  alacrity  not  sur 
passed  even  at  the  North,  to  rally  to 
arms  in  defence  of  the  Union.  A  gen 
eral  fast  was  kept  at  Wheeling,  and  jjjay 
the  clergymen  who  preached  on  W» 
the  occasion  vied  with  each  other  in  fer 
vor  of  patriotic  appeal.  The  churches 
were  decorated  with  the  stars  and  stripes. 
One  loyal  pulpit  orator  declared  that  he 
would  have  no  fellowship  with  traitors, 
and  if  there  was  a  secessionist  in  his 
congregation,  he  wished  him  to  leave. 
Another  prayed  that  the  rebels  "might 
be  subdued  or  wiped  from  the  face  of 
the  earth."* 

Union  military  companies  were 
formed  throughout  the  loyal  district, 
prepared  to  resist  the  advance  of  the 
troops  in  arms  to  uphold  the  Southern. 
Confederacy,  with  which  the  Governor 
of  Virginia  and  his  fellow-conspirators 
had  leagued  the  State.  The  first  en 
counter  took  place  at  the  town  of  jjjay 
Clarksburg,  in  Harrison  County.  20, 
Two  companies  of  "  Confederate  mil 
itary"  having  marched  into  the  place, 
the  court-house  bell  was  rung,  and  im 
mediately  forth  came  two  other  com 
panies  of  "  Union  military."  The  latter 
immediately  summoned  the  former  to 
surrender  their  arms,  which  after  a  brief 
parley  was  complied  with.  This  was  the 
bloodless  beginning  of  that  series  of 
tragic  conflicts  in  which  the  struggle  in 
Western  Virginia  has  abounded. 

e  New  York  Barald,  May  10. 


244 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


CHAPTER    XXI. 


Missouri.— Secession  Governor  and  Political  Leaders. — The  Loyalty  of  the  State  undoubted  at  the  North. — Majority  of 
Inhabitants  opposed  to  Slavery. — Proportion  of  Slaves  to  Free  Population. — Small  number  of  Slave  Owners. — Free 
Labor. — The  Foreign  Population. — Germans. — Their  Character  and  Enterprise. — Their  Sentiments  on  Slavery — 
The  Action  of  the  Secessionists. — Insulting  Answer  of  the  Governor  to  the  President's  Requisition. — Governor's 
Message. — Denunciation  of  the  Federal  Authority.— Sympathy  with  the  Confederate  States. — Secret  Session  of  the 
Legislature. — The  Governor's  Call  for  Militia. — Pretext  and  Purpose. — Alertness  of  the  Union  Men  of  St.  Louis. — 
Mustering  of  Union  Volunteers. — Rapid  Response  to  the  President's  Requisition.— Home  Guards. — Guarding  the 
Arsenal. — Graphic  Account  of  the  Rescue  of  Arms. — Captain  Lyon. — His  Spirited  Conduct. — Mustering  of  his  Forces. 
— March  against  the  Governor's  Secession  Camp  at  Fort  Jackson. — The  Camp  surrounded. — Disposition  of  Forces. 
— A  Summons  to  Surrender. —Surrender  of  the  Secessionists. — Dissatisfaction  of  the  Secessionists. — An  Excited 
Crowd. — Attack  upon  the  Troops. — The  Soldiers  respond. — Fatal  Results.— Official  Justification. — Great  Agitation 
in  St.  Louis. — Attack  of  the  City  Mob  upon  the  German  Home  Guard. — Another  Fatal  Collision. — Death  of  the 
Innocent. — Major-General  Harney. — His  return  to  St.  Louis. — Biography  of  Harney . — His  Headstrong  Character. — 
Difficulties  at  Vancouver. — Recalled. — Appointed  to  the  Command  of  the  Western  Department. — Visit  to  Washing 
ton. — Capture  on  the  way. — Release. — Return  to  St.  Louis. — A  Declaration  of  Loyalty. — Good  Advice  to  Missouri. 
—Conciliatory  Proclamation. — The  "  Military  Bill." — Its  Results. — Second  Proclamation  of  Harney. — A  Denuncia 
tion  of  the  "  Military  Bill." — Energetic  Movements. — Secessionists  dispersed  at  Liberty. — The  affair  at  Potosi. — A 
Lady  delivered  of  a  Secession  Flag. — League  of  Harney  with  the  Leader  of  Secession  Troops. — -The  first  Effect. — 
Harney  Cajoled. — Impolitic  Conduct.— Withdrawal  of  Harney. — Appointment  of  Lyon  to  a  Brigadier-Generalship. 
—Succeeds  to  the  Command  of  Union  Troops  in  Missouri. — Energy. 


1861. 


MISSOURI,  though  its  Governor  and 
many  of  its  most  influential  polit 
ical  leaders  were  known  to  be  in 
league  with  the  conspirators  of  the 
South,  contained  so  great  a  majority  of 
inhabitants  who,  in  interests  and  senti 
ment,  were'  opposed  to  slavery,  that 
none  at  the  North  doubted,  whatever 
might  be  the  attempts  on  its  loyalty, 
of  its  adherence  to  the  Union.  Of  its 
whole  population  of  about  one  million 
three  hundred  thousand,  the  slaves  con 
stitute  not  more  than  a  tenth  part.  Of 
the  whites,  there  are  nearly  one  hun 
dred  thousand  of  foreign  birth.  The 
slaveholders -amount  to  little  more  than 
twenty  thousand,  and  of  these  there  are 
hardly  a  score  who  possess  more  than 
fifty  negroes,  while  the  larger  propor 


tion  can  number  but  one,  two,  or  three 
on  their  slave-rolls. 

With  this  small  proportion  of  slaves 
and  slave- owners,  and  large  number  of 
inhabitants  dependent  alone  upon  free 
labor,  the  prevailing  political  sentiment 
of  the  State  has  been  in  sympathy  with 
that  of  the  North.  The  larger  propor 
tion  of  the  white  population  of  foreign 
birth  are  Germans,  who,  with  their 
patient  industry  and  rigid  economy, 
have  become  among  the  most  thriving 
portion  of  the  people.  Good  agricul 
turists,  and  ambitious  of  becoming 
landed  proprietors,  many  have  settled 
upon  the  fertile  prairie  districts  of  the 
State,  and  with  the  aversion  to  the  aid 
of  slave  labor  natural  to  those  long 
accustomed  to  honest  toil,  cultivate 


SECESSIONISM  IN  MISSOURI. 


245 


their  farms  themselves.  Among  them, 
too,  are  large  numbers  of  plodding 
tradesmen,  skilled  artificers,  and  miners, 
who  having  availed  themselves  of  the 
great  natural  resources  of  the  State  are 
among  the  most  energetic  and  prosperous 
of  those  engaged  in  commerce,  mining, 
and  manufactures.  This  large  and  in 
fluential  German  population  is,  almost 
without  an  exception,  opposed  to  slavery, 
and  devotedly  attached  to  that  Union 
under  whose  liberal  sway  they  have  had 
free  scope  for  the  exercise  of  their  in 
dustry,  and  hitherto  secured  the  enjoy 
ment  of  its  fruits. 

Notwithstanding  the  predominating 
sentiment  of  loyalty,  the  political  lead 
ers  of  Missouri  were  determined  to 
make  an  effort  to  wrest  the  State  from 
the  Union,  or  to  create  by  internal  dis 
order  a  division  in  favor  of  the  seced- 
ers,  by  which  they  hoped  to  embarrass 
the  Federal  authority  in  its  efforts  to 
suppress  the  Southern  rebellion.  The 
Governor,  C.  F.  Jackson,  had  sent  an 
insulting  refusal  to  the  demand  of  Presi 
dent  Lincoln  for  troops  :  "  Your  requisi 
tion,"  he  said,  "in  my  judgment,  is 
illegal,  unconstitutional,  and  revolution 
ary  in  its  objects — inhuman  and  diaboli 
cal,  and  cannot  be  complied  with.  Not 
one  man  will  the  State  of  Missouri 
furnish  to  carry  on  such  an  unholy 
crusade." 

Again,  in  his  message  to  the  Legisla- 
May  ture  of  Missouri  convened  to  con- 
$•  sider  the  policy  of  the  State  in 
relation  to  the  civil  quarrel,  the  Gover 
nor  denounced  the  conduct  of  the  Fed 
eral  Government  as  unconstitutional, 


and  tending  toward  "consolidated  des 
potism,"  while  in  these  words  he  mani 
fested  his  own  sympathy  with  the 
rebellious  States,  and  indicated  his  dis 
position  to  commit  Missouri  to  their 
destiny : 

"Our  interests  and  sympathies  are 
identified  with  those  of  the  slaveholding 
States,  and  necessarily  unite  our  desti 
nies  with  theirs.  The  similarity  of  our 
social  and  political  institutions,  our 
industrial  interests,  our  sympathies, 
habits,  and  tastes,  our  common  origin, 
territorial  contiguity,  all  concur  in  point 
ing  out  our  duty  in  regard  to  the  sep 
aration  now  taking  place  between  the 
States  of  the  old  Federal  Union.  Mis-, 
souri  has  at  this  time  no  war  to  prosecute. 
It  is  not  her  policy  to  make  an  aggres 
sion,  but  in  the  present  state  of  the 
country  she  would  be  faithless  to  her 
honor,  recreant  to  her  duty,  were  she 
to  hesitate  a  moment  in  making  the 
most  ample  preparation  for  the  protec 
tion  of  her  people  against  the  aggres 
sions  of  all  assailants.  I  therefore  rec 
ommend  an  appropriation  of  a  sufficient 
sum  of  money  to  place  the  State  at  the 
earliest  practicable  moment  in  a  com 
plete  state  of  defence." 

The  Legislature,  the  majority  of  which 
was  ready  to  act  in  compliance  with  the 
seditious  inclinations  of  the  Governor, 
held  its  session  in  secret.  Sustained  by 
its  acts,  the  Governor's  next  step  was  to 
call  out  the  militia  of  the  State  and  or 
der  them  to  be  encamped,  under  the 
pretext  to  perfect  their  organization  and 
drill,  but  in  reality,  as  it  was  believed, 
to  have  an  armed  force  under  his  con- 


246 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE   SOUTH. 


trol  ready  to  further  the  objects  of  seces 
sion,  by  keeping  in  awe  the  loyal  cit 
izens  of  Missouri,  and  seizing  the  Fed 
eral  property.  The  arsenal  at  St.  Louis, 
with  its  abundant  supplies  of  arms  be 
longing  to  the  United  States,  was  only 
saved  from  the  grasp  of  the  disloyal 
Governor  and  his  mob  of  secession  fol 
lowers  by  the  prompt  action  of  the 
Governor  of  the  neighboring  State  of 
Illinois.  The  successful  exploit  by  which 
this  valuable  property  was  secured,  is 
well  told  in  the  following  narrative  : 

"  Captain  James  H.  Stokes,  of  Chi 
cago,  late  of  the  regular  army,  volun 
teered  to  undertake  the  perilous  mission, 
and  Governor  Yates  placed  in  his  hands 
the  requisition  of  the  secretary  of  war  for 
10,000  muskets.  Captain  Stokes  went  to 
St.  Louis,  and  made  his  way  as  rapidly  as 
possible  to  the  arsenal.  He  found  it  sur 
rounded  by  an  immense  mob,  and  the 
postern  gates  all  closed.  His  utmost  ef 
forts  to  penetrate  the  crowd  were  for  a 
long  time  unavailing.  The  requisition 
was  shown.  Captain  Lyon  doubted  the 
possibility  of  executing  it.  He  said  the 
arsenal  was  surrounded  by  a  thousand 
spies,  and  every  movement  was  watched 
and  reported  to  the  headquarters  of  the 
secessionists,  who  could  throw  an  over 
powering  force  upon  them  at  any  mo 
ment.  Captain  Stokes  represented  that 
every  hour's  delay  was  rendering  the  cap 
ture  of  the  arsenal  more  certain,  and  the 
arms  must  be  moved  to  Illinois  now  or 
never.  Major  Callender  agreed  with 
him,  and  told  him  to  take  them  at  his 
own  time  and  in  his  own  way.  This 
was  Wednesday  night,  24th  April. 


"  Captain  Stokes  had  a  spy  in  the 
camp,  whom  he  met  at  intervals  in  a 
certain  place  in  the  city.  On  Thursday 
he  received  information  that  Governor 
Jackson  had  ordered  two  thousand 
armed  men  down  from  Jefferson  City, 
whose  movements  could  only  contem-^ 
plate  a  seizure  of  the  arsenal,  by  occu 
pying  the  heights  around  it,  and  plant 
ing  batteries  thereon.  The  job  would 
have  been  an  easy  one.  They  had  al 
ready  planted  one  battery  on  the  St. 
Louis  levee,  and  another  at  Powder 
Point,  a  short  distance  below  the  ar 
senal.  Captain  Stokes  immediately  tel 
egraphed  to  Alton  to  have  the  steamer 
City  of  Alton  drop  down  to  the  arsenal, 
landing  about  midnight.  He  then  re 
turned  to  the  arsenal  and  commenced 
moving  the  boxes  of  guns,  weighing  some 
three  hundred  pounds  each,  down  to  the 
lower  floor. 

"  About  seven  hundred  men  were  em 
ployed  in  the  work.  He  then  took  five 
hundred  Kentucky  flint-lock  muskets, 
which  had  been  sent  there  to  be  altered, 
and  sent  them  to  be  placed  on  a  steamer 
as  a  blind  to  cover  his  real  movements. 
The  secessionists  nabbed  them  at  once, 
and  raised  a  perfect  bedlam  over  the 
capture.  A  large  portion  of  the  outside 
crowd  left  the  arsenal  when  this  move 
ment  was  executed,  and  Captain  Lyon 
took  the  remainder,  who  were  lying 
around  as  spies,  and  locked  them  up  in 
the  guard-house.  About  eleven  o'clock 
the  steamer  City  of  Alton  came  along 
side,  planks  were  shoved  out  from  the 
windows  to  the  main  deck,  and  the 
boxes  slid  down.  When  the  10.000 


LOYALTY   IN   ST.   LOUIS. 


247 


were  safely  on  board,  Captain  Stokes 
went  to  Captain  Lyon  and  Major  Cal- 
lender  and  urged  them,  by  the  most 
pressing  appeals,  to  let  him  empty  the 
arsenal.  They  told  him  to  go  ahead 
and  take  whatever  he  wanted.  Accord 
ingly,  he  took  10,000  more  muskets, 
500  new  rifle  carbines,  500  revolvers, 
110,000  musket  cartridges,  to  say  noth 
ing  of  the  cannon  and  a  large  quantity 
of  miscellaneous  accoutrements,  leaving 
only  7,000  muskets  in  the  arsenal  to  arm 
the  St.  Louis  volunteers. 

"When  the  whole  were  on  board, 
about  two  o'clock  on  Friday  morning 
the  order  was  given  by  the  captain  of 
the  steamer  to  cast  off.  Judge  of  the 
consternation  of  all  hands  when  it  was 
found  that  she  would  not  move.  The 
arms  had  been  piled  in  great  quantities 
around  the  engines  to  protect  them 
against  the  battery  on  the  levee,  and 
the  great  weight  had  fastened  the  bows 
of  the  boat  firmly  on  a  rock,  which  was 
tearing  a  hole  through  the  bottom  at 
every  turn  of  the  wheels.  A  man  of 
less  nerve  than  Captain  Stokes  would 
have  gone  crazy  on  the  spot.  He  called 
the  arsenal  men  on  board,  and  com 
menced  moving  the  boxes  to  the  stern. 

"  Fortunately,  when  about  two  hun 
dred  boxes  had  been  shifted,  the  boat 
fell  away  from  the  shore,  and  floated  in 
deep  water.  '  Which  way  ?'  said  Cap 
tain  Mitchell,  of  the  steamer.  '  Straight 
to  Alton,  in  the  regular  channel.7  replied 
Captain  Stokes.  '  What  if  we  are  at 
tacked  ?'  said  Captain  Mitchell.  '  Then 
we  will  fight,'  said  Captain  Stokes. 
1  What  if  we  are  overpowered  ?'  said 


Captain  Mitchell.  '  Run  her  to  the 
deepest  part  of  the  river,  and  sink  her/ 
replied  Captain  Stokes.  '  I'll  do  it,'  was 
the  heroic  answer  of  Captain  Mitchell ; 
and  away  they  went  past  the  secession 
battery,  past  the  entire  St.  Louis  levee, 
and  on  to  Alton,  in  the  regular  channel, 
where  they  arrived  at  five  o'clock  in  the 
morning. 

'  When  the  boat  touched  the  landing, 
Captain  Stokes,  fearing  pursuit  by  some 
two  or  three  of  the  secession  military 
companies  by  which  the  city  of  St.  Louis 
is  disgraced,  ran  to  the  market-house 
and  rang  the  fire-bell.  The  citizens 
came  flocking  pell-mell  to  the  river  in 
all  sorts  of  habiliments.  Captain  Stokes 
informed  them  of  the  situation  of  things, 
and  pointed  out  the  freight-cars.  In 
stantly  men,  women,  and  children 
boarded  the  steamer,  seized  the  freight, 
and  clambered  up  the  levees  to  the 
cars.  Rich  and  poor  tugged  together 
with  might  and  main  for  two  hours, 
when  the  cargo  was  all  deposited  in  the 
cars,  and  the  train  moved  off,  amid  their 
enthusiastic  cheers,  for  Springfield." 

The  loyal  men  of  St.  Louis,  the  ma 
jority  of  whose  citizens  were  of  unques 
tioned  fidelity  to  the  Union,  were  also 
on  the  alert.  Four  regiments  of  volun 
teers  were  immediately  mustered,  ready 
to  do  service  for  the  United  States,  so 
that  the  energetic  Colonel  Frank  P. 
Blair,  to  whose  efforts  this  success  was 
greatly  due,  had  the  satisfaction  of  writ 
ing  to  Washington  that  Missouri,  in 
spite  of  the  Governor's  insulting  re 
fusal,  had  responded  faithfully,  within  a 
week,  to  the  President's  call  for  troops. 


248 


TILE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


At  the  same  time,  several  thousands  of 
the  citizens  of  St.  Louis  had  enrolled 
themselves  as  a  home  guard,  and  were 
stationed  at  the  arsenal  to  guard  its  im 
portant  stores,  and  be  in  readiness  for 
other  loyal  service.  The  Government 
at  Washington  had,  with  more  than  usual 
foresight  and  promptitude,  sent  orders 
to  Captain  Lyon,  in  command  of  the 
small  Federal  force  of  regulars  at  St. 
Louis,  to  enrol,  if  necessary,  ten  thou 
sand  men  for  the  maintenance  of  the 
authority  of  the  United  States  Govern 
ment.  This  spirited  young  officer  at 
once  zealously  applied  himself  to  the 
work,  and  immediately,  with  the  aid  of 
Blair's  regiments,  was  able  to  muster  a 
force  of  nearly  six  thousand. 

Lyon's  first  movement  was  to  check 
the  military  operations  of  the  Governor, 
who  had  encamped  some  eight  hundred 
militia  at  Camp  Jackson,*  on  the  out 
skirts  of  the  city  of  St.  Louis.  Lyon 
May  accordingly  marched  with  his  whole 
W.  force  through  the  streets  of  the  city, 
which  was  greatly"  agitated  by  the  then 
unusual  event,  to  the  undulating  coun 
try  beyond.  On  reaching  the  camp, 
he  drew  up  the  First  and  Third  regi 
ments,  under  the  respective  commands 

0  "  The  main  avenue  of  Camp  Jackson,  recently  under 
command  of  General  Frost,  had  the  name  of  Davis,  and  a 
principal  street  of  the  same  camp  that  of  Beauregard  ;  and 
a  body  of  men  had  also  been  received  into  that  camp  by 
its  commander  which  had  been  notoriously  organized  in 
the  interests  of  the  secessionists,  the  men  openly  wearing 
the  dress  and  badge  distinguishing  the  army  of  the  so- 
called  Southern  Confederacy.  It  is  also  a  notorious  fact 
that  a  quantity  of  arms  had  been  received  into  the  camp 
which  were  unlawfully  taken  from  the  United  States  ar 
senal  at  Baton  Rouge,  and  surreptitiously  passed  up  the 
river  in  boxes  marked  '  marble.'  "—General  Harney's  Procla 
mation,  May  14th. 


of  Colonel  Sigel  and  Colonel  F.  P 
Blair,  and  his  small  detachment  of 
United  States  regulars,  on  the  northern 
side,  where  he  also  posted  four  pieces 
of  artillery.  The  Second  Regiment,  un 
der  Colonel  Borenstein,  was  so  placed 
as  to  command  the  western,  and  Colonel 
Shuttner,  with  his  force  of  volunteers, 
took  position  on  the  south.  Guards 
were  posted  at  the  entrance  to  the 
camp  to  prevent  any  one  either  going 
out  or  in,  and  several  pieces  of  flying 
artillery  were  placed  upon  the  sur 
rounding  heights  commanding  the  en 
campment.  Having  thus  effectually  sur 
rounded  in  less  than  a  half  hour  the 
Governor's  force,  which  had  no  alterna 
tive  but  submission,  Lyon  summoned 
the  general  in  command  to  surrender. 

"  HEADQUARTERS  U.  S.  TROOPS,  ) 
ST.  Louis,  May  10.  f 

"To  GENERAL  D.  M.  FROST: 

11  SIR  :  Your  command  is  regarded  as 
evidently  hostile  toward  the  Govern 
ment  of  the  United  States.  It  is,  for 
the  most  part,  made  up  of  those  seces 
sionists  who  have  openly  avowed  their 
hostility  to  the  General  Government, 
and  have  been  plotting  for  the  seizure 
of  its  property  and  the  overthrow  of  its 
authority.  You  are  openly  in  communi 
cation  with  the  so-called  Southern  Con 
federacy,  which  is  now  at  war  with  the 
United  States  ;  and  you  are  receiving 
at  your  camp,  from  the  said  Confeder 
acy,  under  its  flag,  large  supplies  of 
material  of  war,  most  of  which  is  known 
to  be  the  property  of  the  United  States. 
These  extraordinary  preparations  plainly 
indicate  none  other  th.in  the  well-known 


SURRENDER   OF   CAMP  JACKSON. 


249 


purpose  of  the  Governor  of  this  State, 
under  whose  orders  you  are  acting,  and 
whose  purpose,  recently  communicated 
to  the  Legislature,  has  just  been  respond 
ed  to  by  that  body  in  the  most  unpar 
alleled  legislation,  having  in  direct  view 
hostilities  toward  the  General  Govern 
ment,  and  co-operation  with  its  enemies. 
"  In  view  of  these  considerations,  and 
your  failure  to  disperse  in  obedience  to 
the  proclamation  of  the  President,  and 
of  the  eminent  necessity  of  State  policy 
and  welfare,  and  obligations  imposed 
upon  me  by  instructions  from  Washing 
ton,  it  is  my  duty  to  demand,  and  I  do 
hereby  demand  of  you,  an  immediate 
surrender  of  your  command,  with  no 
other  conditions  than  that  all  persons 
surrendering  under  this  demand  shall 
be  humanely  and  kindly  treated.  Be 
lieving  myself  prepared  to  enforce  this 
demand,  one  half  hour's  time  before 
doing  so  will  be  allowed  for  your  com 
pliance  therewith. 

"  N.  LYON, 

"  Captain  Second  Infantry." 
The  general  in  command  of  the  so- 
called  State  troops,  believed,  however, 
to  be  in  arms  to  sustain  the  cause  of 
secession,  finding  that  resistance  would 
be  of  no  avail,  promptly  surrendered 
himself  and  his  whole  force,  while  em 
phatically  declaring  that  his  men  had 
been  enrolled  under  the  authority  of 
the  State  with  no  hostile  object. 

The  troops,  when  they  discovered 
that  they  had  been  so  unceremoniously 
disposed  of,  gave  vent  to  their  dissatis 
faction,  as  they  were  marched  out  and 
placed  under  guard,  in  the  "wildest 

32 


yells,  curses,  and  groans,"  in  which  they 
were  joined  by  a  portion  of  the  large 
mob  which  had  in  the  mean  time  gath 
ered  and  followed  the  troops  from  the 
city.  When  Captain  Lyon  proceeded 
to  take  possession  of  the  surrendered 
camp,  the  crowd  became  still  more 
excited,  and  beginning  with  casting  in 
sults  and  imprecations  upon  the  United 
States  soldiers,  finally  threw  at  them 
stones  and  any  other  missile  at  hand. 
The  troops,  however,  did  not  lose  their 
self-control,  and  went  calmly  on.  Fi 
nally,  one  of  the  mob  fired  a  revolver 
and  shot  a  soldier  dead.  As  he  fell,  his 
comrades  turned  round  and  presented 
their  muskets,  when  some  of  the  crowd 
again  fired.  On  the  second  discharge, 
one  of  the  captains  ordered  his  company 
to  fire,  which  dispersed  the  throng,  kill 
ing  a  large  number,  of  whom  several 
were  women  and  children  drawn  to  the 
spot  by  a  fatal  curiosity. 

The  following  statement,  given  on  the 
authority  of  Captain  Lyon,  explicitly 
justifies  the  conduct  of  the  United  States 
soldiers : 

' '  The  first  firing  was  some  half  dozen 
shots  near  the  head  of  the  column,  com 
posed  of  the  First  Regiment,  which  was 
guarding  the  prisoners.  It  occurred  in 
this  wise  :  The  artillery  were  stationed 
on  the  bluff  northeast  of  Camp  Jackson, 
with  their  pieces  bearing  on  the  camp. 
The  men  of  this  command  were  most 
insultingly  treated  by  the  mob  ;  with 
the  foulest  epithets,  were  pushed,  struck, 
and  pelted  with  stones  and  dirt.  All 
this  was  patiently  borne,  until  one  of 
the  mob  discharged  a  revolver  at  the 


250 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


men.  At  this  they  fired,  but  not  more 
than  six  shots,  which  were  sufficient  to 
disperse  that  portion  of  the  mob.  How 
many  were  killed  by  this  fire  is  not 
known.  None  of  the  First  Regiment 
(Colonel  Blair's)  fired,  although  continu 
ally  and  shamefully  abused  both  by  the 
prisoners  and  the  mob. 

"  The  second  and  most  destructive 
firing  was  from  the  rear  of  the  column 
guarding  the  prisoners.  The  mob  at  the 
point  intervening  between  Camp  Jack 
son  and  the  rear  of  the  column,  and,  in 
fact,  on  all  sides,  were  very  abusive,  and 
one  of  them,  on  being  expostulated 
with,  became  very  belligerent,  drew  his 
revolver,  and  fired  at  Lieutenant  Saxton, 
of  the  regular  army,  three  times,  during 
which  a  crowd  around  him  cheered  him 
on,  many  of  them  drawing  their  revol 
vers  and  firing  on  the  United  States 
troops.  The  man  who  commenced  the 
firing,  preparatory  to  a  fourth  shot,  laid 
his  pistol  across  his  arm,  and  was  taking 
deliberate  aim  at  Lieutenant  Saxton, 
when  he  was  thrust  through  with  a 
bayonet,  and  fired  upon  at  the  same 
time,  being  killed  instantly.  Here  the 
column  of  troops  having  received  the 
order  to  march,  Lieutenant  Saxton's 
command  passed  on,  and  a  company  in 
the  rear  became  the  objects  of  a  furious 
attack,  when,  several  of  their  number 
having  been  shot,  the  company  came  to 
a  halt,  and  fired  with  fatal  effect.  The 
mob,  in  retreating  from  both  sides  of  the 
line,  returned  the  fire,  and  the  troops 
replied  again.  The  command  was  then 
given  by  Captain  Lyon  to  cease  firing, 
and  the  order  was  promptly  obeyed,  as 


rapidly  as  it  could  be  passed  along  the 
line. 

"The  sad  results  are  much  to  be 
lamented.  The  killing  of  innocent  men, 
women,  and  children  is  deplorable. 
There  was  no  intention  to  fire  upon 
peaceable  citizens.  The  regular  troops 
were  over  in  the  camp,  beyond  the  mob, 
and  in  range  of  the  firing.  The  troops 
manifested  every  forbearance,  and  at 
last  discharged  their  guns,  simply  obey 
ing  the  impulse,  natural  to  us  all,  of 
self-defence.  If  innocent  men,  women, 
and  children,  whose  curiosity  placed 
them  in  a  dangerous  position,  suffered 
with  the  guilty,  it  is  no  fault  of  the 
troops." 

The  fatal  collision  of  the  mob  of  St. 
Louis  with  the  United  States  volunteers 
was  the  cause  of  great  excitement,  and 
increased  the  exasperation,  of  that  por 
tion  of  the  populace  favorable  to  the 
secessionists,  against  the  Federal  troops 
and  officers.  The  Germans,  prominent 
in  the  ranks  of  loyalty,  were  more  espe 
cially  the  objects  of  the  indignation  of  the 
infuriated  disunionists,  who  sought  the 
earliest  opportunity  of  venting  their  rage 
and  revenging  upon  them  the  fall  of  their 
confederates.  On  the  very  next  jjjay 
day  after  the  capture  of  Fort  Jack-  M. 
son,  an  occasion  occurred  which  resulted 
in  another  tragedy.  A.  body  of  Ger 
man  Home  Guards  having  been  enrolled 
at  the  arsenal  and  supplied  with  arms, 
proceeded  to  march  through  the  city. 
Great  crowds  had  collected,  which  re 
ceived  the  troops  with  hootings  and 
hisses,  and  a  man  out  of  the  throng 
fired  a  revolver,  shooting  dead  one  of 


GENERAL  HARNEY. 


251 


the  soldiers.  This  discharge  being  im 
mediately  followed  by  two  others  from 
the  neighboring  houses,  the  troops  sud 
denly  turned  round,  presented  their 
muskets,  and  fired  a  volley  down  the 
street.  A  promiscuous  slaughter  fol 
lowed,  in  which  innocent  women  and 
children  again  suffered  the  fate  of  the 
guilty.  These  two  fatal  collisions  had 
resulted  in  the  death  and  wounding  of 
some  fifty  in  all,  and  served  to  embitter 
still  more  the  unhappy  feeling  already 
existing  among  the  inhabitants  of  the 
same  city. 

The  return,  however,  of  Major-Gen 
eral  Harney,  the  commander  of  the  de 
partment  of  the  West,  to  St.  Louis, 
where  he  had  established  his  headquar 
ters,  served  for  a  time  to  compose  the 
angry  dissensions  in  Missouri,  and  to 
give  hopes  of  saving  that  State  from  the 
evils  of  a  civil  conflict. 

William  Selby  Harney  was  born  in 
Tennessee  in  the  year  1800,  and  entered 
the  army  as  a  second  lieutenant  of  the 
First  Infantry  at  the  age  of  eighteen. 
He  had  acquired,  during  his  long  service, 
the  reputation  of  an  energetic,  though 
arbitrary  officer.  His  characteristic  im 
pulsiveness  and  headstrong  disregard  of 
consequences  led  him  to  assume  pos 
session  of  the  island  of  San  Juan,  in 
Vancouver's  Bay,  during  the  dispute 
with  Great  Britain  in  regard  to  the 
boundary  line  between  the  northwestern 
possessions  of  that  power  and  Oregon. 
This  unauthorized  act  excited  greatly 
the  anger  of  England,  which  was  only 
appeased  by  the  recall  of  Harney  and 
the  conciliatory  action  of  the  veteran 


Scott,  who  was  sent  to  supersede  him 
in  command. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  late  civil 
war,  Harney  was  the  commander-in- 
chief  of  the  Western  Department,  but 
was  temporarily  absent  from  St.  Louis 
during  the  disturbances  in  that  city, 
having  been  summoned  to  Washington. 
On  his  way  he  was  taken  prisoner  by 
the  Confederates  at  Harper's  Ferry,  but 
being  soon  released,  he  hastened,  after  a 
brief  visit  to  the  capital,  to  resume  his 
duties  in  the  West.  Though  the  ties  of 
birth  and  property  attached  him  strongly 
to  the  slave  States,  he  promptly  declared 
his  firm  loyalty  to  the  Union  : 

"  The  Government,  whose  honors 
have  been  bestowed  upon  me,  I  shall 
serve,"  he  wrote,  in  a  published  letter, 
"  for  the  remainder  of  my  days.  The 
flag  whose  glories  I  have  witnessed  shall 
never  be  forsaken  by  me  while  I  can 
strike  a  blow  for  its  defense.  While  I 
have  breath  I  shall  be  ready  to  serve 
the  Government  of  the  United  States, 
and  be  its  faithful,  loyal  soldier." 

To  these  expressions  of  loyalty  the 
General  added  some  pertinent  advice  to 
Missouri  : 

"  Secession  would,  in  my  opinion,"  he 
emphatically  declared,  "  be  her  ruin. 
The  only  special  interest  of  Missouri,  in 
common  with  the  Confederate  States,  is 
slavery.  Her  interest  in  that  institu 
tion  is  now  protected  by  the  Federal 
Constitution.  But  if  Missouri  secedes, 
that  protection  is  gone.  Surrounded  on 
three  sides  by  free  States,  which  might 
soon  become  hostile,  it  would  not  be 
Ions:  until  a  slave  could  not  be  found 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


within  her  borders.  What  interest  could 
Missouri,  then,  have  with  the  cotton 
States,  or  a  confederacy  founded  on 
slavery  and  its  extension  ?  The  pro 
tection  of  her  slave  property,  if  nothing 
else,  admonishes  her  to  never  give  up 
the  Union.  Other  interests  of  vast  mag 
nitude  can  only  be  preserved  by  a  stead 
fast  adherence  and  support  of  the  United 
States  Government.  All  hope  of  a  Pa 
cific  Railroad,  so  deeply  interesting  to 
St.  Louis  and  the  whole  State,  must 
vanish  with  the  Federal  Government. 
Great  manufacturing  and  commercial 
interests  with  which  the  cotton  States 
can  have  no  sympathy,  must  perish  in 
case  of  secession,  and  from  her  present 
proud  condition  of  a  powerful,  thriving 
State,  rapidly  developing  every  ele 
ment  of  wealth  and  social  prosperity, 
Missouri  would  dwindle  to  a  mere  ap 
pendage  and  convenience  for  the  mili 
tary  aristocracy,  established  in  the  cot 
ton  States." 

Immediately  on  his  return  to  his  post 
at  St.  Louis,  General  Harney  strove 
with  unquestioned  sincerity,  but  uncer- 
May  tain  vigor,  to  allay  the  civil  strife 
I2»  in  Missouri.  In  his  first  proclama 
tion  he  assumed  a  highly  conciliatory 
tone  : 

"I  most  anxiously  desire,"  he  pro 
claimed,  "to  discharge  the  delicate  and 
onerous  duties  devolved  upon  me  so  as 
to  preserve  the  public  peace..  I  shall 
carefully  abstain  from  the  exercise  of 
any  unnecessary  powers,  and  from  all 
interference  with  the  proper  functions 
of  the  public  officers  of  the  State  and 
city.  I  therefore  call  upon  the  public 


authorities  and  the  people  to  aid  me  in 
preserving  the  public  peace. 

"The  military  force  stationed  in  this 
department  by  the  authority  of  the 
Government,  and  now  under  my  com 
mand,  will  only  be  used  in  the  last  re 
sort  to  preserve  peace.  I  trust  I  may 
be  spared  the  necessity  of  resorting  to 
martial  law,  but  the  public  peace  must 
be  preserved,  and  the  lives  and  property 
of  the  people  protected.  Upon  a  care 
ful  review  of  my  instructions,  I  find  I 
have  no  authority  to  change  the  loca 
tion  of  the  Home  Guards. 

"  To  avoid  all  cases  ot  irritation  and 
excitement,  if  called  upon  to  aid  the 
local  authorities  in  preserving  the  public 
peace,  I  shall,  in  preference,  make  use 
of  the  regular  army." 

In  the  mean  time,  the  Legislature, 
still  in  session  at  Jefferson  City,  passed  a 
"military  bill,"  the  object  of  which  was 
apparently  to  resist  the  Federal  author 
ity.  The  Governor  was  authorized  to 
call  out  the  militia,  and  a  large  sum 
was  appropriated  to  arm  and  equip 
them.  At  the  same  time  extraordinary 
powers  were  given  to  the  Governor,  by 
which  he  might  control  the  State  troops 
to  his  own  purposes,  which  no  one  could 
doubt  were  in  accordance  with  the  in 
terests  of  secession.  No  sooner  had  the 
"military  bill"  passed,  than  the  Gover 
nor  began  to  avail  himself  of  the  priv 
ileges  it  conferred,  by  mustering  a  mil 
itary  force,  and  ordering  the  telegraph 
and  railroad  bridges  which  communi 
cated  with  St.  Louis  to  be  destroyed,  in 
order  to  prevent  the  loyal  troops  of  that 
city  from  marching  to  the  rescue  of  the 


HARNEY  ATTEMPTS   CONCILIATION. 


2o3 


State   from   the  grasp   of  its   secession 
conspirators. 

General  Harney  now  issued  a  second 
May  proclamation,  to  the  gentle  plead- 
17*  ings  of  which  in  behalf  of  loyalty 
he  added  a  not  very  undecided  declara 
tion  of  the  rebellious  character  of  the 
"  military  bill." 

"It  is  with  regret,"  he  said,  "that  I 
feel  it  my  duty  to  call  your  attention  to 
the  recent  act  of  the  General  Assembly 
of  Missouri,  known  as  the  '  military  bill,' 
which  is  the  result,  no  doubt,  of  the 
temporary  excitement  that  now  pervades 
the  public  mind.  This  bill  cannot  be 
regarded  in  any  other  light  than  an  in 
direct  secession  ordinance,  ignoring  even 
the  forms  resorted  to  by  other  States. 
Manifestly  its  most  material  provisions 
are  in  conflict  with  the  Constitution  and 
laws  of  the  United  States.  To  this  ex 
tent  it  is  a  nullity,  and  cannot  and  ought 
not  to  be  upheld  or  regarded  by  the 
good  citizens  of  Missouri.  There  are 
obligations  and  duties  resting  upon  the 
people  of  Missouri  under  the  Constitu 
tion  and  laws  of  the  United  States  which 
are  paramount,  and  which  I  trust  you 
will  carefully  consider  and  weigh  well 
before  you  will  allow  yourselves  to  be 
carried  out  of  the  Union,  under  the 
form  of  yielding  obedience  to  this  '  mili 
tary  bill,'  which  is  clearly  in  violation  of 
your  duties  as  citizens  of  the  United 
States." 

To  this  proclamation  succeeded  an 
energetic  movement  toward  repressing 
the  secession  demonstrations  in  various 
parts  of  the  State  of  Missouri.  Two 
hundred  armed  secessionists  were  dis 


persed  from  the  arsenal  at  Liberty,  and 
soon  after  the  Federal  arms  met  with 
other  success.     Some  Union  men  having 
been  driven  from  Potosi,  in  Washington 
County,    Captain    Lyon    sent    a    small 
force,  consisting  of  a  hundred  and  fifty 
volunteers  under  the  command  of 
Captain  Coles,  to  their  relief.     Ar- 
riving  at  Potosi   before  daylight,   Cap 
tain  Coles  posted  a  chain  of  sentinels 
around  the  town,  and  stationed  guards 
at  the  houses  of  the  prominent  seces 
sionists.     As  the  day  broke,  some  hun 
dred    and    fifty  men   found   themselves 
thus  imprisoned  without  hope  of  escape. 
Most  of  them  were  released  on  giving 
their  parole  and  taking  the  oath  not  to 
take  up  arms  against  the  United  States, 
while  the  prominent  leaders  wore  held 
captive.     Various  munitions  of  war  and 
other  supplies  intended  for  the  secession 
ists  were  at  the  same  time  seized.     On 
their  way  back  from  Potosi,  the  Union 
troops  put  to  flight  at  De  Soto  a  com 
pany   of  secession  cavalry,   captured  a 
score  or  more  of  their  horses,  and  their 
flag,  secreted  within  the  hoops  of  a  lady 
of  the  place.     The  service  of  the  surgeon 
of  the  United  States  volunteers  was  very 
appropriately   put    into    requisition    on 
the  occasion.     On  entering,  "  the  doctor 
thought   he   observed   the   lady  of  the 
house  sitting  in  rather  an  uneasy  posi 
tion,  and  he  very  politely  asked  her  to 
rise.     At  first  the  lady  hesitated,   but 
finding  the  doctor's  persuasive  suavity 
more  than  she  could  withstand,  she  slow 
ly  rose,  when  the  bright  folds  of  the  rebel 
ensign  appeared  around  the  lady's  feet. 
The  doctor,  bowing  a  graceful  '  beg  par- 


254 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE   SOUTH. 


don,  madam,'  stooped,  and  quietly  catch 
ing  hold  of  the  gaudy  color,  found  in  his 
possession  a  secession  flag  thirty*  feet 
long  and  nine  feet  wide." 

Having  apparently  checked  the  rising 
spirit  of  rebellion  by  judicious  military 
movements,  General  Harney  sought,  by 
a  quasi  league  with  the  leader  of  the 
so-called  State  troops,  to  establish  a  per 
manent  truce  with  the  seditiously  dis 
posed  citizens  of  Missouri.     He  accord 
ingly   held   a   personal    interview  with 
Sterling  Price,  appointed  by  the  Gov 
ernor  a  major-general  of  the  Missouri 
militia,  and  who,  like  him,  was  doubtless 
in  league  with  the  Southern  leaders  of 
rebellion.     General  Harney,  persuaded 
by  the  artful  plausibilities  of  the  shrewd 
May  Price,  was  cajoled  into  an  agree- 
21«    ment,    by   which   he   pledged    the 
Federal  authority  to  withhold  its  power, 
and  to  leave  the  seditious  Governor  and 
his   confederates   to  pursue    their   own 
designs,  under  the  pretext  of  preserv 
ing  order  in  the  State.     In  a  joint  decla 
ration,  signed  by  General  Harney  and 
the  major-general  of  the  so-styled  State 
Guard,  it  was  announced  that  "  General 
Price,  having  by  commission  full  author 
ity   over   the   militia   of  the    State   of 
Missouri,  undertakes,  with  the  sanction 
of  the  Governor  of  the  State  already 

0  8t  Louia  Democrat,  May  17. 


declared,  to  direct  the  whole  power  of 
the  State  officers  to  maintain  order  within 
the  State  among  the  people  thereof ;  and 
General  Harney  publicly  declares  that 
this  object  being  thus  assured,  he  can 
have  no  occasion,  as  he  has  no  wish,  to 
make  military  movements  which  might 
otherwise  create  excitements  and  jeal 
ousies  which  he  most  earnestly  desires 
to  avoid. " 

Although  the  immediate  effect  of  this 
compact  was  to  tranquilize  the  public 
sentiment  of  Missouri,  it  soon  became 
evident  that  the  Governor  and  his  con 
federates  had  been  using  General  Harney 
to  further  their  own  seditious  purposes. 
They  continued  to  muster  their  military 
forces,   and  were   evidently  bent   upon 
hostility  to  the  Union  men  of  the  State. 
The  Government  at  Washington  becom 
ing  conscious  of  the  impolitic  action  of 
General  Harney,  withdrew  him  from  the 
Western  Department.     Lyon,  who  May 
had  been  lately  promoted  to  the   !?• 
rank  of  brigadier-general  of  volunteers, 
succeeded  to  the  command  of  the  Fed 
eral  forces  in  Missouri.     This  energetic 
officer  at  once  proceeded  to  assert  the 
authority   of  the    Union   by   the    most 
decisive    action.     We    shall   soon   have 
occasion  to  say  more  of  him  and  his 
spirited  achievements. 


LOYALTY   OF  THE  WEST. 


255 


CHAPTER    XXII. 

Spirit  of  Loyalty  of  the  Free  States  of  the  West. — Attachment  to  the  Union.— Interests  in  the  Struggle. — The  danger  of 
being  cut  off  from  the  Mississippi. — The  Position  of  Illinois. — Her  interest  in  the  preservation  of  Communication. — 
Spirited  Action. — Military  Possession  of  Cairo. — Situation  of  Cairo. — The  Key  to  the  Northwest. — The  motive  for 
founding  the  City. — Marshy  Site. — Artificial  Dykes. — Great  Size  and  enormous  Expense.— Illinois  Central  Railroad. 
— Population  of  Cairo. — Its  Docks. — A  Reservoir  of  Water. — Artificial  Remedies. — Future  Prospects.— Neighbor 
hood  of  Cairo  described. — Cairo  as  a  Military  Post. — Bird's  Point. — Its  Position. — Description  of  the  place. — Its 
Importance. — Danger  of  its  Seizure. — Secured  to  the  United  States  by  General  Lyon. — Communications  with  Cairo. 
— Columbus. — Paducah. — Military  Possession  of  Cairo  a  blow  to  the  Enemy. — Their  Opinion. — Increased  Military 
Energy  of  the  United  States. — Move  across  the  Potomac. — The  vote  on  Secession  in  Virginia. — Scruples  of  Govern 
ment. — The  crossing  of  the  Potomac. — Arlington  Heights  occupied. — Entrenchments. — Opposition  anticipated  at 
Alexandria. — The  animosity  of  the  City. — Secession  Flags. — Expedition  against  Alexandria. — The  plan. — Move 
ment  of  the  Michigan  Regiment. — Embarkation  of  the  New  York  Fire  Zouaves. — The  Steamer  Pawnee. — Indiscreet 
haste  of  the  Zouaves. — Landing  at  Alexandria. — Death  of  Colonel  Ellsworth. — The  Michigan  Regiment  disap 
pointed. — Escape  of  Virginia  Troops. — Capture  of  thirty  seven  Horsemen. — Occupation  of  Alexandria. — Sacrifice 
of  a  promising  life. — Biography  of  Ellsworth. — Early  Career. — Military  Tastes. — His  Company  of  Chicago  Zouaves. 
— How  shown  and  admired. — Application  for  a  clerkship  in  the  War  Department. — Disappointment. — Made  a  Lieu 
tenant  in  the  Army. — Resignation. — Recruits  the  Fire  Zouaves  at  New  York,  and  becomes  their  Colonel. — Grief  at 
his  death. — A  touching  Letter. 


1861. 


THE  free  States  of  the  West,  actuated 
by  a  sentiment  of  loyalty  which  inspir 
ited  them  to  vindicate  the  honor 
and  preserve  the  integrity  of  a 
Union  to  which  they  were  fondly  at 
tached,  exhibited  the  greatest  alertness 
in  coming  to  the  rescue  of  the  Federal 
Government.  Finding,  moreover,  their 
interests  deeply  involved  in  a  struggle, 
which,  with  the  secession  of  Louisiana, 
Mississippi,  Arkansas,  Tennessee,  and 
the  unsettled  condition  of  Missouri  and 
Kentucky,  threatened,  by  obstructing 
the  navigation  of  the  Mississippi  River, 
to  cut  off  that  great  channel  of  com 
munication  between  the  Northern  lakes 
and  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  they  felt,  with 
all  the  impressiveness  of  a  motive  of  self- 
preservation,  the  necessity  of  resisting 
the  rebellion. 


Illinois,  from  her  geographical  posi 
tion,  had  been  the  chief  State  to  profit 
from  that  bountiful  provision  of  nature 
which  united  Lake  Michigan  and  the 
Gulf  of  Mexico,  and  brought  the  north 
ern  city  of  Chicago  into  close  relation 
ship  with  tropical  New  Orleans.  This 
State,  accordingly,  alive  to  the  import 
ance  of  securing  a  communication  which 
had  proved  so  great  a  source  of  inspira 
tion  to  her  enterprise  and  of  the  wealth 
that  had  crowned  its  efforts,  eagerly 
strove  to  further  the  endeavors  of  the 
Federal  Government  to  prevent  the  dis 
ruption  of  the  Union.  Her  troops  re 
sponded  readily  to  the  call  of  the  Gov 
ernor,  and  were  soon  enabled  to  hold 
in  force  the  most  important  strategic 
point  of  the  West.  This  was  the  city 
of  Cairo,  within  her  own  borders. 


256 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE   SOUTH. 


Cairo  is  situated  at  the  extreme  south 
of  Illinois,  in  Alexandria  County,  on 
the  delta  at  the  confluence  of  the  Ohio 
with  the  Mississippi.  On  the  east  the 
former  separates  it  from  Kentucky,  and 
on  the  west  the  latter  separates  it  from 
Missouri.  Cairo  thus,  by  its  position, 
commands  the  navigation  of  both  rivers 
and  the  shores  of  the  two  neighboring 
States  at  this  point.  It  is,  as  it  were,  the 
key  to  that  extensive  and  important  ter 
ritory  familiarly  known  as  the  Great 
Northwest,  watered  by  the  upper  Mis 
sissippi,  the  Ohio,  the  Missouri,  and 
their  tributary  streams.  The  city  was 
founded  with  the  expectation,  from  the 
natural  advantages  of  geographical  po 
sition,  of  its  becoming  a  great  trading 
emporium.  Immense  sums  were  ex 
pended  in  rendering  it  habitable.  Nat 
urally  a  swamp,  the  land  was  covered 
with  water  for  the  greater  part  of  the 
year.  Large  dykes  or  levees  were  raised 
for  two  miles  and  a  half  along  the  bor 
ders  of  the  Mississippi  and  Ohio,  and 
joined  by  a  transverse  embankment, 
so  as  to  close  in  the  site  and  shut 
out  the  constant  overflow  of  those 
rivers.  Several  attempts  had  been 
made  in  vain  to  protect  the  town  from 
inundation,  until  finally  the  present 
works  were  constructed  at  an  enormous 
expense.  These  now  consist  of  vast 
dykes,  from  ten  to  thirty  feet  in  height, 
with  a  breadth,  at  the  top,  from  twenty 
to  fifty  feet,  and  at  the  bottom,  from 
eighty  to  a  hundred  feet.  Much  of  the 
structure  was  built  at  the  expense  of 
the  Illinois  Central  Railroad  Company, 
to  which  a  great  portion  of  the  land 


belonged,  and  here  its  extreme  southern 
depot  and  works  have  been  established. 
The  inhabitants,  largely  increased  dur 
ing  the  war,  have  settled  chiefly  in  the 
quarter  bordered  by  the  Ohio,  where 
they  have  filled  in  the  marshy  site  of 
the  town  almost  to  the  height  of  the 
embankment,  which  protects  it  from  the 
danger  of  inundation.  The  loading  and 
unloading  of  freight  is  performed  by 
means  of  large  floating  docks  or  wharf- 
floats,  so  contrived  and  moored  that 
they  cun  be  adapted  to  the  riso  and  full 
of  the  river,  and  thus  always  present  an 
even  communication  with  the  embanked 
shore.  256 

After  a  heavy  fall  of  rain,  the  en 
closure  within  the  levees  or  dykes,  which 
forms  a  large  artificial  basin,  collects  the 
water.  This,  however,  has  been  par 
tially  remedied  by  digging  a  deep  canal 
through  the  centre  of  the  town  to  re 
ceive  the  rain-fall.  With  this  are  con 
nected  drains  which  open  through  the 
dykes  into  the  rivers.  When  their  wa 
ters,  however,  are  high,  the  heavy  rains 
cannot  be  thus  disposed  of,  and  recourse 
is  had  to  a  steam-pump.  The  only 
effectual  mode  which  has  as  yet  been 
proposed  of  rendering  this  admirably 
situated  city  entirely  free  from  the  dan 
ger  of  inundation,  is  to  fill  up  the  whole 
basin  with  earth  brought  from  the  hills 
in  the  interior.  In  1858  the  river  rose 
above  a  new  embankment  commenced 
the  year  previous,  and  destroyed  almost 
the  entire  town. 

The   neighborhood  of   Cairo    is    thus 
described  by  a  local  observer : 

'  The    nearest   high   land    in    any  di- 


DESCRIPTION   OF  CAIRO. 


251 


rection  from  Cairo  is  about  nine  miles 
distant,  on  the  Central  Railway,  and  all 
between  are  cypress  swamps,  with  here 
and  there  a  marshy  opening,  called  a 
farm,  and  covered  with  a  mass  of  heavy 
timber,  vines  and  creepers,  through 
which  the  sun  cannot  penetrate.  The 
high  land,  commencing  at  the  edge  of 
this  swamp,  rises  several  hundred  feet, 
often  presenting  mountainous  aspects  ; 
the  timber  is  maple,  beech,  hickory,  and 
oak.  Springs  are  frequent,  and  where 
farms  are  opened  they  well  reward  the 
laborer ;  but  more  than  three-fourths 
of  all  this  high  land  is  an  unbroken 
wilderness. 

"  On  the  Illinois  side  of  the  Ohio, 
above  Mound  City  (six  miles  from  Cairo), 
the  shore  is  high  and  free  from  inunda 
tion,  while  on  the  Kentucky  side  the 
land  is  low  and  swampy,  the  distance  to 
the  hills  being  from  six  to  twelve  miles. 
The  Illinois  bank  of  the  Mississippi  is 
low,  yet  occasionally  there  are  hills,  as 
at  Thebes,  but  above  this  point  it  is 
subject  to  overflow  for  150  miles.  The 
Mississippi  shore  of  Missouri  is  swampy 
in  every  direction,  and  the  nearest  high 
land  is  as  much  as  fifty  miles  distant, 
near  Cape  Girardeau,  which  is  the  only 
place  where  southern  Missouri  can  reach 
the  river  with  teams.  From  Cape  Gi 
rardeau  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  extends 
a  succession  of  cypress  swamps,  cane- 
brakes,  and  bayous — the  scene  of  deso 
lation  being  varied  only  at  long  intervals 
by  farms,  always  protected  by  a  levee. 
On  the  east  side  of  the  river  there  are 
occasionally  high  lands  and  bluffs,  on 
which  the  towns  are  situated.  Opposite 

33 


Cairo,  in  Missouri,  is  the  little  village  of 
Bird's  Point,  from  which  a  railroad  ex 
tends  twenty  or  thirty  miles  toward 
Little  Rock,  in  Arkansas.  In  such  a 
wilderness  of  swamps  and  waters,  Cairo 
is  really  a  place  of  refuge  and  a  harbor 
of  safety." 

The  importance  of  Cairo  as  a  basis  of 
military  operations  was  recognized  early 
in  the  struggle,  and  in  the  course  of  the 
month  of  May  a  force  of  over  six  thou 
sand  Illinois  volunteers  encamped  there 
under  the  command  of  Brigadier-Gen 
eral  Prentiss.  They  immediately  com 
menced  the  construction  of  four  en 
trenched  camps,  and  mounted  heavy 
guns  upon  the  dykes. 

The  site  of  Cairo  is  commanded  only 
in  one  direction.  This  is  from  the  Mis 
souri  side  of  the  Mississippi  River,  at 
Bird's  Point,  where  the  land  rises  two 
or  three  feet  above  the  top  of  the  Cairo 
dykes. 

"  Bird's  Point  consists  of  scarcely 
half  a  dozen  unpretending  houses  and  a 
wharf-boat,  which  is  the  principal  feature 
of  the  town,  inasmuch  as  it  supports  on 
its  floating  bottom  the  chief  store, 
grocery,  and  commission-house  of  the 
town.  *  *  *  Standing  upon  even 
as  low  a  situation  as  the  deck  of  the 
wharf-boat,  the  housetops  and  spires 
within  the  Cairo  levee  are  plainly  visible, 
and  within  easy  range  of  a  battery  at 
Bird's  Point ;  and  although  the  latter 
place  is  situated  on  low  bottom  land  and 
subject  to  frequent  overflows,  yet  the 
still  lower  situation  of  Cairo  is  so  pal 
pable,  that,  to  a  spectator  at  Bird's 
Point,  it  seems  as  if  the  great  rivers 


258 


THE   WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


which  here  mix  their  waters  had  been 
displaced  from  their  beds  to  make  room 
for  the  houses  which  are  hugged  within 
the  huge  embraces  of  the  levee.  The 
river  here  is  very  wide,  and  but  for  the 
murky  turbulence  of  its  water,  and  the 
steady  onward  motion  of  the  current, 
would  give  one  an  idea  of  an  arm  of 
the  sea." 

There  was  great  danger  lest  the  seces 
sionists  of  Missouri  and  Tennessee  should 
seize  this  important  position.  Brigadier- 
General  Lyon,  however,  was  on  the 
alert,  and  anticipated  the  movements  of 
the  enemy  by  promptly  dispatching  a 
regiment  of  Missouri  volunteers,  under 
Colonel  Shuttner,  to  Bird's  Point.  Here 
they  immediately  fortified  a  camp,  and 
thus  bid  defiance  to  attack. 

The  communications  of  Cairo  through 
the  Illinois  Central  Railroad  with  the 
North,  give  it  every  advantage  of  rapid 
reinforcement.  In  twenty-four  hours 
troops  can  reach  the  place  not  only  from 
Illinois,  Missouri,  and  Kentucky,  but 
from  Indiana,  Wisconsin,  and  Michigan. 

About  a  score  of  miles  below  Cairo, 
on  the  Kentucky  bank  of  the  Missis 
sippi  River,  is  situated  the  town  of  Co 
lumbus,  the  Northern  terminus  of  vari 
ous  Southern  railways.  This  place  had 
become  of  great  interest,  in  connection 
with  the  rebellion,  as  an  important 
strategic  post,  having  been  seized  and 
held  by  the  enemy.  Paducah,  again, 
forty  miles  to  the  east  of  Cairo,  on  the 
Kentucky  side  of  the  Ohio,  at  its  con 
fluence  with  the  Tennessee,  is  another 
point  of  great  importance,  commanding 
ns  it  does  the  mouth  of  the  latter  river, 


and  connected  as  it  is  with  the  Southern 
series  of  railways.  This  important  place 
fortunately  was  held  in  the  possession 
of  the  United  States  troops. 

The  prompt  military  occupation  of 
Cairo,  and  the  preparations  made  for  its 
defence,  were  heavy  blows  to  the  seces 
sionists.  They  strove,  however,  to  find 
consolation  in  the  presumption  that 
"  this  audacious  movement  has  had  good 
effect  in  developing  the  purpose  of  our 
enemies  to  prosecute  the  war  in  earnest, 
and  in  its  inspiring  influence  upon  the 
Tennessee  and  Kentucky  mind.  It  con 
veys  a  threat  which  the  people  of  those 
States  will  join  their  brethren  of  the 
Confederate  States  in  resenting  with 
promptitude." 

They,  nevertheless,  were  forced  to 
acknowledge  the  importance  of  the  pos 
session  of  Cairo  to  the  Federal  troops. 

"Geography,"  they  admitted,  "has 
made  Cairo  a  strategical  position  of 
the  utmost  consequence.  It  is  the  key 
to  the  upper,  as  New  Orleans  and  the 
Lake  and  the  Balize  are  the  key  to  the 
lower  Mississippi.  It  can  blockade  St. 
Louis  on  the  one  hand,  and  Louisville  on 
the  other  ;  while,  if  in  possession  of  a 
considerable  force,  possessing  heavy 
ordnance,  and  commanding  the  railroad 
leading  south  of  that  point,  it  would 
menace  the  city  of  Memphis,  and  open 
the  way  for  an  invading  army  to  make 
that  an  advanced  post  of  occupation.  It 
is  not  pleasant  to  contemplate  such  a  pos 
sibility.  But  it  is  good  policy  to  face  it 
fairly,  if  we  would  defeat  it  effectually." 

The  United  States  Government,  with 
its  rapidly  accumulating  forces,  was 


FIKST  MOVEMENT  INTO   VIRGINIA. 


259 


beginning  to  present  in  every  direction 
a  more  vigorous  opposition  to  the 
enemy.  Washington  being  considered 
temporarily  out  of  danger,  and  the  dis 
affected  of  Maryland  no  longer  feared, 
General  Scott  ventured  to  make  a  move 
across  the  Potomac.  Virginia,  though 
previously  in  arms  and  leagued  with  the 
Confederate  States  in  open  resistance  to 
the  Federal  authorities,  had  yet,  with  an 
affected  regard  for  law,  submitted  the 
ordinance  of  secession  to  the  vote  of  her 
May  people.  In  the  middle  and  east- 
23«  ern  districts  of  the  State  the  vote 
was  almost  unanimous  in  favor  of  seces 
sion,  while  in  the  western  it  was  nearly 
unanimous  in  opposition.  The  United 
States  Government  is  supposed  to  have 
thus  far  withheld  the  assertion  by  arms 
of  its  authority  in  Virginia,  that  the 
people  might  enjoy  in  freedom  the  ex 
ercise  of  their  suffrage.  It  was  accord- 
May  mgly  n°t  until  the  day  after  the 
2^«  vote  on  secession  had  been  taken 
that  Scott  threw  across  the  Potomac, 
into  the  insurgent  State,  a  portion  of  the 
troops  encamped  in  and  about  the  cap 
ital,  which  constituted  already,  such  had 
been  the  military  promptitude  of  the 
North,  a  force  of  nearly  fifty  thousand 
militia  and  volunteers. 

The  number  of  men  detached  for 
this  purpose  was  nearly  thirteen  thou 
sand,  formed  into  two  columns,  one  of 
which  was  sent  to  occupy  Arlington 
Heights  arid  the  rest  of  the  Virginia 
shore  opposite  to  Washington,  and  the 
other  Alexandria,  on  the  Potomac  River, 
about  six  miles  south  of  the  capital. 
The  former,  being  the  larger  portion  of 


the  troops,  crossed  by  the  Long  bridge 
at  Washington  and  the  iron  bridge  at 
Georgetown,  and  took  possession  of  the 
high  banks  of  the  Virginia  side  of  the 
river.  Driving  the  scattered  outpost 
guards  of  the  enemy  before  them,  they 
were  permitted  to  occupy  the  ground 
with  little  opposition,  and  at  once  began 
to  throw  up  fortifications. 

At  Alexandria,  which  had  just  voted 
almost  unanimously  for  secession,  and 
where  an  intense  feeling  of  animosity  to 
the  Federal  troops  was  known  to  pre 
vail,  greater  opposition  was  anticipated. 
The  town  had  been  long  flaunting  its 
secession  flags  in  the  sight  of  the  capital, 
the  troops  of  the  enemy  were  parading 
its  streets,  and  its  citizens  were  in  arms 
apparently  prepared  for  resistance.  It 
was  accordingly  determined  to  surround 
the  place,  not  only  to  secure  its  posses 
sion,  but  the  capture  of  the  armed  force 
within.  For  this  purpose  the  Third 
Regiment  of  Michigan  militia,  in  com 
mand  of  Colonel  Wilcox,  accompanied 
by  a  detachment  of  United  States  cav 
alry,  and  supported  by  two  pieces  of 
Sherman's  flying  artillery,  crossed  the 
Long  bridge  into  Virginia,  with  the  view 
of  marching  to  Alexandria  by  land  and 
advancing  upon  the  city  in  the  rear.  The 
Fire  Zouave  Regiment  of  New  York, 
commanded  by  Colonel  Ellsworth,  was 
dispatched  by  water  to  take  Alexandria 
in  front.  The  steamer  Pawnee  had  been 
previously  moored  in  the  Potomac  off 
the  town,  so  as  to  command  it  with  her 
guns. 

The  Zouaves,  however,  reached  their 
destination  in  advance  of  the  Michigan 


'260 


THE   WAR  WITH   THE   SOUTH. 


troops,  and  impelled  by  an  imprudent 
impetuosity  hastened  to  land.  The  town 
was  at  once  alarmed,  and  the  enemy's 
troops  succeeded  in  effecting  their  escape 
before  the  Michigan  regiment,  coming 
up  in  the  rear,  could  cut  them  off.  The 
landing  of  the  Zouaves,  and  the  subse 
quent  tragedy  in  which  their  young 
Colonel  lost  his  life,  have  been  thus  mi 
nutely  detailed  by  one*  who  was  at  his 
death : 

"It  was  not  until  our  boats  were 
about  to  draw  up  to  the  wharf,"  he  says, 
"  that  our  approach  was  noticed  in  any 
way  ;  but  at  the  latest  minute  a  few 
sentinels,  whom  we  had  long  before  dis 
cerned,  fired  their  muskets  in  the  air  as 
a  warning,  and,  running  rapidly  into  the 
town,  disappeared.  Two  or  three  of  the 
Zouaves,  fancying  that  the  shots  were 
directed  toward  them  (which  they  cer 
tainly  were  not),  discharged  their  rifles 
after  the  retreating  forms,  but  no  injury 
to  anybody  followed.  The  town  was 
thus  put  on  its  guard,  but  yet  so  early 
was  the  hour,  and  so  apparently  un 
locked  for  our  arrival,  that  when  we 
landed,  about  half-past  five  o'clock  A.  M., 
the  streets  were  as  deserted  as  if  it  had 
been  midnight. 

''Before  our  troops  disembarked,  a 
boat,  filled  with  armed  marines,  and 
carrying  a  flag  of  truce,  put  off  from 
the  Pawnee,  and  landed  ahead  of  us. 
From  the  officer  in  charge  we  learned 
that  the  Pawnee  had  already  proposed 
terms  of  submission  to  the  town,  and 
that  the  rebels  had  consented  to  vacate 
with'n  a  specified  time.  This  seemed 

•  New  York  Tribune,  May  26. 


to  settle  the  question  of  a  contest  in  the 
negative  ;  but  in  the  confusion  of  mus 
tering  and  forming  the  men,  the  intelli 
gence  was  not  well  understood,  and  re 
ceived  but  little  attention.  Indeed,  I 
am  quite  sure  that  the  Pawnee's  officer 
did  not  seek  Colonel  Ellsworth,  to  com 
municate  with  him,  and  that  the  Colonel 
only  obtained  a  meagre  share  of  infor 
mation  by  seeking  it  directly  from  the 
bearer  of  the  flag  of  truce  himself.  No 
doubt  this  omission  arose  from  the  con 
fused  condition  in  which  affairs  then 
stood.  But  it  would  have  caused  no 
difference  in  the  Colonel's  military  plans. 
No  attack  was  meditated,  except  in  case 
of  a  forcible  resistance  to  his  progress. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  idea  of  the  place 
being  under  a  truce  seemed  to  banish 
every  suspicion  of  a  resistance  either 
from  multitudes  or  individuals.  It  was 
just  possibly  this  consideration  that  led 
Colonel  Ellsworth  to  forego  the  requisite 
personal  precautions,  which,  if  taken, 
would  have  prevented  his  unhappy 
death.  But  I  am  sure  none  of  us  at 
that  time  estimated  the  probability  of 
the  danger  which  afterward  menaced  us. 
Perhaps  the  thought  of  actual  bloodshed 
and  death  in  war  was  too  foreign  to  our 
experiences  to  be  rightly  weighed.  But 
it  certainly  did  not  enter  our  minds  then, 
as  poor  Ellsworth's  fate  has  since  taught 
us  it  should  have  done,  that  a  town  half 
waked,  half  terrified,  and  under  truce, 
could  harbor  any  peril  for  us.  So  the 
Colonel  gave  some  rapid  directions  for 
the  interruption  of  the  railway  course, 
by  displacing  a  few  rails  near  the  depot, 
and  then  turned  toward  the  centre  of 


DEATH   OF  ELLSWORTH. 


261 


the  town,  to  destroy  the  means  of  com 
munication  southward  by  the  telegraph  ; 
a  measure  which  he  appeared  to  regard 
as  very  seriously  important.  He  was 
accompanied  by  Mr.  H.  J.  Winser,  mil 
itary  secretary  to  the  regiment,  the 
chaplain,  the  Rev.  E.  "W.  Dodge,  and 
myself.  At  first  he  summoned  no  guard 
to  follow  him,  but  he  afterward  turned 
and  called  forward  a  single  squad,  with 
a  sergeant  from  the  first  company.  We 
passed  quickly  through  the  streets, 
meeting  a  few  bewildered  travellers 
issuing  from  the  principal  hotel,  which 
seemed  to  be  slowly  coming  to  its  daily 
senses,  and  were  about  to  turn  toward 
the  telegraph  office,  when  the  Colonel, 
first  of  all,  caught  sight  of  the  secession 
flag,  which  has  so  long  swung  insolently 
in  full  view  of  the  President's  House. 
He  immediately  sent  back  the  sergeant, 
with  an  order  for  the  advance  of  the 
entire  first  company,  and,  leaving  the 
matter  of  the  telegraph  office  for  a  while, 
pushed  on  to  the  hotel,  which  proved  to 
be  the  Marshall  House,  a  second-class 
inn.  On  entering  the  open  door  the 
Colonel  met  a  man  in  his  shirt  and 
trowsers,  of  whom  he  demanded  what 
sort  of  flag  it  was  that  hung  above  the 
roof.  The  stranger,  who  seemed  greatly 
alarmed,  declared  he  knew  nothing  of  it, 
and  that  he  was  only  a  boarder  there. 
Without  questioning  him  further  the 
Colonel  sprang  up  stairs,  and  we  all 
followed  to  the  topmost  story,  whence, 
by  means  of  a  ladder,  he  clambered  to 
the  roof,  cut  down  the  flag  with  Winser's 
knife,  and  brought  it  from  its  staff. 
There  were  two  men  in  bed  in  the  garret 


whom  we  had  not  observed  at  all  when 
we  entered,  their  position  being  some 
what  concealed,  but  who  now  rose  in 
great  apparent  amazement,  although  I 
observed  that  they  were  more  than  half 
dressed.  We  at  once  turned  to  descend, 
private  Brownell  leading  the  way,  and 
Colonel  Ellsworth  immediately  following 
him  with  the  flag.  As  Brownell  reached 
the  first  landing-place,  or  entry,  after  a 
descent  of  some  dozen  steps,  a  man 
jumped  from  a  dark  passage,  and  hardly 
noticing  the  private,  levelled  a  double- 
barrelled  gun  square  at  the  Colonel's 
breast.  Brownell  made  a  quick  pass  to 
turn  the  weapon  aside,  but  the  fellow's 
hand  was  firm,  and  he  discharged  one 
barrel  straight  to  its  aim,  the  slugs  or 
buckshot  with  which  it  was  loaded  en 
tering  the  Colonel's  heart,  and  killing 
him  at  the  instant.  I  think  my  arm  was 
resting  on  poor  Ellsworth's  shoulder  at 
the  moment.  At  any  rate,  he  seemed 
to  fall  almost  from  my  own  grasp.  He 
was  on  the  second  or  third  step  from  the 
landing,  and  he  dropped  forward  with 
that  heavy,  horrible,  headlong  weight 
which  always  comes  of  sudden  death 
inflicted  in  this  manner.  His  assailant 
had  turned  like  a  flash  to  give  the  con 
tents  of  the  other  barrel  to  Brownell, 
but  either  he  could  not  command  his  aim, 
or  the  Zouave  was  too  quick  with  him, 
for  the  slugs  went  over  his  head,  and 
passed  through  the  panels  and  wainscot 
of  a  door  which  sheltered  some  sleeping 
lodgers.  Simultaneously  with  this  sec 
ond  shot,  and  sounding  like  the  echo  of 
the  first,  Brownell's  rifle  was  heard,  and 
the  assassin  staggered  backward.  He 


THE   WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


was  hit  exactly  in  the  middle  of  the 
face,  and  the  wound,  as  I  afterward  saw 
it,  was  the  most  frightful  I  ever  wit 
nessed.  Of  course  Brownell  did  not 
know  how  fatal  his  shot  had  been,  and 
so  before  the  man  dropped,  he  thrust 
his  sabre  bayonet  through  and  through 
the  body,  the  force  of  the  blow  sending 
the  dead  man  violently  down  the  upper 
section  of  the  second  flight  of  stairs,  at 
the  foot  of  which  he  lay  with  his  face  to 
the  floor.  Winser  ran  from  above  cry 
ing,  '  Who  is  hit  ?'  but  as  he  glanced 
downward  by  our  feet,  he  needed  no 
answer. 

"  Bewildered  for  an  instant  by  the 
suddenness  of  this  attack,  and  not 
knowing  what  more  might  be  in  store, 
we  forbore  to  proceed,  and  gathered 
together  defensively.  There  were  but 
seven  of  us  altogether,  and  one  was 
without  a  weapon  of  any  kind.  Brow 
nell  instantly  reloaded,  and  while  doing 
so  perceived  the  door  through  which  the 
assailant's  shot  had  passed,  beginning 
to  open.  He  brought  his  rifle  to  the 
shoulder,  and  menaced  the  occupants, 
two  travellers,  with  immediate  death  if 
they  stirred.  The  three  other  privates 
guarded  the  passages,  of  which  there 
were  quite  a  number  converging  to  the 
point  where  we  stood,  while  the  chaplain 
and  Winser  looked  to  the  staircase  by 
which  we  had  descended,  and  the  adjoin 
ing  chambers.  I  ran  down  stairs  to  see 
if  anything  was  threatened  from  the 
story  below,  but  it  soon  appeared  there 
was  no  danger  from  that  quarter.  How 
ever,  we  were  not  at  all  disposed  to 
move  from  our  position.  From  the 


opening  doors,  and  through  the  pas 
sages,  we  discerned  a  sufficient  number 
of  forms  to  assure  us  that  we  were 
dreadfully  in  the  minority.  I  think  now 
that  there  was  no  danger,  and  that  the 
single  assailant  acted  without  concert 
with  anybody  ;  but  it  is  impossible  to 
know  accurately,  and  it  was  certainly  a 
doubtful  question  then.  The  first  thing 
to  be  done  was  to  look  to  our  dead  friend 
and  leader.  He  had  fallen  on  his  face, 
and  the  streams  of  blood  that  flowed 
from  his  wound  had  literally  flooded  the 
way.  The  chaplain  turned  him  gently 
over,  and  I  stooped  and  called  his  name 
aloud,  at  which  I  thought  then  he  mur 
mured  inarticulately.  I  presume  I  was 
mistaken,  and  I  am  not  sure  that  he 
spoke  a  word  after  being  struck,  although 
in  my  dispatch  I  repeated  a  single  ex 
clamation  which  I  had  believed  he  ut 
tered.  It  might  have  been  Brownell,  or 
the  chaplain,  who  was  close  behind  me. 
Winser  and  I  lifted  the  body  with  all 
the  care  we  could  apply,  and  laid  it  upon 
a  bed  in  a  room  near  by.  The  rebel 
flag,  stained  with  his  blood,  and  purified 
by  this  contact  from  the  baseness  of  its 
former  meaning,  we  laid  about  his  feet. 
It  was  at  first  difficult  to  discover  the 
precise  locality  of  his  wound,  for  all 
parts  of  his  coat  were  equally  saturated 
with  blood.  By  cautiously  loosening  his 
belt  and  unbuttoning  his  coat  we  found 
where  the  shot  had  penetrated.  None 
of  us  had  any  medical  knowledge,  but 
we  saw  that  all  hope  must  be  resigned. 
Nevertheless,  it  seemed  proper  to  sum 
mon  the  surgeon  as  speedily  as  possible. 
This  could  not  easily  be  done  ;  for, 


DEATH   OF   ELLSWORTH   AVENGED. 


263 


secluded  as  we  were  in  that  part  of  the 
town,  and  uncertain  whether  an  ambush 
might  not  be  awaiting  us  also,  no  man 
could  volunteer  to  venture  forth  alone  ; 
and  to  go  together,  and  leave  the  Col- 
oners  body  behind,  was  out  of  the 
question.  We  wondered  at  the  long 
delay  of  the  first  company,  for  the  ad 
vance  of  which  the  Colonel  had  sent 
back  before  approaching  the  hotel ;  but 
we  subsequently  learned  that  they  had 
mistaken  a  street,  and  gone  a  little  out 
of  their  way.  Before  they  arrived  we 
had  removed  some  of  the  unsightly 
stains  from  the  Colonel's  features,  and 
composed  his  limbs.  His  expression  in 
death  was  beautifully  natural.  The 
Colonel  was  a  singularly  handsome  man, 
and,  excepting  the  pallor,  there  was 
nothing  different  in  his  countenance  now 
from  what  all  his  friends  had  so  lately 
been  accustomed  to  gladly  recognize. 
The  detachment  was  heard  approaching 
at  last,  a  reinforcement  was  easily  called 
up,  and  the  surgeon  was  sent  for.  His 
arrival,  not  long  after,  of  course  sealed 
our  own  unhappy  belief.  A  sufficient 
guard  was  presently  distributed  over  the 
house,  but  meanwhile  I  had  remembered 
the  Colonel's  earnestness  about  the  tele 
graph  seizure,  and  obtained  permission 
to  guide  a  squad  of  Zouaves  to  the 
office,  which  was  found  to  be  entirely 
open,  with  all  the  doors  ajar  yet  appar 
ently  deserted.  It  looked  like  another 
chance  of  a  surprise.  The  men  re 
mained  in  charge.  I  presume  it  was 
not  wholly  in  order  for  me,  a  civilian, 
to  start  upon  this  mission,  but  I  was  the 
only  person  who  knew  the  whereabouts 


of  the  office,  and  the  Colonel  had  been 
very  positive  about  the  matter.  When 
I  returned  to  the  hotel,  there  was  a 
terrible  scene  enacting.  A.  woman  had 
run  from  a  lower  room  to  the  stairway 
where  the  body  of  the  defender  of  the 
secession  flag  lay,  and  recognizing  it, 
cried  aloud  with  an  agony  so  heart-rend 
ing  that  no  person  could  witness  it  with 
out  emotion.  She  flung  her  arms  in  the 
air,  struck  her  brow  madly,  and  seemed 
in  every  way  utterly  abandoned  to  des 
olation  and  frenzy.  She  offered  no  re 
proaches — appeared,  indeed,  almost  re 
gardless  of  our  presence,  and  yielded 
only  to  her  own  frantic  despair.  It  was 
her  husband  that  had  been  shot.  He 
was  the  proprietor  of  the  hotel.  His 
name  was  James  T.  Jackson.  Winser 
was  confident  it  was  the  same  man  who 
met  us  at  the  door  when  we  entered, 
and  told  us  he  was  a  boarder.  His  wife, 
as  I  said,  was  wild  almost  to  insanity. 
Yet  she  listened  when  spoken  to,  and 
although  no  consolation  could  be  offered 
her  by  us  for  what  she  had  lost,  she 
seemed  sensible  to  the  assurance  that  the 
safety  of  her  children,  for  whom  she 
expressed  fears,  could  not  possibly  be 
endangered. 

"It  is  not  from  any  wish  to  fasten 
obloquy  upon  the  slayer  of  Colonel  Ells 
worth,  but  simply  because  it  struck  me 
as  a  frightful  fact,  that  I  say  the  face  of 
the  dead  man  wore  the  most  revolting 
expression  of  rage  and  hatred  that  I 
ever  saw.  Perhaps  the  nature  of  his 
wound  added  to  this  effect,  and  the 
wound  was  something  so  appalling  that 
I  shall  not  attempt  to  describe  it  as  it 


264 


THE   WAR  WITH  THE   SOUTH. 


impressed  me.  It  is  probable  that  such 
a  result  from  a  bullet  wound  could  not 
ensue  once  in  a  thousand  times.  Either 
of  Brownell's  onslaughts  would  have 
been  instantaneously  fatal.  The  sabre 
wound  was  not  less  effective  than  that 
of  the  ball.  The  gun  which  Jackson 
had  fired  lay  beneath  him,  clasped  in  his 
arms,  and  as  we  did  not  at  first  all  know 
that  both  barrels  had  been  discharged, 
it  was  thought  necessary  to  remove  it, 
lest  it  should  be  suddenly  seized  and 
made  use  of  from  below.  In  doing  this, 
his  countenance  was  revealed. 

"  As  the  morning  advanced,  the  towns 
people  began  to  gather  in  the  vicinity, 
arid  a  guard  was  fixed,  preventing  in 
gress  and  egress.  This  was  done  to  keep 
all  parties  from  knowing  what  had  oc 
curred,  for  the  Zouaves  were  so  devoted 
to  their  Colonel  that  it  was  feared  if 
they  all  were  made  acquainted  with  the 
real  fact,  they  would  sack  the  house. 
On  the  other  hand,  it  was  not  thought 
wise  to  let  the  Alexandrians  know  thus 
early  the  fate  of  their  townsman.  The 
Zouaves  were  the  only  regiment  that  had 
arrived,  and  their  head  and  soul  was 
gone.  Besides,  the  duties  which  the 
Colonel  had  hurriedly  assigned  before 
leaving  them  had  scattered  some  com 
panies  in  various  quarters  of  the  town. 
Several  persons  sought  admission  to  the 
Marshall  House,  among  them  a  sister  of 
the  dead  man,  who  had  heard  the  rumor, 
but  who  was  not  allowed  to  know  the 
true  state  of  the  case.  It  was  painful 
to  hear  her  remark,  as  she  went  away, 
that  '  of  course  they  wouldn't  shoot  a 
man  dead  in  his  own  house  about  a  bit 


of  old  bunting.'  Many  of  the  lodgera 
were  anxious  to  go  forth,  but  they  were 
detained  until  after  I  had  left.  All  sorts 
of  arguments  and  persuasions  were  em 
ployed,  but  the  Zouave  guards  were  in 
exorable." 

The  Michigan  regiment,  though  pre 
vented  by  the  impetuous  movement  of 
the  Zouaves  from  fully  effecting  its 
object,  succeeded,  however,  in  capturing 
some  thirty-seven  of  the  enemy's  cavalry. 
The  rest  had  made  off  by  the  railroad 
extending  into  the  interior  of  Virginia. 
The  occupation  of  Alexandria  was  in 
deed  secured,  but  at  the  sacrifice  of  a  life 
suddenly  arrested  in  its  youthful  promise 
of  patriotic  service.  The  friends  of  the 
Union  mourned  the  fate  of  young  Ells 
worth,  and  honored  his  memory  as  that 
of  a  hero. 

Elmer  E.  Ellsworth  was  born  at 
Malta,  Saratoga  County,  in  the  State  of 
New  York,  on  the  23d  of  April,  1837. 
His  parents  not  being  rich  were  unable 
to  give  him  more  than  the  advantages 
of  an  ordinary  common  school  educa 
tion.  He,  however,  seemed  to  have 
some  early  inclinations  for  a  military 
career,  and  an  effort  was  made  to  obtain 
for  him  an  admission  into  the  academy 
at  West  Point.  Not  succeeding  in  this 
purpose,  the  lad  was  placed  as  a  clerk  in 
a  trading  establishment  at  Troy,  and 
thence  removed  to  the  city  of  New 
York,  where  he  remained  engaged  in 
similar  occupations  for  several  years. 
He  subsequently  emigrated  to  the  West, 
and  obtained  the  position  of  a  clerk  with 
an  attorney  in  Chicago.  He  now  com 
menced  the  study  of  the  law,  but  devoted 


LIFE   OF   ELLS W 01  Mil. 


265 


his  leisure  time  to  the  study  of  military 
science. 

About  this  time  he  was  chosen  cap 
tain  of  a  volunteer  company,  whom  he 
induced  to  adopt  the  uniform  and  drill 
of  the  French  Zouaves,  whose  efficiency 
had  been  recently  displayed  in  the  Cri 
mea.     His  soldiers  soon  became  the  pride 
of  Chicago  and  the  wonder  of  other  cities, 
where,  during  a  round  of  visits,  they  ex 
hibited  their  striking  costume  and  pecu 
liar  manners.     On  his  return  to  the  West 
he  was  chosen  quartermaster  of  the  north 
ern  division  of  Illinois,  and  paymaster- 
general  of  the  State  militia.     He,  how 
ever,  still  persevered  in  his  legal  studies, 
and  was  soon  after  admitted  to  the  bar. 
On  the  election  of  his  friend,  Mr.  Lin 
coln,  to  the  Presidency,  Ellsworth  made 
application  for  the  chief  clerkship  in  the 
war  department,   but  the  secretary  of 
war  was  prevented  from  bestowing  it 
upon  him  in  consequence  of  his  pledge 
to  a  previous  applicant.     He,  however, 
received,   through  the  influence  of  the 
President,    the    commission    of    second 
lieutenant  in  the   army.     In  the  mean 
time,  war  with  the  South  becoming  im 
minent,   young  Ellsworth  resigned  his 
lieutenancy,  and,  offering  his  services  to 
recruit  a  regiment,  repaired  at  once  to 
New  York  for  the  purpose. 

The  proverbial  courage  and  energy  of 
the  city  firemen  led  him  to  seek  among 
them  for  the  men  suitable  for  the  forma 
tion  of  a  corps  of  Zouaves,  of  whom 
dash,  daring,  and  activity  are  expected. 
He  soon  succeeded  in  enrolling  a  thou 
sand  firemen,  and  sailed,  with  the  ap 
plause  and  good  wishes  of  all  New 

34 


York,  for  Washington,  at  the  head  of 
his  regiment,  on  the  29th  of  April.  His 
tragic  death  has  been  already  recorded. 
There  was  an  element  of  tender  affec 
tion  in  the  character  of  the  youthful 
hero  which  endeared  him  to  his  family 
and  friends,  and  served  to  increase  the 
public  regard  for  his  memory.  On  the 
night  previous  to  his  departure  on  the 
fatal  expedition  to  Alexandria,  he  wrote 
to  his  betrothed,  and  this  reverential 
and  pathetic  letter  to  his  parents,  of 
whom  he  was  the  only  surviving  child : 

"  HEADQUARTERS  1  ST  ZOUAVES,  CAMP  LINCOLN,  ) 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  May  23,  1861.          j 

"Mr  DEAR  FATHER  AND  MOTHER  :  The 
regiment  is  ordered  to  move  across  the 
river  to-night.  We  have  no  means  of 
knowing  what  reception  we  are  to  meet 
with.  I  am  inclined  to  the  opinion  that 
our  entrance  to  the  city  of  Alexandria 
will  be  hotly  contested,  as  I  am  just  in 
formed  a  large  force  has  arrived  there 
to-day.  Should  this  happen,  my  dear 
parents,  it  may  be  my  lot  to  be  injured 
in  some  manner.  Whatever  may  hap 
pen,  cherish  the  consolation  that  I  was 
engaged  in  the  performance  of  a  sacred 
duty  ;  and  to-night,  thinking  over  the 
probabilities  of  to-morrow,  and  the  oc 
currences  of  the  past,  I  am  perfectly 
content  to  accept  whatever  my  fortune 
may  be,  confident  that  He  who  noteth 
even  the  fall  of  a  sparrow,  will  have 
some  purpose  even  in  the  fate  of  onp 
like  me. 

"  My  darling  and  ever-loved  parents, 
good-bye.  God  bless,  protect,  and  care 
for  you.  ELMER." 


266 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


CHAPTER    XXIII. 

How  the  Virginians  failed  to  take  Fortress  Monroe. — Efforts  to  counteract  its  Loss. — The  importance  of  Fortress 
Monroe  to  the  Union.— The  danger  to  Norfolk.— Fortification  of  Virginia  Rivers  and  Coasts.— Abundant  Cannon 
from  the  Navy  Yard.— Sewall's  Point.— Its  Position.— Raising  of  Fortifications  by  the  Secessionists.— Attempt  to 
prevent  the  Work  by  the  Federal  Cruisers.— Attack  of  the  Star  on  Sewall's  Point.— Official  Report  of  Captain  Eagle. 
— A  lively  Account  by  the  Enemy. — Effect  of  the  Attack. — The  Reinforcement  of  Fortress  Monroe.— Number  of 
Troops. — Major-General  Butler  ordered  to  the  Command  of  the  Department  of  Virginia. — Arrival  at  Fortress  Mon 
roe. — His  enthusiastic  Reception. — Immediate  Action. — A  Foothold  upon  the  Land  of  Virginia  secured. — Increased 
Reinforcement*  at  Fortress  Monroe. — Expedition  to  Newport  News. — Situation  of  the  place. — No  resistance. — Mili 
tary  possession. — Intrenchmente. — Continued  labor  of  the  Enemy  in  fortifying  their  Coast. — The  Works  at  Acquia 
Creek. — Position  of  Acquia  Creek  and  its  strategic  importance. — Nature  of  the  Batteries. — Attack  by  Captain 
Ward. — Silencing  Batteries. — Hauling  off  the  Freeborn. — Renewal  of  Attack. — Official  Statement. — Unsuccessful 
attempt  of  the  Harriet  Lane  upon  an  Enemy's  Battery. — Spectators  at  Fortress  Monroe. — Butler  eager  for  Action. 
— The  Expedition  against  Little  and  Big  Bethel  planned. — The  Federal  Troops. — Number  and  Commanders. — • 
Brigadier-General  Pierce. — Previous  Military  Experience. — The  details  of  the  plan  of  the  Expedition. — A  confused 
Statement  explained. — The  Reserves. — How  they  were  to  Co-operate. — Big  Bethel. — Its  Position. — Ignorance  of 
Federal  Officers. — March  of  Colonel  Duryea. — Delays  in  Progress. — A  Fire  in  the  Rear. — A  Countermarch. — No 
Enemy. — A  fatal  Blunder. — Return  of  Vermonters  and  Massachusetts  Men. — The  Blunder  explained.— Who  was 
to  blame  ? — The  General's  self-justification. — Defence  of  Colonel  Bendix. 


THE  Virginians  having  failed,  through 
the  rare  and  happy  accident  of  its 
being  held  by  a  loyal  officer  at  the 
time  of  their  insurrection,  in  obtaining 
possession  of  Fortress  Monroe,  made 
great  efforts  to  counteract  the  loss  of  so 
important  a  defence.  This  strong  work, 
which  held  as  it  were  in  its  grip  the  neck 
of  Chesapeake  Bay,  and  throttled  Vir 
ginia  by  commanding  its  channels  of 
communication  with  the  sea,  was  also,  as 
a  basis  of  offensive  operations,  the  most 
important  possession  retained  by  the 
Federal  Government.  The  people  of 
Norfolk  especially  felt  themselves  en 
dangered  by  the  proximity  of  the  great 
fortress,  where  the  Union  could  mus 
ter  within  its  impregnable  walls  and 
under  its  commanding  guns,  armies  and 
fleets  ready  to  be  directed  at  any  mo 


ment  upon  the  neighboring  shores,  and 
thus  threaten  the  safety  of  their  city. 

The  Virginians  accordingly  made  haste 
to  fortify  that  part  of  their  coast  more 
immediately  exposed  to  an  attack  from 
Fortress  Monroe.  With  the  cannon  left 
at  the  Norfolk  navy-yard,  after  the 
blundering  attempt  at  its  destruction  by 
the  Federal  officer  in  command,  they 
were  abundantly  supplied  with  means 
of  arming  their  defences.  They  accord 
ingly  raised  fortifications  on  every  point 
of  land,  and  at  every  river's  mouth 
where  there  seemed  danger  of  an  attack. 
Among  these  is  Sewall's  Point,  at  the 
confluence  of  the  Elizabeth  and  James 
rivers,  directly  opposite  to  Fortress 
Monroe,  and  about  four  miles  distant. 
This  low  spit  of  land  not  only  com 
mands  the  mouths  of  these  two  rivers, 


ATTACK   ON    SEW  ALL'S   POINT. 


267 


but  presents  a  favorable  place  for 
the  landing  of  troops  to  operate  in 
the  rear  of  Norfolk.  The  Virginians 
accordingly  sent  down  gangs  of  negroes, 
and  some  soldiers,  to  raise  batteries  of 
sand,  and  to  mount  them  with  cannon. 
While  thus  occupied,  commander  Harry 
May  Eagle,  of  the  United  States  steamer 
18»  Star,  who  was  on  the  watch,  dis 
covered  the  work  in  progress.  "  Sev 
eral  noises  were  heard  during  the  night, 
but  not  distinct  enough  for  me,"  reported 
Captain  Eagle  officially,  ' '  to  trace  them. 
At  half-past  five  P.  M.  I  heard  distinct 
blows,  as  if  from  an  axe  securing  tim 
ber  platforms  for  gun-carriages  inside 
of  the  embrasures,  and  immediately  I 
ordered  a  shot  to  be  fired  over  them. 
The  rebels  immediately  hoisted  a  white 
flag  with  some  design  on  it,  and  fired  a 
shot  that  cut  the  fore  spencer  guys  near 
the  gaff.  I  immediately  beat  to  quar 
ters  and  returned  their  fire,  which  was 
continued  by  them.  I  expended  fifteen 
round  of  grape,  twelve  ten-inch  shot, 
thirty-two  ten-inch  shell,  ten  shell  for 
thirty-two  pounders,  and  forty-five  thir 
ty-two-pound  shot,  making  a  total  of 
one  hundred  and  fourteen  shots,  which," 
adds  the  captain,  "I  think  did  some 
execution  among  the  rebels.  I  only  de 
sisted  for  want  of  ammunition,  having 
only  five  eight-pound  charges  remaining 
for  the  pivot  gun." 

The  action  continued  for  an  hour  and 
a  quarter,  and  although  the  official  state 
ment  makes  no  allusion  to  the  fact,  it 
would  seem  that  another  Federal  vessel 
bore  a  not  ineffective  part  in  the  en 
gagement.  Captain  Ward  came  up  op 


portunely  with  the  steamer  Freeborn 
and  taking  a  position  within  five  hun 
dred  yards  of  the  shore,  opened  with 
thirty-two-pound  round  shot.  "He 
soon  drove  the  party  out  of  the  work, 
and  was  not  long  in  hammering  two  or 
three  of  the  embrasures  into  one.  The 
defenders,  with  a  mounted  officer  at  their 
head,  took  refuge  in  a  clump  of  trees 
near  by,  into  which  Captain  Ward 
presently  threw  a  shot,  which  had  the 
effect  of  routing  the  party." 

One  of  the  enemy  gave  the  following 
account  of  the  affair,  from  which  it 
would  seem  there  was  less  "  execution 
among  the  rebels"  than  Captain  Eagle 
had  expected. 

"  The  enemy  had  three  eight-inch  co- 
lumbiads,  from  which  they  kept  up  an 
incessant  and  rapid  firing.  Their  guns 
were  aimed  with  remarkable  precision. 
Any  one  of  their  shots  would  have 
struck  a  boat  of  the  size  of  theirs  ;  but, 
thank  God,  not  one  did  its  diabolical 
work  among  us.  Almost  half  their 
shot  struck  our  battery,  and  several 
shells  exploded  on  top  of  it.  One  tre 
mendous  bomb  hit  the  muzzle  of  the 
cannon  at  which  Lieutenant  Moffet  and 
myself  were  working,  and  exploded  in 
the  embrasure,  not  three  feet  from  us, 
covering  us  with  the  turf  and  splinters 
of  the  battery,  and  so  tearing  up  the 
embrasure  as  to  make  it  large  enough 
for  three  guns.  Another  shell  passed 
within  a  foot  of  Robert  Lockhart,  as  he 
ran  out  to  plant  the  flag  a  little  farther  to 
the  left  than  where  it  had  been  waving. 
He  did  not  have  time  to  get  behind  the 
battery  after  the  cry  of  '  look  out'  was 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


given  and  before  the  ball  came.  He  fell 
flat  pn  the  ground,  and  that  saved  him 
Privates  Mayo  and  Porter  had  one  bal 
pass  between  their  legs  while  they  were 
shoveling  away  sand  from  in  front  of 
their  gun. 

"  The  trees  near  the  fort  were  com 
pletely  peeled  and  trimmed  by  the  grape 
and  shell.  A  chain  came  whizzing  just 
a  foot  above  the  battery,  struck  a  tree 
about  ten  feet  off,  and  cut  it  in  two  as 
smoothly  as  you  could  cut  a  sprig  of 
asparagus.  The  shell,  and  grape,  and 
thirty-two-pounders  rained  down  among 
us  all  the  time  as  thickly  as  hail,  and  all 
of  us  are  the  possessors  of  some  of  these 
trophies,  gathered  on  the  ground  of  our 
first  successful  battle-field." 

The  attack,  however,  upon  Sewall's 
Point  had  the  effect  of  putting  the  Vir 
ginians  on  the  alert,  to  increase  the 
strength  of  that  place.  They  immedi 
ately  concentrated  two  thousand  troops 
there,  and  added  "four  of  the  heaviest 
guns"  to  the  battery,  which  they  con 
tinued  to  hold  till  the  general  advance 
of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  under 
McClellan,  in  March,  1862. 

The  United  States  Government,  alive 
to  the  importance  of  Fortress  Monroe, 
not  only  as  a  defensive  work,  but  as  a 
basis  of  operations,  had  hastened  to 
strengthen  its  garrison  and  to  place 
there  a  large  body  of  troops.  Before 
the  close  of  May  there  were  over  five 
thousand  men  collected  within  its  walls. 
To  Butler,  created  a  major-general, 
who  had  proved  so  energetic  an  officer 
at  Annapolis  and  Baltimore,  being  suc 
ceeded  at  Baltimore  by  General  Cad- 


wallader — was  given  the  command  of 
the  new  military  department  of  Virginia, 
embracing  the  eastern  district  to  the 
summit  of  the  Blue  Ridge,  and  also  j>iay 
the  States  of  North  and  South  Car-  *$• 
olina. 

Fortress  Monroe  was  included  within 
Butler's  command,  and  thither  he   May 
repaired  and  established  his  head-    22. 
quarters.      His    arrival   was    welcomed 
with  enthusiasm,  and  honored  by  the 
usual  military  ceremonies.     Salutes  were 
fired,  and  there  was  a  grand  review,  on 
the  parade  ground,  of  the  troops,  amount 
ing  to  over  four  thousand  men,  who  re 
ceived  their  new  chief  with  loud  hurrahs 
The  General's   first   movement  was  to 
take  possession  of  Hampton,  separated 
from  Fort  Monroe,  or  rather  the  penin 
sula  of  Old  Point  Comfort,  upon  which 
the  fortress  stands,  only  by  an  artificial 
causeway  and  a  narrow  neck   of  land. 
A  regiment  of  volunteers  was  detailed 
for  the  purpose  of  resisting  any  possible 
opposition,  and  they  marched  across  the 
causeway.     The  Virginians,  as  soon  as 
they  observed  the  approach  of  the  Fed 
eral  troops,  hurried  to  set  fire  to  the 
bridge,    where    they   had    accumulated 
combustibles  for  the  purpose.     The  ad 
vance  guard,  however,  of  the  volunteers 
pushed  on  rapidly,  and  before  the  fire 
:iad  done  much  damage,  extinguished  it 
and  put  the  enemy  to  flight,  with  the  loss 
)f  one  field-piece.     This  was  seized  and 
;hrown  into  the  bay,  and  General  Butler 
continuing  his  progress,  and  making  his 
•econnoissance,  selected  the   site  for  a 
)ermanent  encampment  upon  the  farm 
jf  a  Mr.  Segar,  a  unionist.     Next  day 


CAPTURE   OF   NEWPORT  NEWS. 


26D 


two  regiments  were  here  encamped,  and 
a  foothold  secured  upon  the  mainland 
of  Virginia. 

Reinforcements  continuing  to  pour 
into  Fortress  Monroe,  General  Butler 
was  enabled  again  to  make  a  successful 
advance  into  the  territory  of  the  enemy. 
May  Embarking  twenty-five  hundred 
27.  men  in  transports  at  the  wharf  of 
the  fort,  consisting  principally  of  Ver 
mont  and  Massachusetts  regiments,  he 
dispatched  them  to  take  possession  of 
Newport  News.  This  place  is  situated 
on  the  left  bank  of  the  James  River, 
on  the  same  peninsula  formed  between 
that  stream  and  the  York  River,  to 
which  Fortress  Monroe  itself  is  joined 
by  a  causeway  and  narrow  neck  of  land. 
The  expedition  met  with  no  resistance, 
and  no  attempt  at  it,  beyond  several  in 
effectual  shots  from  the  enemy's  batteries 
on  the  opposite  side  of  James  River. 
Intrenchments  were  immediately  begun 
after  the  landing  of  the  troops,  and 
Newport  News,  a  post  which  commands 
the  peninsula  on  which  it  is  situated, 
and  a  small  island  in  the  stream  which 
it  was  feared  might  be  fortified  by  the 
Confederates,  was  thus  secured. 

The  enemy  were  vigorously  providing 
for  the  defence  of  the  Virginia  coast, 
thus  threatened  by  the  increased  force 
at  Fortress  Monroe,  and  by  the  accumu 
lation,  under  the  cover  of  its  guns,  of 
armed  United  States  vessels  in  the 
Chesapeake  Bay  and  its  tributaries. 
The  Confederates  had  not  only  erected 
batteries  upon  the  Elizabeth,  James, 
York,  Rappahannock,  and  Potomac 
rivers,  but  upon  the  smaller  streams 


which  empty  into  them.  One  of  the 
most  formidable  of  these  works  had 
been  constructed  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Acquia  Creek.  This  place  had  been 
judiciously  chosen  by  the  enemy  as  a 
point  of  the  utmost  importance  in  the 
defence  of  Virginia.  Here  is  situated 
the  eastern  terminus  of  the  Fredericks- 
burgh  and  Potomac  Railway,  which,  ex 
tending  from  the  river  to  Fredericks- 
burgh,  continues  from  that  city  to 
Richmond,  the  capital  of  Virginia.  The 
mouth  of  the  Acquia,  where  it  empties 
into  the  Potomac  on  the  Virginia  side 
of  the  river,  is  about  fifty  miles  from 
Washington,  and  seventy-five  from  Rich 
mond.  The  current  of  travel  from  the 
North  to  the  South,  after  passing  down 
the  Potomac  from  Washington,  usually 
took  this  direction,  by  rail,  to  the  capital 
of  Virginia  and  more  Southern  destina 
tions. 

Strong  batteries  had  been  raised  on 
the  shore  and  on  high  and  commanding 
ground  behind.  These,  Captain  Ward, 
of  the  United  States  steamer  Freeborn, 
determined  to  make  an  effort  to  reduce. 
He,  accordingly,  supported  by  the  two 
steamers,  Anacosta  and  Resolute,  May 
opened  fire.  After  an  incessant  31. 
discharge,  kept  up  for  two  hours,  the 
three  lower  batteries  at  the  railroad 
terminus  were  silenced.  His  ammuni 
tion,  however,  having  been  expended, 
and  the  enemy  continuing  to  fire  with 
great  effect  from  their  guns  on  the 
heights,  Captain  Ward  was  obliged  to 
haul  off  the  Freeborn.  The  other  two 
small  steamers,  being  unprovided  with 
rifled  guns,  were  unable  to  fire  at  a 


270 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


sufficiently  long  range  to  be  of  much 
aid,  and  they  were  accordingly  pre 
vented  from  taking  any  very  effective 
share  in  the  engagement. 

On  the  next  day  the  steamers  Pawnee 
and  Yankee  joined  Ward's  flotilla,  and 
the  action  was  renewed.  Captain  Ward, 
in  his  report  to  the  secretary  of  the 
navy,  thus  details  the  events  of  the  can 
nonade  : 

"I  have  the  honor,"  he  wrote,  "to 
report  a  renewal  of  the  bombardment 
at  Acquia  Creek,  commencing  at  eleven 
o'clock  and  thirty  minutes  in  the  fore 
noon  this  day,  and  terminating,  from 
fatigue  of  the  men  (the  day  being  very 
warm,  and  the  firing  on  our  side  inces 
sant),  at  4.30  in  the  afternoon,  being  a 
duration  of  five  hours.  The  firing  on 
shore  was  scarcely  as  spirited  at  any 
time  as  yesterday.  The  heights  were 
abandoned,  the  guns  apparently  having 
been  transferred  to  the  earth-works  at 
the  railway  terminus,  in  replacement  of 
the  batteries  there  silenced  by  ours  yes 
terday.  During  the  last  hour  of  the  en 
gagement  only  two  or  three  shots  were 
thrown  from  the  shore,  by  a  few  individ 
uals  seen  stealthily  now  and  then  to 
emerge  from  concealment,  and  who 
hastily  loaded  and  fired  a  single  gun. 
The  bulk  of  the  party  had  left  half  an 
hour  before,  and  squads  were  observed 
from  time  to  time  taking  to  their  heels 
along  the  beach,  with  a  speed  and 
bottom  truly  commendable  for  its  pru 
dence,  and  highly  amusing  to  the  sea 
men.  I  did  not  deem  it  advisable  to 
permit  so  feeble  a  fire  to  wear  out  my 
men.  Therefore,  I  discontinued  the 


engagement.  Several  shots  came  on 
board  of  us,  causing  the  vessel  to  leak 
badly,  and,  besides  other  injuries,  clip 
ping  the  port-wheel,  the  wrought-iron 
shaft  being  gouged  by  a  shot  which 
would  have  shattered  it  if  of  cast  iron. 
Fortunately  I  have  again  neither  killed 
nor  wounded  to  report,  though  the  shot 
at  times  fell  thick  about  us,  testing  the 
gallantry  and  steadiness  of  my  men, 
which  I  consider  of  standard  proof  for 
any  emergency.  I  proceed  to  Washing 
ton  to  repair  damages  and  refill  my  ex 
hausted  magazine.  The  Pawnee  re 
mains,  meantime,  below,  to  supply  my 
place  in  the  blockade.  Captain  Rowan, 
of  that  ship,  joined  me  last  night,  re 
plenishing  my  exhausted  stores,  and 
most  gallantly  opened  the  fire  this 
morning,  having  followed  my  lead  in 
shore  toward  the  batteries.  His  ship 
received  numerous  wounds,  both  below 
and  aloft,  inflicted  by  the  enemy's  shot. 
On  account  of  her  size,  she  being  more 
easily  hit,  she  appeared  to  be  their 
favorite  mark,  and  was  herself  often  a 
sheet  of  flame,  owing  to  the  great  rapid 
ity  of  her  discharges.  The  enemy  set 
fire  to  the  large  passenger  and  freight 
depot  on  the  end  of  the  long  pier,  as  we 
were  approaching,  probably  to  remove 
it  as  an  obstruction  to  their  aim,  but 
were  not  permitted  to  extinguish  the 
flames  during  the  whole  five  hours'  can 
nonade.  Consequently  nearly  the  whole 
pier  is  destroyed,  leaving  only  the 
charred  piles  remaining  above  the  water 
to  mark  its  former  position. 

********** 

"More  than  one  hundred  shots  have 


A1TACK  ON  ACQUIA  CREEK. 


271 


fallen  aboard  and  around  us,  any  one  of 
which  would  have  struck  a  frigate.  We 
had  more  than  a  thousand  shots  dis 
charged  at  us  within  range,  and  have 
ourselves  fired  upward  of  three  hundred 
shots  and  shells,  with  seventeen  hun 
dred  pounds  of  powder.  What  damage 
we  have  inflicted  remains  to  be  seen. 
That  we  have  received  none  not  easily 
repaired,  is  truly  remarkable.  The 
Anacosta  and  Reliance  were  not  per 
mitted  to  come  under  damaging  fire, 
their  support  having  been  necessary  to 
embolden  those  engaged,  by  giving  them 
confidence  that  if  disabled  in  the  ma 
chinery,  assistance  was  at  hand  to  drag 
them  out." 

The  enemy,  however,  notwithstanding 
this  spirited  attack,  persisted  in  holding 
their  position,  and  by  increased  fortifica 
tions  rendered  the  batteries  of  Acquia 
Creek  among  the  most  formidable  of 
their  defensive  works. 

The  naval  force,  under  Commodore 
Stringham,  which  had  now  gathered  in 
Hampton  Roads,  and  was  blockading 
the  Chesapeake,  continued  to  be  active, 
but,  however  spiritedly  managed,  seemed 
to  effect  but  little  in  its  attempts  upon 
the  enemy's  batteries.  The  Harriet 
Lane,  commanded  by  Captain  Faunce, 
June  started  out  on  a  cruise  up  the 
«*«  James  River,  to  look  out  for  bat 
teries.  Having  discovered  one  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Nansemond,  which  joins 
the  James  at  Hampton  Roads,  the  Har 
riet  Lane  opened  fire.  Being  within 
sight  of  Fortress  Monroe,  the  soldiers 
thronged  the  ramparts  to  watch  the 
scene.  The  cannonade  of  the  steamer 


was  briskly  responded  to  by  the  enemy, 
who,  with  their  guns  of  longer  range  and 
heavier  metal,  succeeded  in  effecting 
greater  damage  than  they  received 
The  Harriet  Lane,  after  continuing  the 
action  for  half  an  hour,  in  the  course  of 
which  she  was  struck  by  several  shot 
from  a  thirty-four-pound  rifled  cannon, 
hauled  off  and  returned  to  her  anchor 
age  under  the  guns  of  the  fort. 

Reinforcements  still  continuing  to 
pour  into  Fortress  Monroe,  the  active 
Butler  became  eager  for  action.  The 
outposts  at  Newport  News  and  Hamp 
ton  having  been  annoyed  by  a  body 
of  the  enemy  posted  at  Little  Bethel, 
about  eight  miles  distant  from  both 
encampments,  General  Butler  resolved 
upon  an  attempt  to  surprise  and  cap 
ture  it.  He  accordingly  sent  out  an 

o  */ 

expedition  for  the  purpose.  This  june 
was  composed  of  two  divisions —  9» 
the  one  made  up  of  the  New  York  regi 
ment  of  Zouaves,  commanded  by  Col 
onel  Duryea,  and  the  Albany  (N.  Y.) 
regiment  under  Colonel  Townsend,  sup 
ported  by  a  detachment  of  United  States 
artillery,  with  three  cannon,  led  by 
Lieutenant  Greble.  The  other  division 
was  composed  of  the  New  York  Steuben 
Regiment,  commanded  by  Colonel  Ben- 
dix,  and  detachments  of  the  First  Ver 
mont  and  Third  Massachusetts,  under 
Lieutenant-Colonel  Washburn.  The 
whole  expedition  was  placed  under  the 
command  of  General  Pierce,  a  mili 
tia  brigadier-general  of  Massachusetts, 
whose  military  service  had  hitherto  been 
restricted  to  the  holiday  parades  of  Bos 
ton  Common  or  the  village  green.  The 


272 


THE   WAR  WITH  THE   SOUTH. 


plan  of  the  enterprise  is  thus  set  forth 
by  General  Butler  himself: 

"  I  ordered,"  he  wrote,  in  his  official 
report,  "  General  Pierce,  who  is  in  com 
mand  of  Camp  Hamilton,  at  Hampton, 
to  send  Duryea's  regiment  of  Zouaves 
Jime  to  he  ferried  over  Hampton  Creek 
W'  at  one  o'clock  this  morning,  and  to 
march  by  the  road  up  to  Newmarket 
Bridge,  then  crossing  the  bridge,  to  go 
by  a  by-road,  and  thus  put  the  regiment 
in  the  rear  of  the  enemy  and  between 
Big  Bethel  and  Little  Bethel,  in  part  for 
the  purpose  of  cutting  him  off,  and  then 
to  make  an  attack  upon  Little  Bethel. 
I  directed  General  Pierce  to  support 
him  (Colonel  Duryea)  from  Hampton 
with  Colonel  Townsend's  regiment,  with 
two  mounted  howitzers,  and  to  march 
about  an  hour  later.  At  the  same  time 
I  directed  Colonel  Phelps,  commanding 
at  Newport  News,  to  send  out  a  bat 
talion,  composed  of  such  companies  of 
the  regiments  under  his  command  as  he 
thought  best,  under  command  of  Lieu 
tenant-Colonel  Washburn,  in  time  to 
make  a  demonstration  upon  Little  Bethel 
in  front,  and  to  have  him  supported  by 
Colonel  Bendix's  regiment,  with  two 
field-pieces." 

From  this  not  very  perspicuous  state 
ment  of  General  Butler,  it  may  be  in 
ferred  that  Colonel  Duryea's  regiment 
from  Hampton,  and  Lieutenant-Colonel 
Washburn 's  force  from  Newport  News, 
were  to  move  in  advance,  the  former 
to  the  rear  and  the  latter  to  the  front 
of  Little  Bethel,  while  Colonel  Town- 
Bend's  regiment  from  Hampton,  and 
Colonel  Bendix's  regiment  from  New 


port  News,  were  to  move  later  and  act 
as  a  reserve. 

The  two  latter  were  to  form  a  junc 
tion  at  a  fork  of  the  road  leading  from 
Hampton  to  Newport  News,  the  two 
points  from  which  they  were  separately 
to  march,  about  a  mile  and  a  half  from 
Little  Bethel.  "I  directed,"  continues 
Butler,  in  his  official  report,  "  the  march 
to  be  so  timed  that  the  attack  should  be 
made  just  at  daybreak,  and  that  after 
the  attack  was  made  upon  Little  Bethel. 
Duryea's  regiment  and  a  regiment  from 
Newport  News  should  follow  imme 
diately  upon  the  heels  of  the  fugitives, 
if  they  were  enabled  to  cut  them  off, 
and  attack  the  battery  on  the  road  to 
Big  Bethel,  while  covered  by  the  fugi 
tives  ;  or  if  it  was  thought  expedient  by 
General  Pierce,  failing  to  surprise  the 
camp  at  Little  Bethel,  they  should  at 
tempt  to  take  the  work  near  Big 
Bethel." 

This  Big  Bethel  is  some  four  miles 
farther  from  Fortress  Monroe  than 
Little  Bethel,  on  the  road  from  the 
town  of  Hampton  to  Yorktowri,  of  revo 
lutionary  renown.  Its  exact  locality, 
the  character  of  the  surrounding  coun 
try,  the  force  of  the  enemy,  the  strength 
of  their  fortifications,  or  even  the  fact 
of  their  existence,  was  a  mystery  prob 
ably  not  only  to  the  General-in-chief, 
but  to  all  his  subordinate  officers.  It 
was,  however,  soon  to  be  solved  with  a 
fatal  result. 

Colonel  Duryea  having  formed  his 
regiment  of  Zouaves,  seven  hundred  and 
forty  strong,  and  sent  skirmishers  for 
ward  in  advance,  began  his  march  from 


MARCH  TO  LITTLE  BETHEL. 


273 


Hampton  at  half-past  eleven  o'clock  at 
night,  toward  Little  Bethel.  His  men 
moved  spiritedly  forward,  cheered  with 
the  prospect  of  a  successful  issue  to 
their  enterprise.  The  march  for  two 
miles  was  slow,  in  consequence  of  the 
tardy  arrival  of  the  howitzer  which  was 
to  be  placed  at  the  head  of  the  advanc 
ing  column.  There  was  again  a  delay 
at  Hampton  Creek,  for  want  of  surf- 
boats,  to  convey  the  troops  across.  These, 
however,  finally  arrived,  and  the  troops 
being  transported  to  the  other  side,  re 
sumed  their  march,  and  soon  came  up 
with  the  two  companies  sent  forward  as 
skirmishers  an  hour  and  a  half  in  ad 
vance  of  the  main  body.  The  whole 
force  now  pushed  on  with  quickened 
step,  without  pausing  a  moment  for  rest, 
and  at  four  o'clock  in  the  morning  fell 
in  with  the  picket  guard  of  the  enemy 
at  Little  Bethel.  This,  consisting  of 
four  soldiers  and  an  officer  in  command, 
being  captured,  the  regiment  began  to 
move  forward  on  the  road  toward  Big 
Bethel.  At  this  moment  a  heavy  fire 
of  musketry  and  cannon  was  heard  in 
the  rear.  Believing  it  to  be  an  attempt 
by  the  enemy  to  cut  off  his  reserve, 
Colonel  Duryea  immediately  gave  the 
order  to  countermarch  his  men,  and  they 
at  once  proceeded  in  double  quick  time 
in  direction  of  the  cannonade.  After 
having  thus  rapidly  retraced  their  march 
for  five  miles,  they  discovered  that  there 
was  no  enemy  in  their  rear,  but  that 
the  firing  had  come  from  their  friends 
brought  into  collision  by  a  fatal  blunder. 
Lieutenant-Colonel  Washburn,  with 
his  detachment  of  Massachusetts  men 

35 


and  Vermonters,  had  also,  in  accordance 
with  the  plan  of  the  expedition,  moved 
on.  Setting  out  from  Newport  News, 
he  had  marched  within  reach  of  the  front 
of  Little  Bethel,  when  the  cannonade 
heard  in  his  rear  startled  him  too,  and  in 
duced  him  to  march  back  again  to  meet 
an  enemy,  but  only  to  discover  that  he 
and  Colonel  Duryea  had  been  deceived 
by  the  same  fatal  blunder  of  our  troops. 
This  was  soon  explained.  Colonel 
Bendix  having  with  his  German  regi 
ment  set  out  in  due  time  from  Newport 
News,  reached  the  cross  roads,  und 
halted,  to  await  the  coming  up  of,  and  to 
form  a  junction  with,  the  Albany  regi 
ment  under  Colonel  Townsend,  on  their 
route  from  Hampton.  "  Up  to  this 
point  the  plan,"  says  Butler,  in  his  offi 
cial  report,  "had  been  vigorously,  ac 
curately,  and  successfully  carried  out ; 
but  here,  by  some  strange  fatuity  and 
yet  unexplained  blunder,  without  any 
word  of  notice,  while  Colonel  Townsend 
was  in  column  en  route,  and  when  the 
head  of  the  column  was  within  one  hun 
dred  yards,  Colonel  Bendix's  regiment 
opened  fire,  with  both  artillery  and  mus 
ketry,  upon  Colonel  Townsend's  column, 
which,  in  the  hurry  and  confusion,  was 
irregularly  returned  by  some  of  Colonel 
Townsend's  men,  who  feared  they  had 
fallen  into  an  ambuscade.  Colonel 
Townsend's  column  immediately  re 
treated  to  the  eminence  near  by,  and 
were  not  pursued  by  Colonel  Bendix's 
men.  By  this  almost  criminal  blunder, 
two  men  of  Colonel  Townsend's  regi 
ment  were  killed  and  eight,  more  or 
less,  wounded." 


274 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


Every  one  was  naturally  anxious  to 
free  himself  from  the  blame  of  what  the 
General  has  termed  an  "  almost  criminal 
blunder."  He  in  his  own  justification 
declared,  that  "to  prevent  the  possibil 
ity  of  mistake  in  the  darkness,  I  directed 
that  no  attack  should  be  made  until  the 
watchword — Boston — should  be  shouted 
by  the  attacking  regiment,  and,  in  case 
that  by  any  mistake  in  the  march  the 
regiments  that  were  to  make  the  junc 
tion  should  unexpectedly  meet  and  be 
unknown  to  each  other,  also  directed  that 
the  members  of  Colonel  Townsend's  reg 
iment  should  be  known,  if  in  daylight, 
by  something  white  worn  on  their  arm." 

The  General  seemed  to  impute  the 
fault  to  Colonel  Bendix's  Germans,  who, 
he  declared,  were  the  first  to  open  fire. 
They,  however,  strenuously  defended 
themselves,  asserting  that  the  mistake 
was  mutual,  and  the  attack  on  both 
sides  simultaneous.  The  adjutant  of 
the  German  regiment  came  to  the  res 
cue  of  its  fame  with  the  following  dec 
laration  : 

"Colonel  Bendix  had  not  received 
any  order  or  intimation  that  our  troops 


should  wear  white  badges  around  the 
arm  for  the  purpose  of  mutual  recogni 
tion,  and  if  he  had,  he  would  not  have 
been  able  to  distinguish  such  badge  at 
the  distance  and  in  the  dusk  of  the 
morning.  Colonel  Bendix's  command 
did  not  wear  such  badges.  The  uniform 
of  the  Albany  regiment  was  very  sim 
ilar  to  the  uniform  of  the  secession 
troops.  It  is  doubtful  which  side  opened 
fire.  Many  of  the  Albany  boys  admit 
that  they  fired  first,  mistaking  the  Steu- 
ben  regiment  for  enemies,  probably  for 
the  reason  that  the  latter  wore  no  white 
badges. 

"  When  Colonel  Townsend'.s  troops 
approached  the  junction  over  a  slight 
ridge,  they  appeared  to  be  a  troop  of 
cavalry,  because  General  Pierce  and 
staff,  and  Colonel  Townsend  and  staff, 
in  a  body,  rode  in  advance  of  their 
troops,  and  without  any  advance  guard 
thrown  out,  as  customary,  to  reconnoi 
tre  and  protect  the  head  of  the  column. 
If  the  latter  precaution  had  been  taken, 
the  unfortunate  mistake  would  not  have 
happened.  It  was  known  that  our  side 
had  no  cavalry." 


INEXPERIENCED  LEADER. 


275 


CHAPTER    XXIV. 

Serious  Effects  of  the  Blunder  at  Little  Bethel. — Inexperienced  Leader. — Unwise  Counsellors. — Second  Advance  of 

General  Pierce. — Keinforcements.— Arrival  of  the  Advance   at  Little  Bethel. — A  deserted  Camp. March  to  Big 

Bethel. — The  Enemy  reported  in  Force. — Battle  given. — Spirit  of  the  Men. — Plan  of  Battle. — Colonel  Duryea's 
Zouaves.— The  Struggle. — Retreat.— The  Skirmishers. — Their  Retreat. — Death  of  Greble. — Withdrawal  of  the  Artil 
lery. — Action  of  the  New  York  Troops. — Relative  Number  of  Troops  Engaged. — Losses. — Enemy's  Account  of  the 
Affair  of  Big  Bethel. — Attempts  at  Justification  by  the  Federal  Officers. — Consoling  Reflection  of  General  Butler. 

— Censure  of  General  Pierce. — Promises  to  Justify  Himself. — Patriotism. — Gallant   Behavior  of  the  Soldiers. 

Proofs. — Rescue  of  Guns. — Rescue  of  Body  of  Lieutenant  Greble. — The  Last  to  Retreat. — Death  of  Major  Win- 
throp. — His  Bravery. — His  Last  Moments. — Admiration  of  the  Enemy. — Life  of  Winthrop. — Adventurous  Careei. 
— Restlessness. — His  Military  Career. — Author  of  the  Plan  of  Battle  at  Big  Bethel. — Literary  Tastes. — Success  of 
his  Posthumous  Works. 


1861. 


GRIEVOUS  as  had  been  the  blunder  at 
Little  Bethel,  and  fatal  as  it  was  to  our 
own  men  destroyed  by  their  com 
rades,  it  was  still  more  serious  in 
its,  effects  upon  the  subsequent  fate 
of  the  expedition.  The  inexperienced 
loader,  counselled  by  those  who  were  no 
more  skilled  in  the  art  of  war  than  him 
self,  and  piqued  into  an  indiscreet  ac 
tivity  by  disappointment,  determined  to 
make  an  effort  to  redeem  the  unsuccess 
ful  beginning  of  the  enterprise.  He 
accordingly  ordered  his  troops  again  to 
the  advance.  The  enemy,  in  the  mean 
time,  were  on  the  alert,  and  had  fallen 
back  from  Little  to  Big  Bethel,  where 
the  main  body  was  posted  under  the 
cover  of  a  strong  battery  of  several 
heavy  guns.  General  Pierce,  without 
tuiving  made  any  reconnoissance,  and  en 
tirely  ignorant  of  the  force  of  his  antag 
onists  or  the  nature  of  their  position  or 
defences,  did  not  hesitate  to  push  on  his 
troops,  against  this  concealed  and  un 
numbered  foe,  at  Great  Bethel.  He, 


however,  had  the  prudence,  as  he  ad 
vanced,  to  send  back  to  General  Butler 
for  reinforcements,  who  sent  forward 
Colonel  Allen,  with  his  New  York  city 
regiment,  and  Colonel  Carr,  with  that 
of  Troy  (N.  Y.) 

Colonel  Duryea,  with  his  Zouaves, 
again  assumed  the  advance,  supported 
by  Colonel  Bendix  and  his  Germans, 
and  Colonel  Townsend,  with  the  Albany 
regiment.  On  reaching  Little  Bethel, 
from  which  a  stray  shot  was  fired  by  a 
retreating  troop  of  cavalry,  the  camp 
was  found  deserted,  and  this  being  de 
stroyed,  our  troops  pushed  on  toward 
Big  Bethel.  Here  the  main  body  ar- 
Jime  rived  at  about  ten  o'clock  in  the 
10«  morning,  and  halted  in  consequence 
of  the  intelligence  brought  back  by  those 
who  had  been  sent  forward  to  skirmish 
in  advance.  Captain  Kilpatrick,  who 
commanded  these  skirmishers,  had  evi 
dently  not  underrated  the  strength  of 
the  enemy,  for  he  reported  that  he  had 
found  them  "with  about  from  three 


THE  WAR   WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


thousand  to  five  thousand  men,  posted 
in  a  strong  position  on  the  opposite 
side  of  the  bridge — three  earth-works 
and  a  masked  battery  on  the  right  and 
left ;  in  advance  of  the  stream,  thirty 
pieces  of  artillery  and  a  large  force  of 
cavalry." 

In  face  of  this  portentous  report  of 
the  numbers  and  strength  of  position  of 
the  enemy,  the  troops  were  drawn  up 
in  line  of  battle,  and  prepared  to  give 
fight.  The  soldiers,  though  previously 
fatigued  by  their  long  and  rapid  march, 
and  dispirited  by  the  fatal  mistake  of 
the  previous  night,  were  at  once  reani 
mated  by  the  prospect  of  a  struggle. 
"It  put  a  new  spirit  into  the  men,  as 
the  word  passed  down  the  line.  They 
were  no  longer  tired  and  sleepy.  Each 
freshened  up  to  his  place  in  the  ranks 
and  closed  up  in  column." 

The  skirmishers,  now  led  by  Lieuten 
ant-Colonel  Warren,  were  again  thrown 
forward  on  the  right  and  left,  supported 
by  the  advance  guard  of  Duryea's  Zou 
aves  and  three  pieces  of  United  States 
artillery,  under  the  command  of  Lieu 
tenant  Greble.  The  enemy  at  once 
opened  fire  from  their  batteries  directly 
facing  the  road,  but  our  men  answered 
with  a  shout,  and  continued  to  press 
forward. 

The  enemy's  fire  was  so  heavy  that  it 
was  found  useless  to  attempt  to  meet  it 
directly  by  discharges  of  musketry,  and 
accordingly  the  Federal  forces  were  de 
ployed.  Lieutenant  Greble,  with  his 
three  howitzers,  being  posted  in  the 
road  toward  the  front,  was  left  alone  to 
face  the  batteries,  while  the  rest  as 


sumed  positions  toward  the  enemy's 
right  and  left,  with  the  view  of  flanking. 
Colonel  Duryea's  Zouaves  and  Colonel 
Townsend's  Albany  regiment  crossed 
from  the  road  on  the  left  through  some 
cultivated  farm-ground  and  orchards,  to 
an  open  field  on  the  enemy's  right,  with 
their  skirmishers  in  advance,  and  the 
Germans,  the  Massachusetts  men,  and 
Vermonters  passed  into  a  forest  on  the 
right  of  the  road,  and  toward  the  left  of 
the  enemy. 

As  the  Zouaves  advanced,  the  enemy 
opened  their  batteries  upon  them.  Col 
onel  Duryea,  however,  urged  them  for 
ward  at  the  ,  double-quick  step,  until, 
finding  the  fire  very  "destructive,"  he 
thought  it  prudent  to  seek  refuge  in  a 
neighboring  wood,  where  he  halted  to 
rest  his  men,  and  to  complete  his  prep 
arations  for  charging  the  batteries  in 
flank.  After  remaining  two  hours  and 
a  half  in  this  imperfect  cover,  where  they 
were  still  within  range  of  the  enemy's 
guns,  the  Zouaves  returned  to  the  open 
field  and  spiritedly  advanced  toward  the 
rebel  batteries,  with  the  intention  of 
making  an  attempt  to  carry  them  by 
storm.  They  had  not  proceeded  far,  how 
ever,  before  they  discovered  lying  across 
their  path  an  almost  impassable  swamp, 
with  a  small  stream  running  through  it. 
These  proved  to  be  insurmountable  ob 
stacles.  They  persevered,  however,  with 
great  spirit  till  the  order  came  from 
General  Pierce  to  retreat.  Colonel 
Duryea,  now  collecting  such  of  his  killed 
and  wounded  as  he  could  find,  withdrew 
his  men  and  took  to  the  road  in  the  rear. 
The  Germans,  at  the  same  time,  were 


ORDER   TO   RETREAT. 


277 


acting  on  the  right  in  conjunction  with 
the  Zouaves  on  the  left,  and,  like  them, 
had  made  several  spirited  attempts  at 
charging  the  batteries,  but  foiled  by  the 
same  obstacles  of  morass  and  creek  and 
heavy  fire,  were  also  forced  to  withdraw. 

Lieutenant  Greble,  with  his  three 
pieces  of  artillery,  had,  in  the  mean 
time,  been  returning  the  fire  of  the  en 
emy  with  considerable  effect,  and  had 
steadily  advanced  until  he  reached  within 
two  hundred  yards  of  the  Confederate 
works. 

The  skirmishers,  headed  by  Lieuten 
ant-Colonel  Warren,  had  made  good 
progress.  "We  continued  to  advance," 
reported  Captain  Kilpatrick,  in  com 
mand,  "  clearing  all  before  us,  till  we 
reached  a  point  just  on  the  edge  of  the 
woods  where  the  fire  was  so  hot  and 
heavy  that  we  were  compelled  to  halt, 
and  there  we  remained  as  directed  by 
Lieutenant-Colonel  Warren,  till  that  gal 
lant  officer  had  made  dispositions  to  turn 
their  flanks.  The  enemy's  fire  at  this 
time  began  to  tell  upon  us  with  great 
effect.  My  men  were  falling  one  after 
another,  as  was  the  case  of  the  rest  of 
the  command. 

"  Our  object  being  now  accomplished, 
to  remain  longer  in  this  exposed  posi 
tion  was  useless  ;  numbers  of  our  men 
being  killed  and  wounded,  having  re 
ceived  a  grape-shot  through  my  thigh, 
which  tore  off  a  portion  of  the  rectangle 
on  Colonel  Duryea's  left  shoulder,  passed 
through  my  leg.  and  killed  a  soldier  in 
the  rear,  I  withdrew  my  men  to  the 
skirts  of  the  wood.  We  managed  to 
reach  Lieutenant  Greble's  battery  and 


bring  to  his  aid  several  of  my  men 
The  charge  was  then  sounded,  and  Lieu 
tenant  Greble  opened  fire  with  grape 
and  canister  within  two  hundred  yards 
of  the  enemy's  lines.  Captains  Win- 
slow,  Bartlett,  and  myself  charged  with 
our  commands  in  front ;  Captain  Denike 
and  Lieutenant  Duryea  (son  of  Colonel 
Duryea),  and  about  two  hundred  of  the 
Troy  Rifles,  upon  the  right  ;  Colonel 
Townsend,  with  his  men,  to  the  left. 
The  enemy  were  forced  out  of  the  first 
battery,  all  the  forces  were  rapidly  ad 
vancing,  and  everything  promised  a 
speedy  victory,  when  we  were  ordered 
to  fall  back.  Where  this  order  came 
from,  I  do  not  know.  We  maintained 
our  position  till  Colonel  Townsend  be 
gan  to  retire  with  his  whole  command. 
Being  left  thus  alone,  and  no  prospects 
of  receiving  aid,  we  ordered  the  men  to 
fall  back,  which  they  did,  and  in  good 
order,  forming  their  line  of  battle  about 
one  hundred  and  fifty  yards  in  the  rear. 
A  few  minutes  afterward,  orders  came 
from  General  Pierce  to  cease  firing  and 
retire." 

Greble,  after  two  hours  of  spirited 
work  with  his  artillery,  was  struck  by  a 
cannon-ball  in  the  head  and  killed  in 
stantly.  With  his  death,  the  fall  of  the 
larger  number  of  the  artillerists,  and  the 
exhaustion  of  ammunition,  it  was  found 
necessary  to  withdraw  the  guns,  which 
was  done  by  the  Massachusetts  men  and 
Vermonters,  under  Lieutenant-Colonel 
Washburne.  The  body  of  the  young 
lieutenant  was  borne  off,  lying  upon  one 
of  those  cannon  which  he  had  so  gal 
lantly  served. 


2T8 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE   SOUTH. 


The  New  York  regiment  sent  to  rein 
force  the  Federal  troops,  reached  the 
battle-field  in  time  to  share  in  the  en 
gagement.  The  commander,  Colonel 
Allen,  in  his  official  report,  says  : 
11  Upon  reporting  to  General  Pierce,  he 
directed  me  to  proceed  to  the  front  and 
deploy  my  regiment  in  front  of  the  bat 
tery,  which  I  did,  and  so  remained  for 
one  hour  and  forty  minutes  under  a 
heavy  fire  of  at  least  twenty  guns,  some 
of  them  rifled,  and  about  four  shell 
guns — the  enemy  deploying  in  my  front 
with  about  1,200  men  and  two  guns, 
but  made  no  advance.  They,  however, 
threw  out  two  heavy  flanking  parties  on 
my  right  and  left,  the  former  with  two 
guns,  and  completely  outflanked  the  en 
tire  brigade,  at  which  time  General 
Pierce  deemed  it  proper  to  retire." 

The  number  of  Federal  troops  on  the 
field  of  battle,  including  the  reinforce 
ments,  amounted  to  about  four  thou 
sand.  Of  these,  sixteen  were  killed, 
thirty-four  wounded,  and  five,  missing, 
making  a  total  of  fifty-three.  The  Fed 
eral  loss,  moreover,  was  increased  by 
the  fatal  blunder,  which  resulted  in  kill 
ing  two  and  wounding  nineteen. 

The  enemy  reported  that  their  whole 
force  engaged  did  not  exceed  eleven  hun 
dred  men,  under  the  command  of  Gen 
eral  Magruder,  and  one  killed  and  two 
wounded,  as  the  total  of  their  loss. 
One  who  served  with  them  gave  this 
account  of  the  affair : 

"On  Monday  morning,  six  hundred 
infantry  and  two  guns,  under  General 
Magruder,  left  the  camp  and  proceeded 
toward  Hampton,  b'i'-,  after  advancing  a 


mile  or  two,  received  information  that 
the  Yankees  were  coming  in  large  force. 
We   then    retired,    and    after   reaching 
camp  the  guns  were  placed  in  battery 
and  the  infantry  took  their  places  be 
hind  their  breast- work.     Everybody  was 
cool,  and  all  were  anxious  to  give  the 
invaders  a  good  reception.     About  nine 
o'clock  the  glittering   bayonets  of  the 
enemy  appeared  on  the  hill  opposite, 
and  above  them  waved  the  star-span 
gled  banner.     The  moment  the  head  of 
the  column  advanced  far  enough  to  show 
one  or  two  companies,  the  Parrott  gun 
of  the  howitzer  battery  opened  on  them, 
throwing  a  shell  right  into  their  midst. 
Their  ranks  broke  in  confusion,  and  the 
column,  or  as  much  of  it  as  we  could  see, 
retreated  behind  two  small  farm-houses. 
From  their  position  a  fire  was  opened 
on  us,  which  was  replied  to  by  our  bat 
tery,   which  commanded  the  route   of 
their  approach.     Our  firing  was   excel 
lent,  and  the  shells  scattered  in  all  di 
rections,  when  they  burst.     They  could 
hardly  approach  the   guns  which  they 
were  firing,  for  the  shells  which  came 
from  our  battery.     Within  our  encamp 
ment  fell  a  perfect  hail-storm  of  canis 
ter  shot,  bullets,  and  balls.    Remarkable 
to  say,  not  one  of  our  men  was  killed 
inside    of    our    encampment.      Several 
horses   were    slain   by   the    shells    and 
bullets.      Finding    that    bombardment 
would   not   answer,  the    enemy,   about 
eleven  o'clock,  tried  to  carry  the  posi 
tion  by  assault,  but  met  a  terrible  re 
pulse  at  the  hands  of  the  infantry  as  he 
tried  to  scale   the  breast-works.      The 
men  disregarded  sometimes  the  defences 


THE   DEFEAT  AT   BIG   BETHEL  JUSTIFIED. 


279 


erected  for  them,  and,  leaping  on  the 
embankment,  stood  and  fired  at  the 
Yankees,  cutting  them  down  as  they 
came  up.  One  company  of  the  New 
York  Seventh  Regiment,  under  Captain 
Winthrop,  attempted  to  take  the  re 
doubt  on  the  left.  The  marsh  they 
crossed  was  strewn  with  their  bodies. 
Their  captain,  a  fine-looking  man, 
reached  the  fence,  and,  leaping  on  a 
log,  waved  his  sword,  crying,  '  Come  on, 
boys!  one  charge,  and  the  day  is  ours!' 
The  words  were  his  last,  for  a  Carolina 
rifle  ended  his  life  the  next  moment, 
and  his  men  fled  in  terror  back.  At 
the  redoubt  on  the  right,  a  company  of 
about  three  hundred  New  York  Zou 
aves  charged  one  of  our  guns,  but  could 
not  stand  the  fire  of  the  infantry,  and 
retreated  precipitately.  During  these 
charges  the  main  body  of  the  enemy  on 
the  hill  were  attempting  to  concentrate 
for  a  general  assault,  but  the  shells  from 
the  howitzer  battery  prevented  them. 
As  one  regiment  would  give  up  the 
effort,  another  would  be  marched  to  the 
position,  but  with  no  better  success,  for 
a  shell  would  scatter  them  like  chaff. 
The  men  did  not  seem  able  to  stand  fire 
at  all.  About  one  o'clock  their  guns 
were  silenced,  and  a  few  moments  after, 
their  infantry  retreated  precipitately 
down  the  road  to  Hampton.  Our  cav 
alry,  numbering  three  companies,  went 
in  pursuit,  arid  harassed  them  down  to 
the  edge  of  Hampton.  As  they  re 
treated,  many  of  the  wounded  fell 
along  the  road  and  died,  and  the  whole 
road  to  Hampton  was  strewn  with  hav 
ersacks,  overcoats,  canteens,  muskets, 


etc.,  which  the  men  had  thrown  off  in 
their  retreat." 

The  Federal  officers  engaged  in  the 
unfortunate  affairs  of  Little  and  Big 
Bethel  strove  to  justify  their  conduct 
of  the  expedition,  or  to  shift  upon  one 
another  the  responsibility  of  its  failure. 
The  commander-in-chief,  General  But 
ler,  consoled  himself  with  the  thought, 
"in  the  unfortunate  combination  of  cir 
cumstances,  and  the  result  which  we 
have  experienced,  we  have  gained  more 
than  we  have  lost.  Our  troops  have 
learned  to  have  confidence  in  themselves 
under  fire,  the  enemy  have  shown  that 
they  will  not  meet  us  in  the  open  field, 
and  our  officers  have  learned  wherein 
their  organization  and  drill  are  defi 
cient." 

The  militia  Brigadier-General  Pierce, 
who  commanded  the  expedition,  was  so 
overwhelmed  with  censure,  that  he  was 
forced  to  seek  refuge  within  the  col 
umns  of  the  newspaper,  and  persisting 
in  the  assertion  of  the  excellence  of 
his  military  conduct,  promised  a  future 
justification  of  his  skill  as  a  com 
mander  :  * 

"  CAMP  HAMILTON,  June  12,  1861. 
"  To  THE  EDITORS  OF  THE  BOSTON  JOURNAL  : 

"Please  correct  the  erroneous  reports 
set  afloat  by  my  enemies.  There  we,re 
but  seven  killed  of  the  forces  that  went 
from  this  camp,  in  the  expedition  to 
Little  and  Big  Bethel,  on  the  10th  of 
this  month,  and  Colonel  Townsend,  of 
the  Third  Regiment  New  York  Volun 
teers,  who  was  formerly  adjutant-gen- 

°  His  justification  was  subspquently  published.     It  cast 
the  blame  upon  his  superior  in  v  tmmand. 


'280 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE   SOUTH. 


eral  of  the  State  of  New  York,  offers  to 
certify  that  I  gave  my  orders  properly, 
and  that,  under  the  circumstances,  the 
battle  could  not  have  been  managed 
better. 

'*  This  I  write  that  the  public  may  not 
judge  me  before  I  have  time  to  be  heard. 

"  Captain  Haggerty  and  Major  Win- 
throp,  of  General  Butler's  staff,  were 
with  me,  and  advising  me  to  do  as  I  did. 
General  Butler  has  not  intimated  to  me, 
as  yet,  that  he  blames  me  at  all.  In 
haste,  yours,  E.  W.  PIERCE." 

He  subsequently  confessed  his  incom- 
petency  as  an  officer  by  modestly  re 
tiring  from  the  brigadier-generalship, 
and  proved  his  patriotism  by  serving  as 
a  private  in  the  ranks. 

The  soldiers  unquestionably  behaved 
vith  even  more  gallantry  and  firmness 
than  might  have  been  expected  from 
raw  troops,  indiscreetly  exposed  to  the 
batteries  of  a  concealed  and  numerous 
enemy,  and  unskilfully  managed  by  in 
competent  leaders.  There  were  many 
instances  of  individual  courage,  which 
proved  the  spirit  of  the  men  and  their 
capability,  under  proper  command,  of 
effectively  serving  the  cause  which  they 
had  so  eagerly  adopted. 

During  the  retreat,  Captain  Wilson, 
of  Colonel  Carr's  regiment  of  Troy 
(N.  Y.),  finding  that  a  six-pounder  had 
been  left  on  the  field,  about  fifty  rods 
from  the  battery,  shouted  to  his  men  : 
"  Boys !  there's  a  cannon  ;  we  must  not 
leave  it  behind  ;  we  must  take  it  with 
us."  The  whole  company  to  a  man 
cried  out,  "  We'll  take  it ;"  and  they 
were  immediately  marched  back  to  ob 


tain  the  piece.  They  had  hardly  reached 
it,  when  the  enemy  opened  fire  upon 
them,  killing  one  of  the  brave  fellows 
and  wounding  two  others.  The  drag- 
ropes  were  detached,  but  the  men  tied 
them  to  the  gun,  in  the  midst  of  a 
shower  of  shot,  and  with  a  cheer  ran 
it  into  the  woods  bordering  the  road. 
Captain  Wilson,  then,  followed  by  five 
men,  returned  once  more  to  the  ex 
posed  spot  to  which  the  enemy's  fire 
was  hotly  aimed,  and  securing  the  cais 
son,  and  also  the  body  of  poor  Greble, 
who  had  fallen  dead  at  his  post,  re 
tired  again  to  the  cover  of  the  woods, 
whence  he  retreated  in  safety  with  his 
hard-earned  trophies.  A  score  of  men 
only,  under  the  command  of  Lieuten 
ant  White,  after  firing  their  last  charges 
from  their  howitzer,  were  left  far  in  the 
rear,  and  being  the  last  to  leave  the 
field,  kept  at  bay  a  squadron  of  the 
enemy's  cavalry  and  some  infantry  dur 
ing  their  retreat  to  the  main  body. 

The  young  Major  Winthrop  fell  while 
gallantly  urging  on  the  troops,  by  his 
example  and  stirring  words,  to  the  at 
tack.  A  fellow-officer  who  was  with  him 
during  the  engagement  has  testified  to 
his  spirit.  "I  made  a  reconnoissance," 
he  said,  "with  Major  Winthrop  about 
twelve  o'clock  in  the  day,  and  can  testify 
to  his  bravery  and  daring.  He  was  very 
much  exhausted,  having  wanted  for 
sleep,  food,  and  water,  and  the  day  had 
turned  out  very  hot.  We  stuck  our 
heads  out  of  some  underbrush,  and  in 
stantly  there  was  a  perfect  shower  of 
balls  rained  upon  us,  which  compelled 
us  to  withdraw  a  few  paces.  Major 


DKATII   OF   MAJOR   WINTHROP. 


281 


Winthrop  laid  himself  behind  a  tree, 
saying  if  he  could  only  sleep  for  five 
minutes  he  would  be  all  right.  He  re 
marked  as  he  did  this,  that  he  was  going 
to  see  the  inside  of  that  intrenchment 
before  he  went  back  to  the  fortress — his 
manner  being  that  of  cool,  ordinary  con 
versation.  He  continued  self-possessed 
and  cool  throughout  the  whole  engage 
ment,  up  to  the -time  when  he  received 
his  death-wound,  which  happened  by  the 
side  of  Lieutenant  Herringen,  Company 
E,  who  remained  with  him  and  cared  for 
him  until  life  had  fled.  He  was  shot  in 
the  side." 

The  enemy  found  him  to  be  the  most 
conspicuous  aim  for  their  fatal  shots. 
Their  riflemen  from  their  covers  in  the 
pits  before  the  batteries  had  several 
times  deliberately  fired  at  him,  as  they 
declared  he  was  constantly  "  conspicu 
ous  at  the  head  of  the  advancing  Federal 
troops,  loudly  cheering  them  on  to  the 
assault." 

Theodore  Winthrop  was  born  in  New 
Haven,  Connecticut,  in  1834,  and  was  a 
descendant  of  the  famous  colonial  gov 
ernor  of  his  name.  He  was  possessed 
of  a  warm  temperament,  which  gave  the 
impulse  to  effort,  but  at  the  same  time 
of  a  vagrant  fancy,  which  hindered  con 
centration  and  led  to  uncertainty  of  pur 
pose.  Educated  at  Yale  College,  and 
endowed  with  a  natural  taste  for  litera 
ture,  he  at  one  time  aspired  to  be  an 
author.  Again  his  impulsive  character, 
untutored  by  the  discipline  of  routine, 
sought  vent  for  its  irregular  forces  in 
the  adventure  of  exploration  and  travel. 
He  crossed  the  Rocky  Mountains  to 

36 


California,  and  again  on  his  return  he 
started  with  Lieutenant  Strain  on  hia 
bold  expedition  across  the  mountains, 
the  jungles,  and  unnavigable  rivers  of 
the  Isthmus  of  Darien.  His  physical 
strength,  however,  proved  unequal  to 
the  trials  of  that  adventurous  explora 
tion,  and  he  returned  to  New  York,  his 
nominal  home,  to  venture  upon  a  new 
field  of  labor.  He  studied  and  began 
the  practice  of  law.  His  errant  fancies, 
however,  were  not  favorable  to  the 
steady  pursuit  of  the  law,  and  he  met 
with  but  little  success.  One  of  the 
fondest  of  his  friends  who  knew  him 
well,  has  said  that  "partly  from  ill- 
health,  partly  from  temperament,  a 
dreary  sadness  overhung  his  life  and 
dispirited  his  efforts.  Glad  of  his 
friends'  success,  and  conscious  of  the 
kindred  impulse,  he  still  wistfully  de 
layed.  Of  great  industry  and  restless 
endeavor,  he  saw  success  slide  by,  and 
seemed  to  be  waiting  in  melancholy 
patience  the  rising  of  a  happier  star. 
It  has  risen  at  last,  and  shines  upon  hia 
grave." 

On  the  fall  of  Sumter,  he  saw  in  the 
war  which  must  ensue  a  new  scope  for 
his  adventurous  spirit  and  unemployed 
energies. 

"  On  the  Sunday  afternoon  after  the 
fall  of  Sumter  he  was  walking  with  a 
friend  in  the  woods  upon  Staten  Island, 
near  his  home.  No  man  could  have  a 
clearer  conception  of  the  significance  of 
that  event.  An  American  in  the  no 
blest  sense,  he  felt  that  the  time  had 
come  in  which  our  liberties  could  be 
maintained  only  in  the  same  way  that 


282 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


they  were  won.  '  To-morrow,'  said  his 
friend,  '  we  shall  have  a  proclamation 
from  the  President.'  '  Then  to-mor 
row,'  he  answered,  '  I  shall  enlist.'  He 
did  so.  If  he  had  hesitated  before, 
there  could  be  no  hesitation  now. 
Mother,  sisters,  brother,  farewell !  It 
is  God  who  calls  in  the  voice  of  my 
country."* 

He  joined,  together  with  his  brother, 
the  Seventh  Regiment,  which  was  the 
first  to  leave  New  York  to  go  to  the 
defence  of  the  capital.  After  his  regi 
ment  was  mustered  out  of  the  Federal 
service,  young  Winthrop  was  appointed 
aid-de-camp  and  military  secretary  to 
General  Butler,  whom  he  accompanied 
to  Fortress  Monroe.  He  was  now  fairly 
embarked  for  the  war.  With  his  natu 
ral  hopefulness  of  temper,  he  was  ex 
ceedingly  sanguine  of  the  success  of  the 
Federal  arms. 

"  A  few  burned  villages,  a  dozen 
guerrillas  hung,  one  scouring  skirmish 
or  battle  will  pacify,"  he  wrote,  "a 
whole  State.  Under  the  discipline  and 
esprit  du  corps  of  a  regiment  or  an  army 
the  South  may  fight ;  but  they  will  not 
have  moral  conviction  enough  to  risk 

«  Harper' i  Weekly. 


their  separate  lives  except  in  assassina 
tions,  and  those  a  few  sharp  examples 
will  terminate.  We  heard  their  threats 
at  Annapolis.  We  heard  also  the  pitiful 
plaints  of  the  timid  who  believed  the 
threats.  No  ;  if  we  are  patient  and  well 
led,  we  shall  do  our  work  without  much 
massacre." 

The  equivocal  honor  of  the  plan  of 
the  expedition  to  Little  Bethel  has  been 
claimed  for  him,  and  a  memorandum 
with  its  main  details  was  found  among 
his  papers  after  his  death,  and  published. 
The  fact  that  to  so  inexperienced  a 
soldier  recourse  was  had  for  the  plan  of 
the  expedition,  is  a  confession  of  incom- 
petency  on  the  part  of  his  elders  and 
superiors  which  betokened  ill  for  its 
success. 

Young  Winthrop  during  his  campaign 
wrote  frequently  for  a  Boston  magazine, 
and  his  spirited  account  of  the  march 
of  the  Seventh  Regiment,  and  its  first 
experiences  in  actual  warfare,  was  re 
ceived  with  great  popular  favor.  Since 
his  death,  several  of  his  stories  and  two 
novels  written  by  him  have  been  pub 
lished,  awakening  an  interest  naturally 
heightened  by  the  heroic  death  of  their 
patriotic  author. 


GENERAL  McCLELLAN. 


283 


CHAPTER    XXV. 

The  Call  of  the  Country  for  the  services  of  its  Citizens. — The  Sword  laid  aside  for  the  pursuits  of  Peace. — States  com 
peting  for  a  military  leader. — George  B.  McClellan. — Proud  position. — Hopes  for  the  future. — A  Bonaparte  or  a 
Washington? — Life  of  George  B.  McClellan. — Inheritance  of  paternal  qualities. — Family  Descent. — Military  Edu 
cation. — At  West  Point. — First  of  his  class. — Enters  the  Army. — Organizes  the  Sappers  and  Miners. — His  success. 
— Services  and  rewards  in  the  Mexican  Campaign. — Laborious  work  at  Vera  Cruz. — A  dangerous  Reconnoissance 
at  Contreras. — In  the  fight. — Services  at  Churubusco. — Well-earned  praise. — Brevetted  Captain.— At  Molino  del  Rey. 
— At  Chapultepec. — One  of  the  "five  Lieutenants  of  Engineers  who  won  the  admiration  of  all." — In  the  same 
list  with  Beauregard. — McClellan  accepts  the  command  of  the  Sappers  and  Miners. — Two  years  at  West  Point. — 
Scientific  Pursuits  and  Writings.— Superintendent  of  construction  of  Fort  Delaware. — Married.— Chief  Engineer  in 
Texas. — Surveyor  of  North  Pacific  Railroad. — Services  acknowledged  by  Jefferson  Davis. — Secret  Service  in  the 
West  Indies. — Sent  to  the  Crimea. — Report  on  European  Armies. — The  character  of  the  work. — Description  of  the 
Storming  of  the  Malakoff. — Practical  views  in  regard  to  Coast  Defences. — McClellan  resigns  his  Army  command. 
— Vice -President  and  Chief  Engineer  of  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad.  —  President  and  General  Superintendent 
of  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi  Railroad. — Summoned  by  the  country  to  resume  his  Sword. — Services  competed  for  by 
Pennsylvania  and  Ohio. — Accepts  a  Major-Generalship  from  Ohio. — Commissioned  by  the  United  States  a  Major- 
General. — Command  of  the  Department  of  Ohio. — Personal  appearance  and  character  of  McClellan. — Campaign  in 
Western  Virginia. — Movements  of  the  Enemy. — Movements  of  General  Patterson  from  Pennsylvania  and  McClellan 
from  Ohio. — Proclamation  of  McClellan. — Crossing  the  Ohio  into  Western  Virginia. 


WHEN  our  domestic  quarrel  had  be 
come  so  exasperated  that  civil  war 
was  inevitable,  and  the  country 
called  for  the  services  of  all  who  were 
able  to  take  up  arms  in  its  defence, 
there  was  one  who,  though  he  had  laid 
aside  the  sword  for  the  pursuits  of  peace, 
had  given  such  proofs  of  military  ca 
pacity,  that  States  competed  for  him  as 
the  leader  of  their  armies.  This  was 
George  B.  McClellan,  afterward  com- 
mander-in-chief  of  the  United  States 
forces,  who  held  for  some  time  the 
proudest  position  in  the  country,  and 
seemed  destined,  should  the  capricious 
fortunes  of  war  favor  him,  to  acquire  a 
military  fame  rivaling  that  of  a  Caesar  or 
a  Bonaparte.  Such  was  his  popularity 
after  taking  command  of  the  Army  of 
the  Potomac  that  high  hopes  of  his 
ability  to  end  the  rebellion  were  antici 


pated,  and  that  with  a  moderation  of 
power  and  a  disinterestedness  of  patriot 
ism  he  might  rise  far  beyond  the  imperial 
grandeur  of  the  Roman  and  French 
emperors,  and  appear  in  moral  greatness 
as  the  saviour  of  the  republic  next  to 
Washington  its  revered  founder. 

George  B.  McClellan  was  born  in 
Philadelphia,  on  the  third  of  January, 
eighteen  hundred  and  twenty-six.  His 
father  was  a  surgeon  of  that  city,  famous 
in  his  profession  for  skill,  intrepidity, 
promptitude,  and  dexterity — qualities 
which  his  son  was  believed  to  have  in 
herited,  though  exercised  in  a  different 
sphere  of  duty.  The  family,  as  its  name 
indicates,  was  of  Scotch  descent,  and 
originally  settled  in  New  England,  where 
some  of  its  members  are  still  to  be  found. 

In  1842,  young  McClellan,  at  the  age 
of  sixteen,  entered  the  Military  Acad- 


284 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


emy  of  West  Point.  After  the  usual 
course  of  four  years  of  study  he  grad 
uated  in  1846,  being  twenty  years  old, 
at  the  head  of  his  class.  He  entered 
the  army  as  brevet  second  lieutenant  of 
engineers,  an  honored  corps  into  which 
the  most  distinguished  students  of  West 
Point  are  only  admitted.  On  the  dec 
laration  of  war  against  Mexico,  Congress 
passed  an  act  establishing  a  compa.ny  of 
sappers,  miners,  and  pontoon  construc 
tors  to  be  added  to  the  corps  of  engi 
neers,  and  young  McClellan  was  ap 
pointed  its  second  lieutenant.  Upon 
him  and  two  other  officers  devolved  the 
duty  of  organizing  and  drilling  this  new 
branch  of  service.  The  recruits  were 
accordingly  mustered  at  West  Point, 
where  they  were  practised  in  sapping, 
mining,  constructing  bridges,  and  pre 
paring  the  materials  for  sieges.  At 
the  same  time  they  were  thoroughly 
drilled  and  disciplined  as  infantry  sol 
diers.  Colonel  Totten,  the  chief  of 
this  department,  declared  in  his  report, 
that  when  this  new  company,  composed 
of  seventy-one  men,  left  West  Point  for 
the  war,  they  were  in  "admirable 
discipline,"  and  warmly  applauded  the 
skill  and  energy  displayed  by  McClel 
lan  and  his  associates  in  their  work  of 
organization  and  drill.  Proceeding  first 
to  Camargo,  in  Mexico,  and  reporting 
for  duty  to  General  Taylor,  the  com 
pany  was  ordered  to  return  to  Mata- 
moras,  and  act  with  the  column  about 
marching  under  the  command  of  General 
Patterson. 

At  Matamoras  the  captain  and  nine 
teen  men  of  the  corps  were   invalided 


and  left  in  the  hospital.  Lieutenant 
McClellan  and  his  comrade,  Lieutenant 
Gustavus  W.  Smith — afterward  a  gen 
eral  in  the  Confederate  army — proceeded 
in  command  of  the  remainder  of  the 
company  to  Yera  Cruz.  "During  the 
march  from  Matamoras  to  Vittoria," 
reported  Colonel  Totten,  "  the  company, 
then  reduced  to  forty-five  effectives,  ex 
ecuted  a  great  amount  of  work  on  the 
roads,  fords,  etc.,  as  it  did  in  proceeding 
thence  to  Tampico,  where  it  formed, 
with  one  company  of  the  Third  and  one 
of  the  Seventh  Infantry,  a  pioneer  party, 
under  Captain  Henry  of  the  Third  Infan 
try.  The  detailed  reports  of  these  labors 
exhibit  the  greatest  efficiency  and  excel 
lent  discipline  under  severe  and  trying 
circumstances,  Lieutenant  Smith  having 
then  but  one  officer,  Lieutenant  McClel 
lan,  under  his  command." 

On  arriving  at  Vera  Cruz,  the  captain, 
invalided  at  Matamoras,  resumed  the 
command  of  the  company,  to  which  was 
attached  also  another  subordinate  officer. 
To  the  conduct  of  the  sappers  and  min 
ers  at  the  siege  of  Yera  Cruz,  Colonel 
Totten  paid  this  tribute  :  "During  the 
siege  of  Yera  Cruz,"  he  said,  "  I  was 
witness  to  the  great  exertions  and  ser 
vices  of  this  company,  animated  by  and 
emulating  the  zeal  and  devotion  of  its 
excellent  officers,  Lieutenants  Smith, 
McClellan,  and  Foster."  During  the 
whole  work  of  the  siege,  the  labors  of 
the  company  were  incessant.  "  The 
total  of  the  company  was  so  small,"  said 
Totten,  "  and  demands  for  its  aid  so  inces 
sant,  that  every  man  may  be  said  to  have 
been  constantly  on  duty,  with  scarcely  a 


IN   MEXICO. 


285 


moment  for  rest  and  refreshment."  The 
captain  was  unable,  from  continued  ill 
ness,  to  take  any  very  effective  part  in 
the  onerous  duties  of  the  command,  and 
soon  after  died,  leaving  the  weight  of 
labor  and  responsibility  to  rest  upon  his 
youthful  subordinates,  who  proved  them 
selves  equal  to  the  task,  and  earned 
another  tribute  from  their  superior,  Col 
onel  Totten,  who  declared  that  they 
"  directed  the  operations  with  unsur 
passed  intelligence  and  zeal." 

The  same  officer,  in  his  reports  of  the 
services  of  the  company,  whether  on  the 
inarch,  in  the  field,  or  in  the  trenches, 
had  occasion  but  to  repeat  his  praises 
both  of  men  and  officers.  He  said  : 

"  Severe  labors  followed  the  surrender 
of  Yera  Cruz  and  its  castle,  and  accom 
panied  the  march  to  the  battle  of  Cerro 
Gordo,  in  which  the  company  displayed, 
in  various  parts  of  the  field,  its  gallantry 
and  efficiency.  It  entered  the  city  of 
Jalapa  with  the  advance  of  Twiggs7 
division,  and  Puebla  with  the  advance 
of  Worth's.  During  the  pause  at  the 
latter  place,  the  instruction  of  the  com 
pany  in  its  appropriate  studies  and  ex 
ercises  was  resumed  by  its  persevering 
and  zealous  officers,  and  assistance  was 
given  by  all  in  the  repairs  of  the  de 
fences.  Marching  from  Puebla  with 
General  Twiggs'  division,  the  company 
was  joined  to  General  Worth  at  Chalon, 
and  arrived  in  front  of  San  Antonio  on 
the  18th  of  August,  having  greatly 
assisted  in  clearing  the  road  of  obstruc 
tions  placed  by  the  enemy." 

On  the  next  day,  the  1 9th  of  August, 
the  company  was  placed  at  the  head  of 


the  column  commanded  by  General 
Pillow.  Before  the  battle  at  Contreras 
opened,  Lieutenant  McClellan  was  or 
dered,  together  with  another  officer  of 
engineers,  to  reconnoitre  the  position  of 
the  enemy.  They,  however,  fell  in  with 
the  advance  guards  of  the  Mexicans,  and 
being  fired  upon,  and  losing  their  horses, 
which  were  killed,  barely  escaped  in 
safety  back  to  the  lines.  During  the 
engagement  which  ensued,  Lieutenant 
McClellan  joined  Magruder's  battery. 
General  Twiggs  bore  testimony  to  his 
good  service  on  that  day  : 

"  Lieutenant  George  B.  McClellan, 
after  Lieutenant  Calender  was  wounded, 
took  charge  of  and  managed  the  how 
itzer  battery  (Lieutenant  Reno  being 
detached  with  the  rockets)  with  judg 
ment  and  success,  until  it  became  so  dis 
abled  as  to  require  shelter.  For  Lieu 
tenant  McClellan's  efficiency  and  gallan 
try  in  this  affair,  I  present  his  name  for 
the  favorable  consideration  of  the  Gen 
eral  in-chief." 

On  the  next  day,  when  the  battle  of 
Churubusco  was  fought  and  the  victory 
won,  McClellan  again  obtained  the  "  hon 
orable  mention"  of  his  commander,  and  a 
brevet  rank.  General  Persifer  F.  Smith, 
with  whose  division  the  young  Lieuten 
ant  served,  declared  in  his  report : 

"  Lieutenant  G.  W.  Smith,  in  com 
mand  of  the  engineer  company,  and 
Lieutenant  McClellan,  his  subaltern,  dis 
tinguished  themselves  throughout  the 
whole  of  the  three  actions.  Nothing 
seemed  to  them  too  bold  to  be  under 
taken,  or  too  difficult  to  be  executed, 
and  their  services  as  engineers  were  as 


286 


THE   WAR  WITH  THE   SOUTH. 


valuable  as  those  they  rendered  in  battle 
at  the  head  of  their  gallant  men." 

In  the  battle  of  Molino  del  Rey,  too, 
which  succeeded,  McClellan  was  again 
conspicuous  among  the  most  active  and 
brave.  He  was  brevetted  captain  in 
acknowledgment  of  his  services.  He, 
however,  declined  the  promotion,  and 
was  still  only  a  lieutenant  during  the 
attack  on  Chapultepec.  His  services  on 
this  occasion,  in  erecting  batteries  before 
the  engagement,  and  his  gallantry  in 
fighting  during  the  battle,  brought  him 
once  more  within  the  notice  of  his  supe 
riors.  General  Scott  named  him  in  his 
dispatch  as  one  of  "those  five  lieuten 
ants  of  engineers"  who  "won  the  ad 
miration  of  all."  The  name  of  his 
famous  competitor,  Beauregard,  was  on 
the  same  honored  list. 

McClellan  was  thus  with  the  army  of 
General  Scott  during  the  whole  of  its 
victorious  progress  from  Yera  Cruz  to 
the  capital,  and  at  every  step  the  young 
Lieutenant  won  an  increase  of  honor  for 
his  good  conduct.  He  was  brevetted 
captain  for  his  service  in  Mexico,  and 
returned  in  1848  to  West  Point  with 
his  company  of  sappers  and  miners,  of 
which  he  soon  after  became  com 
mander. 

Here  McClellan  remained  for  more 
than  two  years,  in  comparative  inac 
tivity,  but  improved  the  time  by  study 
and  devotion  to  the  welfare  of  the 
service.  He  translated  from  the  French, 
with  which  he  is  said  to  be  thoroughly 
acquainted,  a  military  work,  which  has 
been  adopted  as  a  text-book,  and  modi 
fying  in  accordance  with  the  latest  sys 


tem  of  tactics,  the  bayonet  exercise, 
introduced  it  into  the  army. 

During  the  summer  and  autumn  of 
1851,  McClellan  was  charged  with  the 
superintendence  of  the  construction  of 
Fort  Delaware,  and  in  the  spring  of  the 
same  year  was  ordered  to  duty  in  the 
exploration  of  the  Red  River,  under 
Major  R.  B.  Marcy,  whose  daughter  he 
married.  While  engaged  in  this  work  he 
was  ordered  to  Texas,  as  chief  engineer, 
under  the  command  of  General  Persifer 
Smith  of  that  department,  and  had  been 
occupied  for  several  months  in  surveying 
the  rivers  and  harbors  of  the  State, 
when  he  was  transferred  to  the  Pacific 
coast,  to  command  the  western  division 
of  the  survey  of  the  route  for  the  North 
Pacific  Railroad,  to  pass  from  the  Mis 
sissippi  to  the  Pacific  Ocean. 

Jefferson  Davis,  afterward  President 
of  the  Southern  Confederacy,  then 
secretary  of  war  of  the  United  States, 
in  his  report  to  Congress  thus  acknowl 
edged  the  services  of  McClellan  as  an 
explorer  : 

"  The  examination  of  the  approaches 
and  passes  of  the  Cascade  Mountains, 
made  by  Captain  McClellan,  of  the  corps 
of  engineers,  presents  a  reconnoissance 
of  great  value,  and,  though  performed 
under  adverse  circumstances,  exhibits 
all  the  information  necessary  to  deter 
mine  the  practicability  of  this  portion 
of  the  route,  and  reflects  the  highest 
credit  on  the  capacity  and  resources  of 
that  officer." 

Again  he  added :  "  Captain  McClel 
lan,  of  the  corps  of  engineers,  after 
the  completion  of  his  field  operations, 


AT  THE  CRIMEA. 


287 


was  directed  to  visit  various  railroads, 
and  to  collect  information  and  facts 
established  in  the  construction  and  work 
ing  of  existing  roads,  to  serve  as  data 
in  determining  the  practicability  of  con 
structing  and  working  roads  over  the 
several  routes  explored.  The  results  of 
his  inquiries  will  be  found  in  a  very 
valuable  memoir  herewith  submitted." 

This  public  duty  was  followed  by  the 
performance  of  some  secret  service  for 
the  Government  in  the  West  Indies. 

In  1855,  McClellan  received  a  com 
mission  of  captain  in  the  United  States 
cavalry,  and  was  appointed  by  the  Gov 
ernment,  together  with  Colonel  Richard 
Delafield  and  Major  Alfred  Mordecai,  to 
proceed  to  the  Crimea  and  report  upon 
the  war  then  waging  between  Russia 
and  the  allied  powers  of  France  and 
England.  The  result  of  his  observations 
was  embodied  in  a  work  entitled,  "Re 
port  on  the  Organization  of  European 
Armies  and  the  Operations  of  the  War." 
It  is  acknowledged  to  be  a  production 
showing  a  thorough  mastery  of  the  mil 
itary  art.  Its  demonstrations  evince  an 
exact  knowledge  of  science  and  a  broad 
view  in  the  application  of  its  principles. 
The  author,  in  the  freedom  of  his  criti 
cism,  does  not  hesitate  to  disregard  the 
pretensions  of  rank  and  authority,  and 
submit  the  strategy  and  tactics  of  the 
most  distinguished  European  officers  to 
the  test  of  his  own  judgment.  This  self- 
reliance,  though  it  might  be  thought  by 
some  presumptuous  in  so  young  a  man, 
came  from  a  consciousness  of  power, 
derived  not  01  ly  from  original  genius  but 
careful  culture,  which  gave  promise  that 


McClellan  would  be  the  great  leader  the 
country  required. 

Of  the  clear  and  precise  style  of 
McClellan  as  a  writer,  the  following  de 
scription  of  the  storming  of  the  Mala- 
koff  presents  a  good  illustration  : 

"  In  their  admirable  arrangements  for 
the  attack  of  the  Malakoff,  the  French 
counted  on  two  things  for  success  :  first, 
they  had  ascertained  that  the  Russians 
were  in  the  habit  of  relieving  the  guard 
of  the  Malakoff  at  noon,  and  that  a 
great  part  of  the  old  guard  marched  out 
before  the  new  one  arrived,  in  order  to 
avoid  the  loss  which  would  arise  from 
crowding  the  work  with  men  ;  in  the 
second  place,  it  was  determined  to  keep 
up  a  most  violent  vertical  fire  until  the 
very  moment  of  the  assault,  thus  driving 
the  Russians  into  the  bomb-proofs,  and 
enabling  the  storming  party  to  enter  the 
work  with  but  little  opposition. 

"The  hour  of  noon  was  therefore 
selected  for  the  assault,  and  the  strong 
columns  intended  for  the  work  were  at 
an  early  hour  assembled  in  the  advanced 
trenches,  all  in  admirable  order,  and 
furnished  with  precise  instructions. 

"The  mortars  maintained  an  unro 
mitting  fire  until  the  moment  appointed. 
The  very  instant  the  last  volley  was  dis 
charged,  the  storming  party  of  Zouaves 
rushed  over  the  thirty  paces  before  them, 
and  were  in  the  work  before  the  aston 
ished  Russians  knew  what  had  happened. 
It  was  stated  that  this  party  lost  but 
eleven  in  entering  the  work.  Other 
troops  advanced  rapidly  to  support  the 
storming  party,  a  bridge  was  formed  by 
rolling  up  five  ladders  with  plaiika 


286 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


lashed  to  them,  a  communication  was  at 
once  commenced  between  the  advanced 
trench  and  the  bridge,  brigade  after 
brigade  passed  over,  the  redoubt  was  at 
once  occupied  by  the  storming  party, 
and  thus  the  Malakoff,  and  with  it  Se- 
bastopol,  was  won.  The  few  Russians 
remaining  in  the  work  made  a  desperate 
resistance.  Many  gallant  attempts  were 
made  by  Russian  columns  to  ascend  the 
steep  slope  in  rear  and  regain  the  lost 
work ;  but  as  the  road  was  narrow, 
difficult,  and  obstructed,  the  position 
strong,  and  the  French  in  force,  all  their 
furious  efforts  were  in  vain,  and  the 
Malakoff  remained  in  possession  of  those 
who  had  so  gallantly  and  skilfully  won 
it.  With  regard  to  the  final  retreat  to 
the  north  side,  it  can  only  be  said  that 
a  personal  examination  of  the  locality 
merely  confirms  its  necessity,  and  the 
impression  so  generally  entertained  that 
it  was  the  finest  operation  of  the  war  ; 
so  admirably  was  it  carried  out  that  not 
a  straggler  remained  behind  :  a  few  men, 
so  severely  wounded  as  to  be  unfit  for 
rough  and  hurried  transportation,  were 
the  only  ghastly  human  trophies  that 
remained  to  the  allies.  The  retreat, 
being  a  more  difficult  operation  than  the 
assault,  is  worthy  of  more  admiration, 
but  the  Russian  retreat  to  the  north 
side,  and  the  French  assault  upon  the 
Malakoff  must  each  be  regarded  as  a 
masterpiece  of  its  kind,  deserving  the 
closest  study.  It  is  difficult  to  imagine 
what  point  in  either  can  be  criticised, 
for  both  evinced  consummate  skill,  dis 
cipline,  coolness,  and  courage." 

The  practical  tendency  of  his  mind 


and  the  character  of  his  studies  may  be 
seen  in  the  conclusions  with  which  he 
has  closed  his  report.  From  these  it 
might  be  inferred  that  his  efforts  would 
early  be  directed  to  obtaining  a  disci 
plined  army. 

"It  is  believed  that  a  calm  considera 
tion  of  the  events  so  hastily  and  imper 
fectly  narrated  in  the  preceding  pages 
must  lead  all  unprejudiced  persons 
among  our  countrymen  to  a  firm  con 
viction  on  two  vital  points  : 

"1st.  That  our  system  of  permanent 
coast  defences  is  a  wise  and  proper  one, 
which  ought  to  be  completed  and  armed 
with  the  least  possible  delay. 

"  2d.  That  mere  individual  courage 
cannot  suffice  to  overcome  the  forces 
that  would  be  brought  against  us  were 
we  involved  in  a  European  war,  but 
that  it  must  be  rendered  manage 
able  by  discipline,  and  directed  by  that 
consummate  and  mechanical  military 
skill  which  can  only  be  acquired  by  a 
course  of  education  instituted  for  that 
special  purpose,  and  by  long  habit. 

"  In  the  day  of  sailing  vessels  the 
successful  siege  of  Sebastopol  would 
have  been  impossible.  It  is  evident 
that  the  Russians  did  not  appreciate  the 
advantages  afforded  by  steamers,  and 
were  unprepared  to  sustain  a  siege. 

"This  same  power  of  steam  would 
enable  European  nations  to  disembark 
even  a  larger  force  than  that  which 
finnlly  encamped  around  Sebastopol. 
To  resist  such  an  attack,  should  it  ever 
be  made,  our  cities  and  harbors  must  be 
fortified,  and  these  fortifications  must  be 
provided  with  guns,  ammunition,  and 


ON   THE  RAILROAD. 


289 


instructed  artillerists.  To  repel  the  ad 
vance  of  such  an  army  into  the  interior, 
it  is  not  enough  to  trust  to  the  number 
of  brave  but  undisciplined  men  that  we 
can  bring  to  bear  against  it. 

"  An  invading  army  of  fifteen  thou 
sand  or  twenty  thousand  men  could 
easily  be  crushed  by  the  unremitting 
attacks  of  superior  numbers  ;  but  when 
it  comes  to  the  case  of  more  than  one 
hundred  thousand  disciplined  veterans, 
the  very  multitude  brought  to  bear 
against  them  works  its  own  destruction  ; 
because,  if  without  discipline  and  in 
struction,  they  cannot  be  handled,  and 
are  in  their  own  way.  We  cannot  afford 
a  Moscow  campaign. 

"Our  regular  army  never  can  be,  and 
perhaps  never  ought  to  be,  large  enough 
to  provide  for  all  the  contingencies  that 
may  arise  ;  but  it  should  be  as  large  as 
its  ordinary  avocations  in  the  defence  of 
the  frontier  will  justify  ;  the  number  of 
officers  and  non-commissioned  officers 
should  be  unusually  large,  to  provide  for 
a  sudden  increase  ;  and  the  greatest 
possible  care  should  be  bestowed  upon 
the  instruction  of  the  special  arms  of 
the  artillery  and  engineer  troops. 

"  The  militia  and  volunteer  system 
should  be  placed  upon  some  tangible 
and  effective  basis,  instructions  furnished 
them  from  the  regular  army,  and  all 
possible  means  taken  to  spread  sound 
military  information  among  them. 

"  In  !he  vicinity  of  our  sea-coast  for 
tifications  it  would  be  well  to  provide  a 
sufficient  number  of  volunteer  com 
panies,  with  the  means  of  instruction  in 
heavy  artillery,  detailing  officers  of  the 
37 


regular  artillery  as  instructors,  who 
should,  at  the  same  time,  be  in  charge 
of,  and  responsible  for,  the  guns  and 
material. 

11  In  time  of  war,  or  when  war  is  im 
minent,  local  companies  of  regular  artil 
lery  might  easily  be  enlisted  for  short 
terms  of  service,  or  for  the  war,  in  the 
sea-coast  towns.  The  same  thing  might, 
advantageously  be  carried  into  effect  on 
a  small  scale  in  times  of  peace." 

After  returning  from  Europe,  McClel- 
lan,  finding  that  the  army,  in  those 
piping  times  of  peace,  did  not  offer  a 
sufficient  scope  for  his  activity,  resigned 
his  commission  and  accepted  the  ap 
pointment  of  vice-president  and  chief 
engineer  of  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad. 
After  serving  three  years  in  this  office, 
he  accepted  that  of  president  and  gen 
eral  superintendent  of  the  Ohio  and 
Mississippi  Railroad.  He  was  actively 
engaged  in  the  performance  of  the  civil 
duties  pertaining  to  this  position  when, 
war  becoming  imminent,  he  was  sum 
moned  to  resume  his  sword.  Governor 
Curtin,  of  Pennsylvania,  strove  to  secure 
his  services  in  organizing  the  militia  of 
that  State.  The  Governor  of  Ohio,  how 
ever,  was  beforehand,  and  had  already 
offered  to  him  the  command  of  the  Ohio 
troops  with  the  rank  of  major-general, 
which  McClellan  unhesitatingly  accepted. 
A  few  weeks  subsequently  he  was  may 
commissioned  by  the  United  States  -*• 
Government  a  major-general  in  tht- 
regular  army  and  given  the  command  of 
the  department  of  Ohio,  embracing  the 
States  of  Illinois,  Indiana,  Ohio,  and 
that  part  of  Virginia  lying  north  of  the 


THE   WAR   WITH   THE   SOUTH. 


Great  Kanawha  River  and  west  of  the 
Green  Brier  River  and  the  Maryland 
line,  with  so  much  of  Pennsylvania  as 
lies  west  of  a  line  drawn  from  the  Mary 
land  line  to  the  north-east  corner  of 
McKean  County.  The  following  con 
temporary  sketch  of  the  personal  ap 
pearance  and  character  of  this  celebrated 
General  is  given,  to  show  the  estimation 
in  which  he  was  then  held  : 

"  McClellan,  now  thirty-five  years  old, 
is  in  the  prime  of  life.  A  man  of  short 
stature  and  broad  frame,  with  a  tend 
ency  to  corpulency,  though  of  compact 
structure,  he  is  possessed  of  great  phys 
ical  activity  and  powers  of  endurance. 
Not  prone  to  loquacity,  he  is  reticent  of 
his  own  counsel,  and  when  he  speaks 
expresses  himself  in  few  words,  and 
with  the  decisive  tone  which  character 
izes  the  energetic  man  of  action,  rather 
than  the  speculative  discourses  His 
temperament  is  that  of  the  prevailing 
Anglo- American  type,  a  combination  of 
the  sanguine  and  nervous.  He  has  the 
thoughtful  forecast  of  the  one  and  the 
rapid  movement  of  the  other.  This 
commingling  of  the  two  temperaments 
is  shown  in  the  dark  though  not  black 
hair,  in  the  light-colored  but  piercing 
eyes,  in  the  full  but  concentrated  frame, 
in  the  small  hands  and  feet,  and  in  the 
rounded  but  well-knit  limbs. 

"  A  combined  military  knowledge  and 
civil  experience  fit  him  eminently  for 
the  command  of  a  mixed  force  of  vol 
unteers  and  regulars,  enabling  him  to 
harmonize  their  discordant  elements. 
He  can  appreciate  fully  the  value  of  the 
disciplined  soldier,  and  yet  is  not  un 


conscious  that  important  aid  may  be 
rendered  by  the  citizen  when  aroused  to 
take  up  arms  in  defence  of  his  country. 
He  has  discovered,  from  actual  contact, 
the  character  of  his  countrymen,  and 
knows  how  gradually  to  subject  their 
impatience  of  control  to  the  stern  re 
quirements  of  military  law." 

The  secessionists  of  Eastern  Virginia, 
emboldened  by  the  advance  of  the 
troops  of  the  Confederate  States,  soon 
strove  to  overawe  or  subject  the  Union 
men  of  the  Western  District.  Having 
accumulated  a  considerable  force  at 
Harper's  Ferry,  they  moved  towards 
Grafton  and  other  points  west  of  the 
Alleghanies.  It  became,  therefore,  a 
matter  of  moment  with  the  Federal 
Government,  in  order  to  sustain  its  loyal 
supporters  in  Virginia,  to  counteract  this 
movement  of  the  secessionists.  The 
neighboring  States  of  Pennsylvania  and 
Ohio,  between  which  that  part  of  the 
western  district  of  Virginia .  most  de 
voted  to  the  Union  is  enclosed,  naturally 
presented  the  proper  basis  for  opera 
tions  in  that  quarter.  Accordingly, 
General  Patterson,  at  the  head  of  the 
Pennsylvania  troops,  was  ordered  to 
march  upon  Harper's  Ferry,  while  Gen 
eral  McClellan,  in  command  of  his  Ohio 
force,  was  directed  to  cross  the  Ohio 
River  and  co-operate  with  him.  Pre 
vious  to  doing  this,  however,  it  was 
necessary  to  give  a  check  to  the  seces 
sion  force  advancing  through  Western 
Virginia.  McClellan  accordingly  pre 
pared  to  co-operate  with  the  loyal  West 
ern  Virginians,  led  by  Colonel  May 
Kelley,  who  were  to  march  to  meet  27. 


McCLELLAN'S   PROCLAMATION. 


291 


the  enemy  at  Grafton.  Previous  to 
moving  his  force  across  the  Ohio,  Mc- 
Clellan  issued  this  proclamation  : 

"HEADQUARTERS,  DEPT.  OF  THE  OHIO, 

CINCINNATI,  May  26,  1861. 
**  To  THE  PEOPLE  OF  WESTERN  VIRGINIA  : 

"  VIRGINIANS  :  The  General  Govern 
ment  has  long  enough  endured  the 
machinations  of  a  few  factious  rebels  in 
your  midst!  Armed  traitors  have  in 
vain  endeavored  to  deter  you  from  ex 
pressing  your  loyalty  at  the  polls.  Hav 
ing  failed  in  this  infamous  attempt  to 
deprive  you  of  the  exercise  of  your 
dearest  rights,  they  now  seek  to  inaugu 
rate  a  reign  of  terror,  and  thus  force 
you  to  yield  to  their  schemes,  and  sub 
mit  to  the  yoke  of  the  traitorous  con 
spiracy  dignified  by  the  name  of  the 
Southern  Confederacy. 

"  They  are  destroying  the  property  of 
citizens  of  your  State,  and  ruining  your 
magnificent  railways.  The  General 
Government  has  heretofore  carefully  ab 
stained  from  sending  troops  across  the 
Ohio,  or  even  from  posting  them  along 
its  banks,  although  frequently  urged  by 
many  of  your  prominent  citizens  to  do 
so.  It  determined  to  await  the  result 
of  the  State  election,  desirous  that  no 
one  might  be  able  to  say  that  the  slight 
est  effort  had  been  made  from  this  side 
to  influence  the  expression  of  your 
opinion,  although  the  many  agencies 
brought  to  bear  upon  you  by  the  rebels 
were  well  known.  You  have  now  shown, 
under  the  most  adverse  circumstances, 
Jiat  the  great  mass  of  the  people  of 
Western  Virginia  are  true  and  loyal  to 
the  beneficent  Government  under  which 


we  and  our  fathers  have  lived  so  long. 
As  soon  as  the  result  of  the  election 
was  known,  the  traitors  commenced 
their  work  of  destruction. 

"The  General  Government  cannot  close 
its  ears  to  the  demand  you  have  made 
for  assistance.  I  have  ordered  troops  to 
cross  the  river.  They  come  as  your 
friends  and  brothers — as  enemies  only 
to  the  armed  rebels  who  are  preying 
upon  you.  Your  homes,  your  families, 
and  your  property  are  safe  under  our 
protection.  All  your  rights  shall  be  re 
ligiously  protected. 

"  Notwithstanding  all  that  has  been 
said  by  the  traitors  to  induce  you  to 
believe  that  our  advent  among  you  will 
be  signalized  by  interference  with  your 
slaves,  understand  one  thing  clearly  :  not 
only  will  we  abstain  from  all  interference, 
but  we  will,  on  the  contrary,  with  an 
iron  hand,  crush  any  attempt  at  insur 
rection  on  their  part. 

"  Now  that  we  are  in  your  midst,  I 
call  upon  you  to  fly  to  arms,  and  support 
the  General  Government ;  sever  the 
connection  that  binds  you  to  traitors  ; 
proclaim  to  the  world  that  the  faith  and 
loyalty  so  long  boasted  of  by  the  Old 
Dominion  are  still  preserved  in  Western 
Virginia,  and  that  you  remain  true  to 
the  stars  and  stripes. 

"G.  B.  McCLELLAN, 

"  Major-General  Commanding." 

This  was  followed  by  a  proclamation 

to  the  army. 

"CINCINNATI,  May  26,  1861. 
"  To  THE  SOLDIERS  OF  THE  ADVANCING  COLUMN  : 
"You     are    ordered    to    cross     the 
frontier  and  enter  upon  the  soil  of  Vir- 


292 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


ginia.  Your  mission  is  to  restore  peace 
and  confidence,  to  protect  the  majesty 
of  the  law  and  to  rescue  our  brethren 
from  the  grasp  of  armed  traitors.  You 
are  to  act  in  concert  with  the  Virginia 
troops  and  to  support  their  advance. 

"  1  place  under  the  safeguard  of  your 
honor  the  persons  and  property  of  the 
Virginians.  I  know  that  you  will  re 
spect  their  feelings,  and  all  their  rights. 
Preserve  the  strictest  discipline — re 
member  that  each  one  of  you  holds  in 
his  keeping  the  honor  of  Ohio  and  the 
Union. 

"  If  you  are  called  upon  to  overcome 
armed  opposition,  I  know  that  your 
courage  is  equal  to  the  task,  but  re 
member  that  your  only  foes  are  the 
armed  traitors,  and  show  mercy  even  to 
them  when  they  are  in  your  power,  for 
many  of  them  are  misguided.  When 
under  your  protection  the  loyal  men  of 
Western  Virginia  have  been  enabled  to 


organize  and  arm,  they  can  protect 
themselves,  and  you  can  then  return  to 
your  homes  with  the  proud  satisfaction 
of  having  preserved  a  gallant  people 
from  destruction. 

"  GEO.  B.  McCLELLAN, 

"Major-General  Commanding." 
The  16th  Ohio  Regiment,  commanded 
by  Colonel  Irvine,  and  the  14th,  jyjay 
under  Colonel  Lander,  a  noted  27, 
frontiersman,  were  on  the  next  day  after 
these  proclamations  thrown  across  the 
Ohio  into  Western  Virginia.  The  for 
mer  crossing  the  Ohio  to  Wheeling,  and 
the  latter  at  Marietta  to  Parkersburg, 
continued  their  progress  through  West 
ern  Virginia  by  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio 
Railroad.  Their  advance  was  hailed  by 
the  people  with  great  enthusiasm  and 
demonstrations  of  loyalty,  and  many 
volunteers  joined  their  standard.  The 
campaign  in  Western  Virgiria  had  now 
fairly  opened. 


AT  PHILIPPI. 


293 


CHAPTER     XXYI. 

Junction  of  the  Ohio  Troops  with  the  Western  Virginians. — Colonel  Kelley  takes  possession  of  Grafton. March  to 

Philippi.— A  severe  march.— Delay. — Colonel  Lander  in  advance.— Colonel  Kelley  mistakes  the  route. The  Enemy 

on  the  alert. — The  Attack. — Retreat  of  the  Enemy.— Pursuit. — Arrival  of  Kelley,  who  joins  in  the  pursuit. Kelley 

wounded. — Prospects  of  death. — Biography  of  Kelley. — Tributes  of  admiration. — Recovery  of  Kelley. — Comparative 
losses  at  Philippi. — Trophies. — Movement  of  General  Patterson.— Attack  on  Romney. — March  of  Colonel  Wallace. 

—A  long  and  hard  March.— Flight  of  the  Enemy. — Good  moral  effect  of  the  advance  of  the  Federal  Forces. 

Spirited  Skirmish  of  Corporal  Hayes  and  his  thirteen  men. — Tribute  from  General  Patterson. — The  political  action 
of  the  Union  men  of  Western  Virginia. — Convention  at  Wheeling. — Declaration  of  Grievances  and  Ordinance  of 
Reorganization  passed. — The  motion  to  form  a  new  State  defeated. — New  State  Officers  appointed. — Proclamation 
of  Governor  Pierpont. — Call  upon  the  President  for  aid  to  put  down  the  Insurrection  in  Virginia. — Answer  of  the 
Secretary  of  War.— Counter-manifesto  of  Governor  Letcher. — Appeal  of  the  Secessionist  Governor  to  Western 
Virginia. — Effects  of  proclamations  and  counter-proclamations. — Increased  civil  rage  in  Virginia. 


1861. 


THE  Ohio  troops  despatched  by  Gen 
eral  McClellan,  though  delayed  on 
the  railway  in  consequence  of  the 
derangement  of  the  tracks  and  the  de 
struction  of  the  bridges  by  the  enemy, 
finally  succeeded  in  forming  a  junction 
with  the  Western  Virginians.  Colonel 
Kelley,  who  commanded  the  latter, 
had  with  great  promptitude  marched 
May  upon  Grafton.  Upon  reaching  this 
29.  place,  the  enemy,  about  fifteen 
hundred  strong,  retired,  and  the  West 
ern  Virginians  took  possession  of  it, 
without  striking  a  blow.  Being  now 
reinforced,  not  only  by  the  Ohio  troops, 
but  by  the  Seventh  and  Ninth  regi 
ments  of  Indiana,  Kelley  determined  to 
dislodge  the  enemy  at  Philippi,  on  the 
Monongahela  River,  twenty  miles  south 
of  Grafton,  where  they  were  encamped 
with  a  force  of  two  thousand  men. 

The  Union  force  at  Grafton  set  out  at 

June  ten  o'clock,  in  two  divisions,  one 

2»    composed    of    the    First    Virginia 


Regiment,  part  of  the  Ohio  Sixteenth 
and  the  Indiana  Seventh,  under  the 
command  of  Colonel  Kelley  ;  the  other, 
of  the  Indiana  Regiment  and  the  Ohio 
Fourteenth,  which  joined  at  Webster  on 
the  route,  commanded  by  Colonel  Lan 
der.  The  former  division  proceeded  by 
railroad  as  far  as  a  small  way  station, 
five  miles  only  from  Grafton,  and 
marched  the  rest  of  the  distance,  twenty- 
two  miles,  to  Philippi.  The  latter  was 
conveyed  by  railroad  as  far  as  Webster, 
and  marched  the  remaining  twelve  miles 
to  Philippi. 

The  march  was  performed  during  the 
night,  with  the  view  of  coming  upon  the 
enemy  before  the  break  of  day,  and 
taking  them  by  surprise.  A  severe 
storm  was  raging,  and  the  night  was  so 
dark  that  it  was  exceedingly  difficult  to 
form  the  troops — the  violence  of  the 
wind  was  such,  that  the  word  of  com 
mand  could  hardly  be  passed  from  front 
to  rear.  Order  was,  however,  finally 


294 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


established,  and  the  troops  began  their 
march.  All  night  they  toiled  on  through 
the  darkness  and  storm,  the  soft  earth 
yielding  beneath  their  feet  at  every 
step.  Thus  impeded,  the  whole  force 
was  prevented  from  arriving  at  the  time 
proposed. 

The  division  under  Colonel  Lander, 
having  the  shortest  distance  to  march, 
was  the  first  to  reach  its  destination, 
June  but  did  n°t  arrrve  until  five  o'clock 
3»  in  the  morning,  instead  of  four, 
the  hour  when  the  joint  attack  was  to 
have  taken  place,  in  accordance  with 
the  plan.  It  had  been  intended  that 
Colonel  Lander's  march  upon  the  enemy 
in  front  should  have  been  simultaneous 
with  a  movement  in  their  rear  by  Col 
onel  Kelley,  with  a  view  to  completely 
surround  Philippi  and  close  in  upon 
the  enemy.  But  Colonel  Kelley,  with 
his  long  march  of  twenty-two  miles,  im 
peded  by  the  darkness  and  the  storm, 
was  greatly  delayed,  and,  moreover, 
mistook  the  road,  coming  in  below  in 
stead  of  above  the  town,  where  it  was 
intended  he  should  have  cut  off  the  re 
treat  of  the  enemy. 

Colonel  Lander's  force,  as  it  ap 
proached  Philippi  in  front,  was  discov 
ered  by  a  woman,  who,  after  firing  two 
discharges  from  a  gun,  sent  her  son 
across  the  hills  to  apprise  the  enemy  of 
their  danger. 

Lander  continued  to  push  on,  but 
when  he  reached  a  point  commanding 
the  town,  and  began  to  dispose  his 
artillery  and  troops  in  order  to  be  ready, 
when  Kelley  should  arrive,  to  make  the 
simultaneous  attack  proposed,  he  found 


the  enemy  on  the  alert.  Their  advance 
guards,  posted  on  the  neighboring  heights 
and  among  the  woods  and  brushwood 
on  both  sides  of  the  road,  opened  a 
brisk  fire.  Lander  hurriedly  ordered 
his  guns  to  be  moved  into  position,  and 
responded  with  a  volley,  while,  at  the 
same  time,  the  infantry  prepared  to  ad 
vance  into  the  town. 

"  A  moment's  delay  to  the  infantry," 
says  their  commander,  Dermot,  in  his  re 
port,  "  was  occasioned  by  want  of  know 
ledge  on  my  part  as  to  which  of  the  two 
roads  led  to  the  bridge  leading  into  the 
town  across  the  river.  At  the  forks  of 
the  road  I  halted  my  command,  and, 
riding  rapidly  to  the  guns,  got  the  de 
sired  information  from  Colonel  Lander. 
So  informed,  I  proceeded  on  the  double- 
quick  down  the  declivity  of  the  hill,  and 
here  had  a  full  view  of  the  enemy,  and 
I  must  confess  that  I  never  saw  a  flight 
determined  on  with  greater  promptness 
or  executed  with  more  despatch.  The 
enemy  was  under  the  command  of  Col. 
Gr.  A.  Porterfield.  What  his  strength 
was,  is  variously  estimated.  On  my  own 
judgment  I  would  say  from  one  thousand 
five  hundred  to  two  thousand,  of  which  I 
should  think  five  hundred  were  cavalry. 

"  They  had  no  artillery  but  a  swivel. 
I  have  conversed  with  many  of  the 
citizens  of  the  town  as  to  the  strength 
of  Colonel  Porterfield's  command.  Some 
say  the  Colonel  himself  professed  to 
have  two  thousand  five  hundred  troops. 
It  is  my  opinion  that  he  had  but  magni 
fied  his  own  strength,  with  a  view  to  in 
timidate  the  people  and  crush  out  the 
Union  sentiment. 


FLIGHT  OF  THE   ENEMY. 


235 


'  When  I  first  saw  the  enemy,  it 
seemed  to  me  he  was  pushing  for  the 
bridge,  which  I  was  rapidly  approach 
ing  ;  but  it  turned  out  that  it  was  neces 
sary  to  converge  towards  the  bridge  to 
gain  the  street  leading  out  of  the  town 
on  the  opposite  side  from  that  entered 
by  my  command.  The  bridge  is  a  nar 
row  structure,  some  three  or  four  hun 
dred  feet  in  length,  spanning  the  Valley 
River,  a  branch  of  the  Monongahela. 
A  small  body  of  determined  troops 
could  have  impeded  our  progress  and 
crippled  us  at  the  bridge,  and  I  appre 
hended  resistance  at  this  point. 

"  Toward  it  my  men  poured  down  the 
hill,  in  good  order,  and  with  an  energy 
and  determination  that  assured  me  in 
advance  that  victory  was  certain.  In  a 
moment  I  was  at  the  mouth  of  the 
bridge  ;  one  of  the  passages  was  barri 
caded,  the  other  clear  ;  through  it  (Com 
pany  B,  commanded  by  Captain  Morgan, 
in  advance)  my  men  pushed  ;  the 
Seventh  Indiana  first,  then  Colonel 
Steedman's  command,  not  including  the 
artillery,  then  Colonel  Crittenden's,  and 
opened  upon  the  enemy,  then  retreating 
in  wild  disorder.  Both  parties  being 
upon  the  full  run,  and  the  distance  be 
tween  them  being  quite  considerable, 
but  little  execution  could  be  done.  I 
pursued  the  enemy  from  the  bridge 
through  the  town  and  for  several  miles 
beyond.  At  one  time  I  thought  I  should 
be  able  to  capture  his  entire  baggage 
train  ;  but  the  horses,  to  prevent  this, 
were  cut  from  many  of  the  wagons  and 
mounted,  and  the  wagons  and  contents 
left  as  our  booty.  The  wagons  were 


filled  with  munitions  of  war,  blankets, 
knapsacks,  clothing,  baggage  of  officers 
and  men,  and  with  a  considerable  amount 
of  flour  and  forage." 

It  was  not  until  Colonel  Lander's  di 
vision  had  thus  begun  the  attack,  that 
Colonel  Kelley  arrived  with  his  force, 
and  then,  in  consequence  of  having 
mistaken  the  road,  at  a  point  where, 
instead  of  cutting  off  the  retreat  of  the 
enemy,  he  could  only  join  in  the  pur 
suit. 

This,  however,  he  did  with  great 
spirit,  though  with  less  effect  than  if  he 
had  arrived  but  a  moment  sooner. 
With  a  "  friendly  cheer,"  Kelley's  troops 
made  their  presence  known  to  their 
comrades,  and  descending  the  declivity 
of  the  heights  upon  which  they  had  first 
appeared,  they  were  soon  in  quick  pur 
suit  of  the  enemy.  Some  followed  and 
cut  down  those  who  had  taken  refuge 
among  the  wooded  hills,  and  others  gave 
chase  to  the  fugitives  upon  the  road, 
whom  they  pursued  for  several  miles, 
"  overtaking,  killing,  and  wounding  a 
number."  Col.  Kelley  himself,  "with 
a  bravery  amounting  to  rashness,"  was 
among  the  foremost  of  his  men  in  the 
pursuit.  He  had  thus  reached  the 
upper  part  of  the  town,  when  one  of  the 
enemy,  concealed  behind  a  fence,  turned 
upon  him  and  shot  him  in  the  breast. 
The  wound  was  severe,  and  was  thought 
to  have  been  mortal.  He  himself  de 
spaired  of  recovery,  and  said  to  a  friend 
at  his  side  :  "I  expect  I  shall  have  to 
die  ;  I  would  be  glad  to  live  if  it  might 
be  that  I  might  do  something  for  my 
country  ;  but  if  it  cannot  be,  I  shall 


296 


THE   WAR    WITH  THE   SOUTH. 


have  at  least  the  consolation  of  knowing 
that  I  fell  in  a  just  cause." 

When  it  was  supposed  that  Kelley 
would  not  survive  his  wound,  great 
regret  was  felt  at  the  prospective  loss 
to  the  service  of  so  devoted  a  Union 
ist  and  spirited  soldier.  Although  an 
Eastern  man,  having  been  born  in  Deer- 
field,  New  Hampshire,  he  had  taken 
up  his  residence  in  Wheeling,  and  was 
among  the  first  to  sustain  the  cause  of 
the  Federal  Government  in  Western 
Virginia.  Educated  at  West  Point, 
though  latterly  engaged  in  civil  occu 
pations,  he  continued  to  cherish  his 
military  tastes,  and  had  served  as  the 
colonel  of  a  city  regiment  in  Wheeling. 
At  the  commencement  of  the  war,  he 
was  urged  to  resume  his  position  and 
lead  his  former  comrades  to  battle  for 
the  Union.  He  did  not  hesitate  a  mo 
ment,  but  accepting  the  command  on 
one  day,  he  was  on  the  next  en  route  for 
the  scene  of  war. 

General  McClellan,  and  Morris,  the 
brigadier-general  of  the  United  States 
volunteers  of  Virginia,  as  soon  as  they 
heard  that  Kelley  was  wounded,  hast 
ened  to  make  known  to  him  their  admi 
ration  of  his  gallantry  and  worth. 

"  Say  to  Colonel  Kelley,"  wrote  Mc 
Clellan  to  Morris,  "that  I  cannot  yet 
believe  it  possible  that  one  who  has 
opened  his  career  so  brilliantly  can  be 
mortally  wounded.  In  the  name  of  the 
country  I  thank  him  for  his  conduct, 
which  has  been  the  most  brilliant  episode 
of  the  war  thus  far.  If  it  can  cheer  him 
in  his  last  moments,  tell  him  I  cannot  re 
pair  his  loss,  and  that  I  only  regret  that 


I  cannot  be  by  his  side  to  thank  him  ID 
person.  God  bless  him !" 

To  this  hearty  testimonial  of  affec 
tionate  admiration,  General  Morris 
added  his  emphatic  approbation  of 
Kelley's  conduct : 

"  I  am  extremely  pleased  and  greatly 
gratified  with  your  gallant  and  soldierly 
conduct  in  the  expedition,  which  owes 
its  success  to  your  skill  and  bravery.  I 
feel  that  your  country  owes  you  a  deep 
debt  of  gratitude  for  your  services  on 
the  occasion  ;  and  a  grateful  people  can 
not  but  render  to  you  that  honor  you  so 
richly  deserve." 

These  despatches  were  borne  by 
Morris'  aide-de-camp  to  the  litter  of  the 
prostrate  officer,  and  as  he  was  supposed 
to  be  dying,  they  did  not  hesitate  to 
read  them  to  him.  His  eyes  filled  with 
tears  as  he  listened,  but  he  was  too  weak 
to  speak  a  word.  The  despatches  were, 
after  being  read,  put  into  his  hands,  and 
he  held  them  with  a  fond  grasp  until  he 
was  removed  from  the  litter  to  the  bed 
in  the  next  room,  prepared  for  his  com 
fort.  Kelley  finally  recovered,  and  was 
made  a  brigadier-general  for  his  ser 
vices. 

In  this  rout  of  the  secessionists  at 
Philippi,  no  one  but  Kelley,  of  our 
forces,  was  wounded,  but  it  was  sup 
posed  that  the  enemy  had  met  with 
some  loss  of  life.  Their  commander, 
Colonel  Willy,  was  taken  prisoner,  and 
their  camp  was  captured,  with  the  seces 
sion  flag,  seven  hundred  and  eighty 
stand  of  arms,  a  number  of  horses,  and 
a  quantity  of  blankets  and  provisions. 
Though,  as  a  military  operation,  the 


CAPTURE   OP    ROMNEY. 


297 


rout  of  the  enemy  at  Philippi  was 
comparatively  a  failure,  the  moral  effect 
proved  so  great  in  Western  Virginia 
that  that  loyal  district  was  temporarily 
relieved  of  all  fears  of  the  domination 
of  the  secessionists. 

Major-General  Patterson  was,  in  the 
mean  time,  advancing  through  Pennsyl 
vania  from  the  north  towards  Maryland 
and  Virginia,  with  the  view  of  co-oper 
ating  with  General  McClellan,  about  to 
approach  from  the  west,  in  a  combined 
effort  against  the  secession  troops  gath 
ered  in  force  at  Harper's  Ferry.  While 
Patterson  was  at  Chambersburg,  an 
attack  was  made  upon  Romney,  in  Vir 
ginia,  by  a  portion  of  his  advance  troops 
stationed  at  Cumberland,  in  Maryland. 

This  was  planned  by  Colonel  Wallace, 
of  the  Eleventh  Indiana  Volunteers, 
who,  having  learned  that  several  hun 
dred  troops  were  quartered  at  Romney, 
drilling,  imprisoning  Union  men,  and 
otherwise  annoying  loyal  citizens,  de 
termined  to  rout  them  out.  The  Col- 
Juiie  onel)  accordingly,  started  at  ten 
!?•  o'clock  in  the  morning  from  Cum 
berland  with  eight  hundred  men,  and 
proceeded  by  railway  twenty-one  miles 
to  New  Creek  station.  Arriving  in  the 
afternoon,  he  began  his  march  at  four 
o'clock,  with  the  hope  of  reaching  Rom 
ney  at  an  early  hour  next  day.  The 
road,  however,  leading  across  the 
mountains,  through  narrow  passes  and 
along  high  bluffs,  proved  difficult,  so 
that  after  a  long  and  fatiguing  march 
of  twenty-three  miles,  Colonel  Wallace 
did  not  arrive  before  the  town  until 
past  eight  o'clock  in  the  morning. 

38 


The  enemy  were  on  the  alert,  and  on 
the  approach  of  their  assailants  theii 
mounted  picket  guards  fired  and  gal 
loped  into  the  town  to  arouse  their  com 
rades. 

"In  approaching  the  place,  it  was 
necessary,"  wrote  Colonel  Wallace,  in 
his  animated  report  of  the  affair,  "  for 
me  to  cross  a  bridge  over  the  South 
Branch  of  the  Potomac.  A  reconnois- 
sance  satisfied  me  that  the  passage  of 
the  bridge  would  be  the  chief  obstacle 
in  my  way,  although  I  could  distinctly 
see  the  enemy  drawn  up  on  the  bluff 
which  is  the  town  site,  supporting  a 
battery  of  two  guns,  planted  so  as  to 
sweep  the  road  completely. 

"  I  directed  my  advance  guard  to  cross 
the  bridge  on  a  run,  leap  down  the  em 
bankment  at  the  farther  entrance,  and 
observe  the  windows  of  a  large  brick 
house  not  farther  off  than  seventy-five 
yards.  Their  appearance  was  the  signal 
for  an  assault.  A  warm  fire  opened  from 
the  house,  which  the  guard  returned, 
with  no  other  loss  than  the  wounding  of 
a  sergeant.  The  firing  continued  several 
minutes.  I  led  a  second  company  across 
the  bridge,  and  by  following  up  a  ravine 
got  them  into  a  position  that  soon  drove 
the  enemy  from  the  house  to  a  mountain 
in  its  rear. 

"  My  attention  was  then  turned  to  the 
battery  on  the  hill.  Instead  of  follow 
ing  the  road,  as  the  rebels  expected,  I 
pushed  five  companies  in  skirmishing 
order  and  at  double-quick  time,  up  a  hill 
to  the  right,  intending  to  get  around  the 
left  flank  of  the  enemy,  and  cut  off  their 
retreat.  Hardly  had  my  companies  de- 


298 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


ployed  and  started  forward,  and  got 
within  rifle  range,  before  the  rebels 
limbered  up  and  got  off  over  the  bluff 
in  the  hottest  haste.  Between  their 
position  and  that  of  my  men  was  a  deep, 
precipitous  gorge,  the  crossing  of  which 
occupied  about  ten  minutes.  When  the 
opposite  ridge  was  gained,  we  discovered 
the  rebels,  indiscriminately  blent  with  a 
mass  of  women  and  children,  flying  as 
for  life  from  the  town.  Having  no  horse, 
pursuit  of  the  cannoniers  was  out  of  the 
question,  as  they  went  off  under  whip 
and  spur.  After  that  I  quietly  marched 
into  the  place,  and  took  possession  of 
the  empty  houses  and  a  legion  of 
negroes,  who  alone  seemed  unscared  at 
our  presence.  After  searching  the  town 
for  arms,  camp  equipage,  etc.,  I  returned 
to  Cumberland,  by  the  same  road,  reach 
ing  camp  at  eleven  o'clock  at  night.  My 
return  was  forced,  owing  to  the  fact  that 
there  was  not  a  mile  on  the  road  that 
did  not  offer  half  a  dozen  positions  for 
the  ruin  or  rout  of  my  regiment  by  a 
much  smaller  force." 

The  Colonel  was  proud  of  the  achieve 
ment  of  his  men,  and  took  occasion  to 
direct  the  notice  of  General  Patterson 
to  the  wonders  they  had  accomplished. 
"  I  beg,"  he  said,  "  to  call  your  attention 
to  the  length  of  our  march,  eighty-seven 
miles  in  all,  forty-six  of  which  were  on 
foot,  over  a  continuous  succession  of 
mountains,  made  in  twenty-four  hours, 
without  rest,  and  varied  by  a  brisk  en 
gagement,  without  leaving  a  man  be 
hind  ;  and  what  is  more,  my  men  are 
ready  to  repeat  it  to-morrow." 

The  loss  of  the  enemy  could  not  be 


ascertained  with  precision  ;  two  of  them, 
however,  were  undoubtedly  killed,  and 
one  wounded.  A  number  of  tents  and 
a  quantity  of  stores  were  captured,  and 
some  guns  destroyed. 

The  Colonel,  moreover,  congratulated 
himself  upon  the  impressive  moral  effect 
of  his  spirited  demonstration. 

"One  good  result,"  he  said,  "has 
come  of  it.  The  loyal  men  in  that 
region  have  taken  heart.  Yery  shortly, 
I  think,  you  will  hear  of  another  Union 
company  from  that  district.  Moreover, 
it  has  brought  home  to  the  insolent 
'  chivalry'  a  wholesome  respect  for 
Northern  prowess." 

The  Indiana  Volunteers,  or  Zouaves, 
as  they  termed  themselves,  soon  had  an 
opportunity  of  again  displaying  their 
spirit.  A  scouting  party,  consist-  juue 
ing  of  thirteen  mounted  men,  led  26t 
by  Corporal  Hayes,  a  ranger  of  re 
nown  during  the  Mexican  war,  crossed 
from  Maryland  and  proceeded  on  a  re- 
connoitering  expedition  into  Virginia. 
They  proceeded  within  a  quarter  of  a 
mile  of  Frankfort,  half  way  between 
Cumberland,  whence  they  had  set  out, 
and  Romney,  the  scene  of  the  former 
exploit  of  the  Indiana  men.  Finding 
the  place  full  of  the  enemy's  cavalry, 
they  turned  back,  and  meeting  forty-one 
mounted  secessionists,  charged  full  upon 
them,  driving  them  back  more  than  a 
mile,  capturing  seventeen  of  the  horses 
and  killing  eight  of  their  riders.  In  the 
collision,  Corporal  Hayes,  the  leader  of 
the  Indiana  men,  was  wounded  with 
sabre  cuts  and  bullets.  A  man  of  great 
daring  and  strength,  he  had  already 


CONVENTION   AT  WHEELING. 


299 


killed  two  men  with  his  own  hand,  when 
he  himself  was  wounded,  but  he  had 
still  strength  enough  to  wield  his  sabre 
with  such  effect,  that  he  brought  a  third 
dead  to  the  ground. 

His  comrades,  however,  were  now 
forced  to  bear  back  their  exhausted  lead 
er  and  halt.  They  had  thus  remained 
about  an  honr,  when  the  fugitives  of  the 
enemy  returned  with  a  reinforcement  of 
seventy-five  men.  Coming  suddenly  up, 
they  forced  the  Indiana  men  to  abandon 
their  horses  and  seek  safety  by  crossing 
Paterson  Creek  and  landing  upon  a 
small  island  at  its  mouth.  Here  they 
were  being  closed  in  by  the  larger  num 
bers  of  the  enemy,  and  again  compelled 
to  fly,  but  not  until  they  had  fired  upon 
their  assailants  with  such  effect,  that 
twenty-three  of  them  were  made  to  bite 
the  dust.  The  Zouaves  finally  reached 
their  camp  with  the  loss  of  only  one 
man,  who  had  been  left  behind  wound 
ed,  and  whom  the  enemy  despatched, 
after  his  capture,  with  their  bayonets. 
Major-General  Patterson  honored  the 
spirited  exploit  of  the  Indiana  men  with 
a  special  mention  in  the  orders  of  the 
day. 

For  a  proper  appreciation  of  the 
military  events  in  Western  Virginia,  it 
is  necessary  to  resume  the  history  of  the 
political  action  of  the  Union  men  of  that 
loyal  district.  The  Convention  which 
had  adjourned  to  meet  at  Wheeling 
now  reassembled.  At  the  opening  of 
June  tne  session  a  discussion  arose  as  to 
11*  the  policy  to  be  pursued  by  West 
ern  Virginia.  Some  favored  a  separa 
tion  and  the  formation  of  a  new  com 


monwealth,  while  others,  who  finally 
carried  the  day,  advocated  the  reorgan 
ization  of  the  existing  State.  Accord 
ingly  a  Declaration  of  Grievances  and 
an  ordinance  of  reorganization  having 
been  reported  by  Mr.  Carlile,  the  chair 
man  of  the  "  Committee  on  Business," 
they  were  submitted  to  the  approval  of 
the  Convention.  These  were  adopted 
by  a  vote  of  seventy  in  favor  and  three 
against,  not,  however,  until  the  opinion 
of  the  members  was  tested  on  the  ques 
tion  of  forming  a  new  State.  A  mem 
ber  offered  the  resolution,  "  that  one  of 
the  leading  objects  of  the  Convention, 
after  establishing  a  provisional  govern 
ment,  is  the  separation  of  Western  from 
Eastern  Virginia."  This,  however,  on 
a  motion  to  lay  it  on  the  table,  which 
was  carried  by  a  vote  of  fifty- seven  to 
seventeen,  was  temporarily  defeated. 

The  Declaration  of  Grievances,  and 
the  ordinance  for  the  Reorganization  of 
the  State  Government,  having  thus  been 
carried  by  a  large  majority,  was  formally 
signed  by  all  the  members  present.  june 
On  the  same  day,  the  Convention,  in  20. 
conformity  with  this  act,  proceeded  to 
the  election  of  provisional  State  officers. 
Frank  H.  Pierpont,  of  Marion  County, 
was  unanimously  chosen  Governor, 
Daniel  Paisly,  of  Marion  County,  Lieu 
tenant-Governor,  and  Messieurs  Lamb, 
Paxhon,  Van  Winkle,  Harrison,  and 
Lazar  members  of  the  council. 

These  gentlemen,  immediately  upon 
being  elected,  were  sworn  into  office, 
each  taking  this  newly  prescribed  form 
of  oath : 

"I  solemnly  swear  (or  affirm)  that  J 


300 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


will  support  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States  and  the  laws  made  in  pursuance 
thereof,  as  the  supreme  law  of  the  land, 
anything  in  the  Constitution  and  laws 
of  the  State  of  Virginia,  or  in  the  or 
dinances  of  the  Convention  which  as 
sembled  in  Richmond  on  the  loth  day 
of  February  last,  to  the  contrary  not 
withstanding,  and  that  I  will  uphold  and 
defend  the  Government  of  Virginia  as 
vindicated  and  restored  by  the  Conven 
tion  which  assembled  in  Wheeling  on 
the  llth  day  of  June,  1861." 

The  Convention,  after  this  momentous 
action,  closed  their  session  with  passing 
ordinances  adopting  the  former  military 
laws  of  Virginia  and  recognizing  the 
duty  of  the  State  to  respond  to  the  re 
quisition  of  the  President  of  the  United 
States  for  militia  and  volunteers. 

The  new  Governor  soon  after  issued 
June  a  proclamation  causing  the  General 

22t  Assembly  to  be  composed  of  dele 
gates  to  be  elected  as  provided  by  the 
Convention  of  June  llth  in  its  ordi 
nance  for  the  State  Government.  These 
delegates  were  accordingly  chosen,  and 
July  assembled  at  Wheeling,  when  Gov- 

1«  ernor  Pierpont  delivered  his  first 
message.* 

°  "  To  THK  SENATE  AND  HOUSE  OF  DELEGATES  OF  THE  COM 
MONWEALTH  OF  VIRGINIA — Gentlemen :  You  have  been  con 
vened  in  extraordinary  session  in  midsummer,  when,  under 
other  circumstances,  you  should  be  at  home  attending  to 
pursuits  incident  to  this  season  of  the  year.  The  exigen 
cies  with  which  we  find  ourselves  surrounded  demand 
your  counsels. 

"I  regret  that  I  cannot  congratulate  you  on  the  peace 
and  prosperity  of  the  country,  in  the  manner  which  has 
been  customary  with  Executives,  both  State  and  Federal. 
For  the  present,  those  happy  days  which,  as  a  nation,  we 
have  so  long  enjoyed,  and  that  prosperity  which  has 
smiled  upon  us,  as  upon  no  other  nation,  are  departed. 


Following  this  independent  action  of 
Western  Virginia,  the  new  Governor 
became  anxious  about  the  safety  of  the 
commonwealth  from  "  the  banding  to 
gether  of  large  numbers  of  evil-minded 
persons,  aided  by  men  of  like  mind  from 
other  States,  whose  purpose  was  to  in 
vade  the  State,"  and  confessing  his  want 
of  a  sufficient  military  force,  to  over 
come  them,  earnestly  called  upon  the 
President  of  the  United  States  for  as 
sistance. 

The  secretary  of  war  responded  in 
behalf  of  the  Federal  chief  magistrate, 
that  a  large  additional  force  would  be 
soon  sent  to  the  relief  of  the  new  Gov 
ernor  of  Virginia,  and  at  the  same  time 
took  occasion  to  apologize  for  the  appar 
ent  remissness  hitherto  of  the  Federal 
authority:  "The  full  extent,"  wrote 
Secretary  Cameron,  "  of  the  conspiracy 
against  popular  rights,  which  has  cul 
minated  in  the  atrocities  to  which  you 
refer,  was  not  known  when  its  outbreak 
took  place  at  Charleston.  It  now  ap 
pears  that  it  was  matured  for  many 
years  by  secret  organizations  throughout 
the  country,  especially  in  the  slave 
States.  By  this  means,  when  the  Presi 
dent  called  upon  Virginia,  in  April,  for 


"It  is  my  painful  duty  to  announce  that  the  late  Ex 
ecutive  of  the  State,  with  a  large  part  of  the  State  officers, 
civil  and  military,  under  him,  are  at  war  with  the  loyal 
people  of  Virginia  and  the  Constitutional  Government  of 
the  United  States.  They  have  leagued  themselves  with 
persons  from  other  States  to  tear  down  the  benign  Govern 
ments,  State  and  Federal,  erected  by  the  wisdom  and 
patriotism  of  our  fathers,  and  under  which  our  liberties 
have  so  long  been  protected  and  our  prosperity  secured. 
They  have  instituted  civil  war  in  our  midst,  and  created  a 
system  of  terror  around  us  to  intimidate  our  people. 

"  But  while  we  are  passing  through  this  period  of  gloona 
anl  darkness  in  our  coiintry's  history,  we  must  not  do 


GOVERNOR  PIERPONT'S  MESSAGE. 


301 


its  quota  of  troops,  then  deemed  necessary 
to  put  it  down  in  the  States  in  which  it 


upair,  or  fold  our  hands  until  the  chains  of  despotism  shall 
be  fastened  upon  us  by  those  conspiring  against  our 
liberties.  As  freemen,  who  know  their  rights  and  dare  de 
fend  them,  our  spirits  must  rise  above  the  intimidation 
and  violence  employed  against  us  ;  and  we  must  meet  and 
conquer  every  obstacle  these  men  are  attempting  to  inter 
pose  between  us  and  our  liberties.  If  we  manfully  exert 
ourselves  we  shall  succeed.  There  is  a  just  God  who 
"  rides  upon  the  whirlwind  and  directs  the  storm."  Let 
us  look  to  him  with  abiding  confidence. 

"  The  fact  is  no  longer  disguised,  that  there  has  been  in 
the  South,  for  many  years,  a  secret  organization,  laboring 
with  steady  perseverance  to  overturn  the  Federal  Govern 
ment,  and  destroy  constitutional  liberty  in  this  country. 
The  various  conventions  held  in  that  portion  of  the  coun 
try,  for  some  years  past,  ostensibly  for  other  objects,  have 
only  been  the  means  of  feeling  the  public  pulse  to  ascer 
tain  if  there  was  sufficient  disease  in  the  body  politic  for 
dissolution.  The  cry  of  danger  to  the  institution  of 
slavery  has  been  a  mere  pretext  to  arouse  and  excite  the 
people.  In  abandoning  the  Constitution  of  the  Union, 
the  leaders  of  the  movement  must  have  known  that  they 
were  greatly  weakening  the  safeguards  and  protection 
H  hich  were  necessary  to  the  existence  of  that  institution. 

' '  It  has  been  urged  that  secession  was  necessary  to  pro 
tect  the  slave  interest  of  the  South.  As  a  usual  thing, 
those  who  are  interested  in  a  species  of  property,  are  the 
best  informed  in  regard  to  their  own  rights,  and  the  most 
tenacious  in  maintaining  them.  Secession  has  not  origin 
ated  among  the  large  slaveholders  of  the  South,  nor  has 
it  found  among  that  class  its  busiest  and  most  ardent  ad 
vocates.  The  sections  of  the  country  in  which  the  largest 
slave  interests  have  existed  in  this  State,  have  heretofore 
been  the  most  decided  in  support  of  the  Union.  The 
votes  given  at  the  last  November  and  February  elections 
in  Eastern  and  Western  Virginia,  will  show  that  the  slave 
holders  themselves  considered  the  safety  of  their  property 
as  dependent  upon  the  maintenance  of  tho  Union.  An 
other  pertinent  fact  may  be  mentioned  in  this  connection. 
It  is,  that  in  sections  where  slaves  are  numerous,  it  is 
always  much  easier  to  introduce  a  mob-law  and  intimida 
tion  to  control  the  votes  of  the  people.  The  constant  ap 
prehension  of  servile  insurrection  makes  the  matter  an 
easy  subject  of  control  in  a  crisis  like  the  present.  East 
ern  and  Western  Virginia  are  illustrations  of  the  truth  of 
this  statement. 

"What  affiliations  this  great  conspiracy  has  had  in  the 
Northern  States,  remains  yet  unknown.  The  spirit  which  has 
been  roused  throughout  the  North  has  carried  all  opposition 
befoie  it.  But  the  extent  of  the  treasonable  plot  has  not 
been  fully  developed.  Before  the  designs  of  the  conspira 
tors  were  made  manifest,  thousands  of  good  men  sympa 
thized  with  the  effort,  as  they  regarded  it,  of  the  South  to 
maintain  their  constitutional  rights ;  but  these  have  all 


had  shown  itself  in  arms,  the  call  was 
responded  to  by  an  order  from  the  chief 

abandoned  them  when  the  true  purpose  was  ascertained. 
If  there  are  any  in  the  North,  or  in  the  border  States,  who 
still  adhere  to  the  conspiracy,  they  will  attempt  to  aid  its 
object  by  indirect  means  ;  by  opposing  and  caviling  at  the 
efforts  to  which  the  Government,  in  a  struggle  for  exist 
ence,  may  use  in  its  own  defence,  and  by  attempting  to 
raise  a  popular  outcry  against  coercion,  and  advocating  a 
peaceable  separation.  A  bold  stand  for  secession  would 
scarcely  be  attempted  ;  but  those  who  sympathize  with 
the  leaders  of  rebellion  will  seek  by  covert  and  indirect 
means  to  aid  the  object  of  the  conspirators. 

"  Tli  ere  is  only  one  question  now  for  each  American 
citizen  to  decide  in  this  controversy  :  Do  you  desire  to 
stand  by  and  live  under  the  Constitution  which  has  con 
tributed  so  long  and  so  greatly  to  the  happiness  and  pros 
perity  of  the  people,  and  to  transmit  its  blessings  to  our 
posterity  ?  Or,  do  you  desire  the  Union  broken  up,  and 
an  oligarchy  or  military  despotism  established  in  it* 
stead?  The  leaders  of  the  South  are  striving  for  the 
latter.  The  Government  of  the  United  States  is  exerting 
its  whole  force  to  maintain  the  integrity  of  the  former. 
There  can  be  no  neutral  ground.  The  secession  leaders 
have  declared  that  they  desire  no  compromise,  except  the 
unconditional  surrender  to  them  of  the  objects  they  have 
been  aiming  to  accomplish,  and  the  consent  of  the  Gov 
ernment  to  its  own  destruction.  The  very  proposition  of 
compromise  places  a  false  issue  before  the  country.  It 
implies  that  the  Federal  Government  has  committed  some 
great  wrong  which  ought  to  be  remedied  before  peace  can 
be  restored ;  when  in  fact  the  leaders  in  the  South  have 
controlled  the  legislation  of  the  country  for  years,  and  the 
laws  now  in  existence  were  made  or  suggested  by  them 
selves  when  in  power. 

' '  The  position  of  this  State  is  a  peculiar  one  at  this  mo 
ment.  Last  November,  at  the  Presidential  election,  it 
gave  upward  of  sixteen  thousand  majority  for  Bell  and 
Douglas,  both  Union  candidates  for  the  Presidency.  Their 
principal  competitor  was  loudly  proclaimed  as  also  true  to 
the  Union  ;  and  throughout  the  canvass  any  imputation 
of  favoring  disunion  was  indignantly  denied  by  the  advo 
cates  of  all  the  candidates.  At  the  election  for  members 
of  the  Convention  in  February  last,  there  was  a  majority 
of  over  sixty  thousand  votes  given  to  the  Union  candi 
dates  ;  and  the  people  by  an  equal  majority  determined 
that  no  act  of  that  Convention  should  change  the  relations 
of  the  State  to  the  Federal  Government,  unless  ratified  by 
the  popular  vote.  Yet  the  delegates  to  that  Convention 
passed  the  ordinance  of  secession,  and  attached  the  State 
to  the  Southern  league,  called  the  Confederate  States  ;  and 
to  render  the  step  irretrievable,  and  defeat  the  whole  ob 
ject  of  requiring  a  ratification  of  the  people  to  render  such 
acts  valid,  they  put  them  into  effect  immediately  ;  and 
before  the  vote  could  be  taken  on  the  question  of  ratifica 
tion,  transferred  the  whole  military  force  of  our  State  to 


302 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


confederate  in  Virginia  to  his  armed 
followers,  to  seize  the  navy-yard  at 
Gosport ;  and  the  authorities  of  the 


the  President  of  the  Confederacy,  and  surrendered  to  him 
military  possession  of  our  territory. 

"  When  the  chains  had  been  thus  fastened  upon  us,  we 
were  called  to  vote  upon  the  ordinance  of  secession.  The 
same  reign  of  terror  which  compelled  Union  men  to  vote 
as  they  did  in  the  Convention,  was  brought  to  bear  on  the 
people  themselves.  Vast  numbers  were  obliged,  by  in 
timidation  and  fear  of  threatened  violence,  to  vote  for 
secession.  Many  did  not  vote  at  all.  Many,  no  doubt, 
were  influenced  by  the  consideration,  that  the  measures 
already  adopted  had  placed  the  Commonwealth  helplessly 
within  the  grasp  of  the  President  of  the  Southern  Con 
federacy,  and  that  she  could  not  escape  from  his  power  by 
the  rejection  of  the  ordinance. 

"It  is  claimed  that  the  ordinance  of  secession  has  been 
ratified  by  a  majority  of  ninety-four  thousand  votes.  Had 
the  people  of  Virginia,  then,  so  greatly  changed?  The 
best  evidence  that  they  had  not  is  found  in  the  fact  that, 
wherever  the  vote  was  fully  free,  there  was  a  much  larger 
majority  against  secession  than  was  given  at  the  election 
in  February  to  the  Union  candidates  for  the  Convention. 
The  means  of  intimidation  and  violence,  which  were  re 
sorted  to  over  a  large  portion  of  the  State,  to  compel  an 
appearance  of  unanimity  in  favor  of  secession,  show  that 
the  leaders  of  this  movement  felt  that  the  hearts  of  the 
people  were  not  with  them. 

"  The  proclamation  of  the  President,  calling  for  seventy- 
five  thousand  volunteer  troops,  is  commonly  relied  upon 
to  justify  the  ordinance  of  secession.  That  proclamation 
was  issued  on  the  15th  of  April,  1861.  It  must  not,  how 
ever,  be  overlooked,  that  on  the  6th  of  March,  1861,  the 
pretended  Congress  at  Montgomery  provMed  by  law  for 
calling  into  the  field  a  force  of  one  hundred  thousand 
volunteers  ;  and  that  on  the  12th  of  April  the  Secretary 
of  War  of  the  Confederate  States  publicly  announced  that 
war  was  commenced,  and  that  the  Capitol  at  Washington 
would  be  captured  before  the  first  of  May.  The  intention 
to  capture  the  capital  of  the  Union  was  repeatedly  pro 
claimed  in  influential  papers  at  Richmond  and  other 
Southern  cities  before  the  15th  of  April.  It  was,  in  fact, 
long  a  cherished  object  of  the  leaders  in  this  great  con 
spiracy.  Did  they  expect  the  President  of  the  nation  to 
yield  the  Capitol,  and  retire  in  disgrace,  without  adopting 
any  measures  of  defence?  Yet  Virginia,  we  are  told, 
eeceded  because  the  President,  under  such  circumstances, 
called  volunteers  to  the  defence  of  the  country. 

"  I  need  not  remark  to  you,  gentlemen,  how  fatal  the 
attempted  disseverance  of  the  Union  must  prove  to  all  our 
material  interests.  Secession,  and  annexation  to  the 
South,  would  cut  off  every  outlet  for  our  productions. 
We  cannot  get  them  to  the  Confederate  States  across  the 
Alleghanies.  The  Ohio  River  and  the  country  beyond  it 


State,  who  had  till  then  shown  repug 
nance  to  the  plot,  found  themselves 
stripped  of  all  actual  power,  and  after- 

would  be  closed  to  our  trade.  With  Maryland  in  the 
Union,  our  outlet  to  the  East  would  be  interrupted  ;  while 
we  could  not  carry  our  products  across  the  Pennsylvania 
line,  by  the  Monongahela  or  other  route.  In  time  of  war 
we  would  encounter  a  hostile  force,  and  in  time  of  peace 
a  custom-house  at  every  turn. 

"The  interests  of  the  people  of  Virginia  were  entrusted 
to  the  Richmond  Convention.  How  have  they  fulfilled 
that  trust  ?  Why,  if  war  was  to  come,  was  our  land  made 
the  battle-field  ?  Why  was  this  Commonwealth  interposed 
as  a  barrier  to  protect  the  States  of  the  South,  who  under 
took  to  overthrow  the  Union  in  utter  disregard  to  our  ro 
monstrances?  In  the  position  in  which  the  Richmond 
Convention  have  placed  us,  our  homes  are  exposed  to  all 
the  horrors  of  civil  war,  while  the  President  of  the  Mont 
gomery  Congress  can  announce  to  the  people  of  the  Gulf 
States  that '  they  need  now  have  no  apprehension  ;  they 
might  go  on  with  their  planting  and  business  as  usual ; 
the  war  would  not  come  to  their  section ;  its  theatre 
would  be  along  the  borders  of  the  Ohio  River,  and  in 
Virginia.' 

"  Have  we  done  wrong  in  rejecting  the  authority  of  the 
men  who  have  thus  betrayed  the  interests  confided  to 
their  charge  ? 

' '  Under  these  circumstances  the  people  of  the  State  who 
desired  to  preserve  a  Virginia  in  the  Union,  by  their  dele 
gates  appointed  at  primary  meetings,  assembled  at  Wheel 
ing  on  the  13th  of  May  last,  to  consider  the  measures  nec 
essary  to  protect  their  constitutional  rights  and  liberties, 
their  lives  and  their  property.  Before- a  frank  comparison 
could  be  had,  differences  of  opinion  were  to  be  expected, 
and  such  differences  accordingly  then  existed.  That  Con 
vention,  however,  after  three  days'  mature  consideration, 
determined  to  call  upon  the  loyal  people  of  the  State, 
after  the  vote  was  taken  on  the  Secession  ordinance,  to 
elect  delegates  to  a  Convention  to  be  held  on  the  llth  day 
of  June,  1861.  All  who  witnessed  the  assembling  of  the 
last  Convention,  will  bear  witness  to  the  solemnity  of  the 
occasion.  Its  acticn  was  attended  with  singular  unanim 
ity,  and  has  resulted  in  the  reorganization  of  the  State 
government,  as  a  member  of  the  Union. 

' '  Their  journal  and  ordinances  will  be  submitted  to  you. 
Plain  principles  vindicate  their  acts.  The  Constitution  of 
the  United  States  was  adopted  by  the  people  of  the  United 
States  ;  and  the  powers  thus  derived  could  be  resumed 
only  by  the  consent  of  the  people  who  conferred  them. 
That  Constitution  is  the  supreme  law  of  the  land.  The 
Constitution  of  the  State  recognizes  it  as  such,  and  all  the 
laws  of  the  State  virtually  recognize  the  same  principle. 
The  Governor,  the  Legislature,  and  all  State  officers,  civil 
and  military,  when  they  entered  upon  the  discharge  of 
their  duties,  took  an  oath  to  support  the  Constitution  of 


GOVERNOR  PIERPONT'S  MESSAGE. 


303 


wards  were  manifestly  permitted  to  re 
tain  the  empty  forms  of  office  only  be 
cause  they  consented  to  use  them  at  the 
bidding  of  the  invaders. 

"  The  President,  however,  never  sup 
posed  that  a  brave  and  free  people, 
though  surprised  and  unarmed,  could 
long  be  subjugated  by  a  class  of  politi 
cal  adventurers  always  adverse  to  them : 
and  the  fact  that  they  have  already 
rallied,  reorganized  their  government, 

the  United  States.  When  the  Convention  assembled  at 
Wheeling  on  the  llth  of  June,  they  found  the  late  Gov 
ernor,  and  many  of  the  other  officers  of  the  State,  engaged 
in  an  attempt  to  overthrow  the  Constitution  they  had 
eworn  to  support.  Whatever  they  might  actually  effect, 
with  the  aid  of  their  confederates,  by  unlawful  intimida 
tion  and  violence,  they  could  not  lawfully  deprive  the 
good  people  of  this  Commonwealth  of  the  protection 
afforded  by  the  Constitution  and  laws  of  the  Union,  and 
of  the  rights  to  which  they  are  entitled  under  the  same. 
The  Convention  attempted  no  change  of  the  fundamental 
law  of  the  State  for  light  and  transient  causes.  The  alter 
ations  adopted  were  such  only  as  were  imperatively  re 
quired  by  the  necessity  of  the  case  ;  to  give  vitality  and 
force  to  the  Constitution  of  the  State,  and  enable  it  to 
operate  in  the  circumstances  under  which  we  are  placed. 
They  attempted  no  revolution.  Whatever  others  may 
have  done,  we  remain  as  we  were,  citizens  of  Virginia, 
citizens  of  the  United  States,  recognizing  and  obeying  the 
Constitutions  and  laws  of  both. 

"I  trust,  gentlemen,  you  will  excuse  me  for  dwelling 
so  long  upon  these  important  topics. 

"  Immediately  on  entering  upon  the  duties  of  my  office, 
I  addressed  an  official  communication  to  the  President  of 
the  United  States,  stating  briefly  the  circumstances  in 
which  we  were  placed,  and  demanding  protection  against 
invasion  and  domestic  violence  to  which  our  people  were 
subjected,  and  I  am  happy  to  inform  you  that  the  President, 
through  the  Secretary  of  War,  promptly  gave  me  very 
satisfactory  assurances  that  the  guarantee  embodied  in  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States  would  be  efficiently  com 
plied  with,  by  affording  to  our  people  a  full  protection.  I 
transmit  herewith  copies  of  these  communications. 

"  I  also  send  you  herewith  a  copy  of  a  communication 
received  from  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior  at  Washington, 
certifying  officially  the  apportionment  of  representatives 
in  the  XXXVIIIth  Congress  under  the  census  of  1860. 
Virginia  has  thirteen  representatives.  Under  the  new  ap 
portionment  she  will  have  eleven  only.  Before  the  term 
of  the  XXXVIIIth  Congress  commences,  it  will  be  nec 
essary,  therefore,  to  redistrict  the  State,  in  conformity 


and  checked  the  march  of  these  invad 
ers,  demonstrates  how  justly  he  appre 
ciated  them. 

"The  failure,  hitherto,  of  the  State 
authorities,  in  consequence  of  the  cir 
cumstances  to  which  I  have  adverted, 
to  organize  its  quota  of  troops  called  for 
by  the  President,  imposed  upon  him  the 
necessity  of  providing  himself  for  their 
organization,  and  this  has  been  done  to 
some  extent.  But  instructions  have  now 


with  the  principles  established  hi  the  13th  and  14th  sec 
tions  of  the  4th  Article  of  the  Constitution. 

"  The  President  of  the  United  States  has  issued  his  proc 
lamation  convening  an  extra  session  of  Congress,  to  meet 
at  the  National  Capitol  on  the  4th  of  this  month.  The 
two  senators  from  this  State  have  vacated  their  offices.  It 
is  known  to  me  that  they  are  engaged  in  the  conspiracy  to 
overturn  the  Government  of  the  United  States,  and  in  re 
bellion  to  its  lawful  authority  They  have  renounced  the 
title  of  citizens  of  the  United  States,  claiming  to  be 
citizens  of  a  foreign  and  hostile  State.  They  have  aban 
doned  the  posts  assigned  to  them  by  the  State  of  Virginia 
in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States,  to  take  office  under  the 
rebellious  Government  of  the  Confederate  States.  I  rec 
ommend,  therefore,  the  election  of  senators  to  fill  the 
vacancies  which  have  thus  occurred.  °  °  ° 

"The  subject  of  the  revenue  will  demand  your  atten 
tion.  A  recklessness  has  characterized  the  Legislature  of 
the  State  for  the  last  ten  years,  that  has  involved  us  in  a 
most  onerous  debt.  For  many  years  past  the  western  part 
of  the  State  has  been  contributing  in  an  unequal,  an  un 
just  proportion  to  the  revenue,  which  has  been  largely 
expended  on  internal  improvements,  for  the  benefit  of  our 
eastern  brethren,  from  which  the  west  has  received  no  ad 
vantage  in  any  form.  The  proceeds  of  the  heavy  debt 
contracted  on  State  account  have  also  been  applied  to 
eastern  railroads  and  improvements  from  which  the  west 
derives  no  benefit.  The  leaders  of  secession  in  the  Gulf 
States  have  adroitly  involved  Virginia  in  an  immense  ex 
penditure  in  support  of  their  treasonable  schemes  ;  and  to 
save  their  own  people  and  property,  have  managed  to 
transfer  the  theatre  of  war  to  our  territory.  Before  they 
are  driven  out,  the  whole  of  the  material  interests  of  the 
State  east  of  the  Blue  Kidge  will  probably  be  destroyed, 
including  the  internal  improvements,  upon  which  such 
lavish  expenditure  has  been  made.  o  o  o 

"You  have  met,  gentlemen,  in  the  midst  of  civil  war, 
but  I  trust  you  may  yet  be  assembled  under  happier 
auspices,  when  the  strife  shall  be  over,  and  peace  and 
prosperity  be  restored  to  this  once  happy  country.  All 
which  is  respectfully  submitted.  F.  H.  PIERPONT." 


304: 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE   SOUTH. 


been  given  to  the  agents  of  the  Federal 
Government  to  proceed  hereafter  under 
your  direction,  and  the  company  and  field 
officers  will  be  commissioned  by  you." 

The  secessionist  Governor,  John  Letch- 
er,  met  these  declarations  of  independ 
ence,  and  the  efforts  to  defend  it,  on  the 
part  of  the  new  Governor,  with  a  coun 
ter  manifesto,  asserting  that  Virginia 
had  seceded  by  a  vote  of  the  majority  of 
her  people,  and  appealing  to  the  West 
ern  Virginians  "to  yield  to  the  will  of 
the  State." 

"Men  of  the  North-west,"  he  said, 
"  I  appeal  to  you,  by  all  the  considera 
tions  which  have  drawn  us  together  as 
one  people  heretofore,  to  rally  to  the 
standard  of  the  Old  Dominion.  By  all 
the  sacred  ties  of  consanguinity,  by  the 
intermixtures  of  the  blood  of  East  and 
West,  by  common  paternity,  by  friend 
ships  hallowed  by  a  thousand  cherished 
recollections  and  memories  of  the  past, 
by  the  relics  of  the  great  men  of  other 
days,  come  to  Virginia's  banner,  and 
drive  the  invaders  from  your  soil. 
There  may  be  traitors  in  the  midst  of 
you.  who,  for  selfish  ends,  have  turned 
against  their  mother,  and  would  permit 


her  to  be  ignominiously  oppressed  and 
degraded.  But  I  cannot,  will  not  be 
lieve  that  a  majority  of  you  are  not  true 
sons,  who  will  not  give  your  blood  and 
your  treasure  for  Virginia's  defence." 

The  Governor,  at  the  same  time,  re 
minded  the  people  of  Western  Virginia 
of  the  "  magnanimity"  of  the  Eastern 
districts,  in  consenting  at  last  to  an 
equalization  of  taxation,"  by  which  the 
cause  of  complaint  of  the  former  against 
the  latter  had  been  removed.  "  Let  one 
heart,"  exclaimed  the  Governor,  "  one 
mind,  one  energy,  one  power  nerve 
every  patriot  to  arms  in  a  common 
cause.  The  heart  that  will  not  beat  in 
unison  with  Virginia  is  now  a  traitor's 
heart,  the  arm  that  will  not  strike  home 
in  her  cause  now,  is  palsied  by  coward 
fear. 

"The  troops  are  posted  at  Huttons- 
ville.  Come  with  your  own  good  weap 
ons  and  meet  them  as  brothers  !" 

Such  proclamations  and  counter-proc 
lamations  and  appeals  to  diverse  loyal 
ties  only  served  to  quicken  the  rage  of 
fellow-citizen  arrayed  against  fellow-cit 
izen,  and  more  deeply  to  involve  them 
in  the  perplexing  horrors  of  civil  war 


LIFE   OF  GENERAL  LYON. 


305 


•  CHAPTER    XXVII. 

Failure  in  Missouri  of  General  Harney's  League. — Harney's  Successor  of  "sterner  stuff." — Life  of  General  Lyon.— Birtn 
and  early  Life. — Parentage. — His  rustic  home. — Early  fondness  for  Mathematics. — A  cadet  at  West  Point. — Grad 
uation. — Service  in  the  Army. — Mexican  Campaign. — Good  deeds  and  just  recompenses. — Service  in  California. — 
Indian  Warfare. — In  Kansas. — Sympathies  with  the  Free-soilers. — Takes  up  the  pen  in  their  defence. — His  writings 
and  opinions. — Captain  Lyon  in  command  of  the  Arsenal  at  St.  Louis. — His  prompt  action  at  the  beginning  of  the 
Civil  War. — Capture  of  Fort  Jackson.— Seizure  of  the  J.  C.  Swan. — Capture  of  lead  at  Ironton. — Lyon  succeeds 
Harney. — Unsuccessful  attempt  of  the  secessionist  Price  to  wheedle  him. — Lyon  refuses  to  be  governed  by  the 
Harney  League. — Alarm  of  the  Secessionists. — The  muster  of  the  Secessionists  in  Jefferson  City. — Personal  inter 
view  of  Governor  Jackson  with  General  Lyon. — Firmness  of  Lyon. — The  Secessionists  giving  up  all  hope  of  pro 
moting  their  cause  by  diplomacy. — Making  a  stand  at  Jefferson  City.— Destruction  of  Telegraph  and  Railway 
bridges. — Proclamation  of  Governor  Jackson.— Counter-proclamation  of  General  Lyon. — General  Lyon  determines 
to  rout  out  the  disunion  plotters  from  Jefferson  City. 


1861, 


THE  league  which  General  Harney 
had,  with  a  too  yielding  confidence 
in  their  professions  of  peace,  made 
with  the  secession  leaders  of  Missouri, 
failed,  as  has  been  recorded,  to  check 
rebellion  in  that  State.  After  his  re 
call,  and  the  succession  to  the  command 
of  General  Lyon,  a  man  of  sterner 
stuff,  Missouri  promised  to  vindicate 
more  decidedly  its  loyalty  to  the  Union. 
Nathaniel  Lyon  was  born  in  Ashford, 
Wyndham  County,  Connecticut.  His 
father  was  Amasa  Lyon,  a  hard-working 
and  thriving  farmer  of  the  place,  where 
his  intelligence  and  integrity  won  the 
appreciation  of  its  inhabitants,  who 
elected  him  a  justice  of  the  peace.  His 
wife,  whose  family  name  was  Kezia,  was 
a  descendant  of  the  Knowltoris,  one  of 
whom,  Colonel  Thomas  Knowlton,  had 
served  in  the  French  colonial  war,  and 
in  the  Revolutionary  struggle,  having 
commanded  a  Connecticut  company  at 
Bunker's  Hill,  and  fallen  on  the  plains 
of  Harlem.  Washington  honored  his 

39 


memory  with  the  tribute:  "He  would 
have  been  an  honor  to  any  country." 

There  is  little  record  left  of  the  boy 
hood  of  General  Lyon.  It  was  passed 
among  the  simple  associations  of  his 
rustic  home.  In  the  winter  he  was  sent 
to  the  village  school,  and  in  seed-time 
and  harvest  he  aided  his  father  or  his 
neighbors  in  farm- work.  An  aged  fel 
low-townsman  in  recalling,  at  the  grave 
of  the  heroic  soldier,  his  recollections  of 
the  country  boy,  said :  "  Nathaniel 
worked  for  me  on  my  farm  when  he  was 
a  boy.  He  was  smart,  daring,  and  res 
olute,  and  wonderfully  attached  to  his 
mother." 

General  Lyon,  on  the  night  before  his 
last  battle,  while  lying  with  a  fellow- 
officer  between  two  steep  rocks,  where 
the  space  was  so  narrow  that  there  was 
hardly  room  to  move,  made  light  of  the 
inconvenience,  and  playfully  remarked, 
with  a  fond  allusion  to  his  home,  that 
he  was  "  born  between  two  rocks."  He 
referred  to  the  position  of  the  house 


306 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE   SOUTH. 


where  he  was  born,  and  the  homestead 
of  his  family,  which  "stands  about  four 
miles  from  Eastford  (Ashford  was  divided 
in  1847,  and  the  name  of  the  northern 
portion  of  the  township  changed  to 
Eastford),  on  the  road  to  Hampton. 
-Leaving  the  little  hamlet  of  Phoenix- 
ville,"  says  his  biographer,*  "we  climb 
a  long  hill,  thence  over  a  rough  road  to 
a  valley,  nestled  in  which,  between  two 
steep  and  rocky  hills,  about  twenty  rods 
from  the  highway,  is  the  house — a  small, 
old  building,  somewhat  out  of  repair, 
with  rusty  clapboards,  which  were  once 
painted  red." 

Though  he  found  in  the  village  school 
little  opportunity  for  the  development 
of  his  talent,  he  is  reported  to  have 
shown  a  natural  aptitude  and  fondness 
for  the  study  of  mathematics.  This 
early  taste  probably  induced  his  parents 
to  obtain  for  him  an  appointment  to  a 
cadetship  in  West  Point,  where  he  en 
tered  at  the  age  of  eighteen.  He  grad 
uated  in  1841,  ranking  the  eleventh  of 
his  class,  a  position  which  proved  a  fair 
degree  of  successful  study.  He  com 
menced  his  military  service,  on  leaving 
the  academy,  as  a  second  lieutenant  of 
infantry,  and  first  entered  upon  active 
duty  in  Florida,  during  the  campaign, 
against  the  Seminole  Indians.  He  was 
subsequently  stationed  at  .various  points 
on  our  Western  frontier,  and  on  the 
breaking  out  of  the  war  with  Mexico, 
accompanied  the  army  of  Scott  as  first 
lieutenant.  He  took  part  in  the  siege 

0  The  Last  Political  Writings  of  General  Nathaniel  Lyon, 
United  States  Army,  with  a  Sketch  of  his  Life  and  Military 
s-rvices.  New  York,  Rudd  &  Carleton,  1861. 


of  Yera  Cruz,  and  at  the  battle  of  Cerro 
Gordo,  where  his  good  service  was  ac 
knowledged  by  the  commander  of  his 
regiment.  "  No  sooner,"  said  he,  "had 
the  height  become  ours,  than  the  enemy 
appeared  in  large  force  on  the  Jalapa 
road,  and  we  were  ordered  to  that 
point.  Captain  Canby,  with  a  small  de 
tachment,  accompanied  by  Lieutenant 
Lyon,  pressed  hotly  in  their  rear,  and 
were  soon  in  possession  of  a  battery  of 
three  pieces  which  had  been  firing  upon 
us  in  reverse." 

At  Contreras,  too,  he  bore  a  gallant 
part,  and  in  the  pursuit  aided  in  cap 
turing  several  pieces  of  artillery,  which 
were  turned  upon  the  fugitives.  For 
his  good  conduct  and  spirit  at  Churu- 
busco,  he  was  recommended  by  his 
superior  to  "  the  special  notice  of  the 
colonel  commanding  the  brigade,"  and 
was  rewarded  for  his  services  with  the 
rank  of  brevet  captain.  At  the  capture 
of  the  Mexican  capital,  he  was  with  the 
advance,  and  while  fighting  spiritedly  at 
the  Belen  gate,  was  wounded  with  a 
musket-ball. 

On  the  declaration  of  peace  with 
Mexico,  Lyon,  now  captain,  was  ordered 
to  Jefferson  barracks,  in  Missouri,  pre 
liminary  to  a  proposed  march  across  the 
Rocky  Mountains  to  California.  He 
was,  however,  finally  despatched  by  sea 
around  Cape  Horn,  and  reached  Cali 
fornia  soon  after  its  acquisition  by  the 
United  States.  Here  he  was  chiefly  oc 
cupied  with  frontier  duty,  and  proved 
his  activity  and  his  capability  as  a  skir 
mishing  officer  in  Indian  warfare. 

Subsequently  ordered  to  the  territo- 


FIRMNESS   OF  LYON. 


309 


adhere  both  in  its  spirit  and  to  the 
letter.  The  rumor  in  circulation,  that 
it  is  the  intention  of  the  officers  now  in 
command  of  this  Department  to  disarm 
those  of  our  citizens  who  do  not  agree 
in  opinion  with  the  administration  at 
Washington,  and  put  arms  in  the  hands 
of  those  who,  in  some  localities  of  this 
State,  are  supposed  to  sympathize  with 
the  views  of  the  Federal  Government, 
are,  I  trust,  unfounded.  The  purpose 
of  such  a  movement  could  not  be  mis 
understood,  and  it  would  not  only  be  a 
violation  of  the  agreement  referred  to, 
and  an  equally  plain  violation  of  our 
constitutional  right,  but  a  gross  indignity 
to  the  citizens  of  the  State,  which  would 
be  resisted  to  the  last  extremity." 

Notwithstanding  this  affected  confi 
dence,  that  General  Lyon  would  thus 
carry  out  a  league  so  dangerous  to  the 
loyalty  of  the  State,  and  for  the  form 
ing  of  which  General  Harney  had  been 
recalled,  the  secessionists  became  alarmed 
for  their  safety.  Hurrying  from  the 
faithful  St.  Louis,  they  gathered  together 
in  Jefferson  City,  the  capital  of  the  State, 
where,  under  the  sanction  of  the  dis 
loyal  Governor,  they  were  pursuing 
their  machinations  for  wresting  Missouri 
from  the  Union.  Governor  Jackson 
himself  now  strove,  by  a  personal  inter 
view  with  General  Lyon,  to  make  with 
him  an  agreement  such  as  had  paralyzed 
the  Federal  authority  under  Harney 's 
league.  He  proposed  to  disband  the 
militia,  or  State  guard  as  it  was  termed, 
provided  Lyon  would  consent  to  disarm 
the  Union  volunteers.  This  the  latter 
resolutely  refused,  insisting  that  the 


Federal  Government  should  enjoy  the 
unrestricted  right  to  move  and  station 
its  troops  throughout  the  State  when 
ever  and  wherever,  in  the  opinion  of 
its  officers,  it  might  be  necessary,  either 
for  the  protection  of  loyal  subjects  of 
the  Federal  Government  or  for  repelling 
invasion. 

General  Lyon  in  this  memorandum 
specified  in  detail  his  answer  to  juue 
the  Governor's  wily  proposition.  H» 
"  General  Lyon,"  he  wrote,  "  sets  forth 
as  his  conviction  that  if  the  Government 
withdrew  its  forces  entirely,  secret  and 
subtle  measures  would  be  resorted  to  to 
provide  arms  and  effect  organizations 
which,  upon  any  pretext,  could  put  forth 
a  formidable  opposition  to  the  General 
Government,  and,  even  without  arming, 
combinations  would  doubtless  form  in 
certain  localities  to  oppress  and  drive 
out  loyal  citizens,  to  whom  the  Govern 
ment  is  bound  to  give  protection,  but 
which  it  would  be  helpless  to  do,  as  also 
to  repress  such  combinations,  if  its 
forces  could  not  be  sent  into  the  State. 
A  large  aggressive  force  might  be 
formed  and  advanced  from  the  exterior 
into  the  State,  to  assist  it  in  carrying 
out  the  secession  programme,  arid  the 
Government  could  not,  under  the  limit 
ation  proposed,  take  posts  on  these 
borders  to  meet  and  repel  such  force. 
The  Government  could  not  shrink  from 
its  duties  nor  abdicate  its  corresponding 
rights  ;  and,  in  addition  to  the  above, 
it  is  the  duty  of  its  civil  officers  to  ex 
ecute  civil  process,  and  in  case  of  re 
sistance  to  receive  the  support  of  mili 
tary  force.  The  proposition  of  the  Gov- 


810 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH 


ernor  would  at  once  overturn  the  Gov 
ernment  privileges  and  prerogatives, 
which  he  (General  Lyon)  has  neither  the 
wish  nor  authority  to  do.  In  his  opin 
ion,  if  the  Governor  and  the  State  au 
thorities  would  earnestly  set  about  to 
maintain  the  peace  of  the  State,  and  de 
clare  their  purposes  to  resist  outrages 
upon  loyal  citizens  of  the  Government, 
and  repress  insurrections  against  it,  and, 
in  case  of  violent  combinations  needing 
co-operation  of  the  United  States  troops, 
they  should  call  upon  or  accept  such 
assistance,  and  in  case  of  threatened  in 
vasion  the  Government  troops  took 
suitable  posts  to  meet  it,  the  purposes 
of  the  Government  would  be  subserved, 
and  no  infringement  of  the  State's 
rights  or  dignity  committed.  He  would 
take  good  care,  in  such  faithful  co-oper 
ation  of  the  State  authorities  to  this 
end,  that  no  individual  should  be  injured 
in  person  or  property,  and  that  the  ut 
most  delicacy  should  be  observed  toward 
all  peaceable  persons  concerned  in  these 
relations.  Upon  this  basis,  in  General 
Lyon's  opinion,  could  the  rights  of  both 
the  General  and  State  governments  be 
secured  and  peace  maintained." 

The  Governor  finding  that  the  reso 
lute  Lyon  was  not  to  be  shaken  from  his 
firm  determination  to  uphold  the  Fed 
eral  authority  and  sustain  the  loyal  citi 
zens  of  Missouri,  lost  all  further  hope 
of  promoting  secession  by  diplomacy, 
and  appealed  to  arms.  He  hurried 
with  his  confederates  to  Jefferson  City, 
the  capital,  destroying  on  the  route  the 
telegraph  wires  and  railroad  bridges, 
with  the  evident  purpose  of  commencing 


war  and  resisting  the  Federal  authority. 
At  the  same  time  the  Governor  issued 
an  insurrectionary  proclamation.* 

°  "  To  THE  PEOPLE  OF  MISSOURI  :  A  series  of  unprovoked 
and  unparalleled  outrages  have  been  inflicted  upon  the 
peace  and  dignity  of  this  Commonwealth,  and  upon  the 
rights  and  liberties  of  its  people,  by  wicked  and  unprin 
cipled  men,  professing  to  act  under  the  authority  of  the 
United  States  Government ;  the  solemn  enactments  of 
your  Legislature  have  been  nullified ;  your  volunteer 
soldiers  have  been  taken  prisoners  ;  your  commerce  with 
your  sister  States  has  been  suspended  ;  your  trade  with 
your  own  fellow-citizens  has  been  and  is  subjected  to  the 
harassing  control  of  an  armed  soldiery  ;  peaceful  citizens 
have  been  imprisoned  without  warrant  of  law  ;  unoffend 
ing  and  defenceless  men,  women,  and  children  have  been 
ruthlessly  shot  down  and  murdered ;  and  other  unbear 
able  indignities  have  been  heaped  upon  your  State  and 
yourselves. 

"  To  all  these  outrages  and  indignities  you  have  submit 
ted  with  a  patriotic  forbearance  which  has  only  encouraged 
the  perpetrators  of  these  grievous  wrongs  to  attempt  still 
bolder  and  more  daring  usurpations. 

"  It  has  been  my  earnest  endeavor,  under  all  these  em 
barrassing  circumstances,  to  maintain  the  peace  of  the 
State,  and  to  avert,  if  possible,  from  our  borders,  the  deso 
lating  effects  of  a  civil  war.  With  that  object  in  view,  I 
authorized  Major-General  Price,  several  weeks  ago,  to 
arrange  with  General  Harney,  commanding  the  Federal 
forces  in  this  State,  the  terms  of  an  agreement  by  which 
the  peace  of  the  State  might  be  preserved.  They  came, 
on  the  21st  of  May,  to  an  understanding,  which  was  made 
public.  The  State  authorities  have  faithfully  labored  to 
carry  out  the  terms  of  that  agreement. 

"  The  Federal  Government,  on  the  other  hand,  not  only 
manifested  its  strong  disapprobation  of  it,  by  the  instant 
dismissal  of  the  distinguished  officer  who,  on  his  part,  en 
tered  into  it,  but  it  at  once  began,  and  has  unintermit- 
tingly  carried  out  a  system  of  hostile  operations,  in  utter 
contempt  of  that  agreement,  and  the  reckless  disregard  of 
its  own  plighted  faith.  These  acts  have  latterly  pur- 
tended  revolution  and  civil  war  so  unmistakably,  that  I 
resolved  to  make  one  further  effort  to  avert  these  dangers 
from  you.  I  therefore  solicited  an  interview  with  Briga 
dier-General  Lyon,  commanding  the  Federal  army  in 
Missouri.  It  was  granted,  and,  on  the  10th  instant,  waiv 
ing  all  questions  of  personal  and  official  dignity,  I  went 
to  St.  Louis,  accompanied  by  Major-General  Price. 

"  We  had  an  interview  on  the  llth  instant  Avith  Gen 
eral  Lyon  and  Colonel  F.  P.  Blair,  Jr.,  at  which  I  submit 
ted  to  them  this  proposition  :  That  I  would  disband  the 
State  Guard  and  break  up  its  organization  ;  that  I  would 
disarm  all  the  companies  which  had  been  armed  by  the 
State  ;  that  I  would  p  ledge  myself  not  to  attempt  to  or 
ganize  the  militia  ur.  ier  the  military  bill ;  that  no  ariua 


PROCLAMATION  OF  LYON. 


311 


General  Lyon  responded  to  this  mani 
festo  of  hostility  of  the   Governor  of 

or  munitions  of  war  should  be  brought  into  the  State  ; 
that  I  would  protect  all  citizens  equally  in  all  their  rights, 
regardless  of  their  political  opinions  ;  that  I  would  repress 
all  insurrectionary  movements  within  the  State ;  that  I 
would  repel  all  attempts  to  invade  it,  from  whatever  quar 
ter  and  by  whomsoever  made ;  and  that  I  would  thus 
maintain  a  strict  neutrality  in  the  present  unhappy  con 
test,  and  preserve  the  peace  of  the  State.  And  I  further 
proposed  that  I  would,  if  necessary,  invoke  the  assistance 
of  the  United  States  troops  to  carry  out  these  pledges. 
All  this  I  proposed  to  do  upon  condition  that  the  Federal 
Government  would  undertake  to  disarm  the  Home  Guards, 
which  it  has  illegally  organized  and  armed  throughout 
the  State,  and  pledge  itself  not  to  occupy  with  its  troops 
any  localities  in  the  State  not  occupied  by  them  at  this 
time.  • 

"  Nothing  but  the  most  earnest  desire  to  avert  the  hor 
rors  of  civil  war  from  our  beloved  State  could  have 
tempted  me  to  propose  these  humiliating  terms.  They 
were  rejected  by  the  Federal  officers. 

"  They  demanded  not  only  the  disorganization  and  dis 
arming  of  the  State  militia,  and  the  nullification  of  the 
military  bill,  but  they  refused  to  disarm  their  own  Home 
Guards,  and  insisted  that  the  Federal  Government  should 
enjoy  an  unrestricted  right  to  move  and  station  its  troops 
throughout  the  State  whenever  and  wherever  it  might, 
in  the  opinion  of  its  officers,  be  necessary,  either  for  the 
protection  of  the  "  loyal  subjects"  of  the  Federal  Govern 
ment  or  for  the  repelling  of  invasion,  and  they  plainly  an 
nounced  that  it  was  the  intention  of  the  Administration 
to  take  military  occupation,  under  these  pretexts,  of  the 
whole  State,  and  to  reduce  it,  as  avowed  by  General  Lyon 
himself,  to  the  'exact  condition  of  Maryland.'  The  ac 
ceptance  by  me  of  these  degrading  terms  would  not  only 
have  sullied  the  honor  of  Missouri,  but  would  have  aroused 
the  indignation  of  every  brave  citizen,  and  precipitated 
the  very  conflict  which  it  has  been  my  aim  to  prevent. 
We  refused  to  accede  to  them,  and  the  conference  was 
broken  up. 

"  Fellow-citizens,  all  our  efforts  toward  conciliation  have 
failed.  We  can  hope  nothing  from  the  justice  or  modera 
tion  of  the  agents  of  the  Federal  Government  in  this 
State.  They  are  energetically  hastening  the  execution  of 
their  bloody  and  revolutionary  schemes  for  the  inaugura 
tion  of  civil  war  in  your  midst ;  for  the  military  occupa 
tion  of  your  State  by  armed  bands  of  lawless  invaders  for 
the  overthrow  of  your  State  government ;  and  for  the  sub 
version  of  those  liberties  which  that  government  has 
always  ewght  to  protect ;  and  they  intend  to  exert  their 
whole  power  to  subjugate  you,  if  possible,  to  the  military 
despotism  which  has  usurped  the  powers  of  the  Federal 
Government. 

"Now,  therefore,  I.  C.  F.  Jackson.  Governor  of  the 


Missouri,   by  issuing  a  counter-procla 
mation.* 


State  of  Missouri,  do,  in  view  of  the  foregoing  facts,  and 
by  virtue  of  the  powers  vested  in  me  by  the  Constitution 
and  laws  of  this  Commonwealth,  issue  this  my  proclama 
tion,  calling  the  militia  of  the  State,  to  the  number  of 
fifty  thousand,  into  the  active  service  of  the  State,  for  the 
purpose  of  repelling  said  invasion,  and  for  the  protection 
of  the  lives,  liberty,  and  property  of  the  citizens  of  this 
State.  And  I  earnestly  exhort  all  good  citizens  of  Missouri 
to  rally  under  the  flag  of  their  State  for  the  protection  of 
their  endangered  homes  and  firesides,  and  for  the  defence 
of  their  most  sacred  rights  and  dearest  liberties. 

"  In  issuing  this  proclamation.  I  hold  it  to  be  my  solemn 
duty  to  remind  you  that  Missouri  is  still  one  of  the  United 
States  ;  that  the  Executive  department  of  the  State  Gov 
ernment  does  not  arrogate  to  itself  the  power  to  disturb 
that  relation  ;  that  that  power  has  been  wisely  vested  in 
a  convention,  which  will,  at  the  proper  time,  express  your 
sovereign  will ;  and  that,  meanwhile,  it  is  your  duty  to 
obey  all  the  constitutional  requirements  of  the  Federal  Gov 
ernment.  But  it  is  equally  my  duty  to  advise  you  that 
your  first  allegiance  is  due  to  your  own  State,  and  that 
you  are  under  no  obligation  whatever  to  obey  the  uncon 
stitutional  edicts  of  the  military  despotism  which  has  en 
throned  itself  at  Washington,  nor  to  submit  to  the  in 
famous  and  degrading  sway  of  its  wicked  minions  in  this 
State.  No  brave  and  true-hearted  Missourian  will  obey 
the  one  or  submit  to  the  other.  Rise,  then,  and  drive  out 
ignomiuiously  the  invaders  who  have  dared  to  desecrate 
the  soil  which  your  labors  have  made  fruitful,  and  which 
is  consecrated  by  your  homes. 

"  Given  under  my  hand,  as  Governor,  and  under  the 
great  seal  of  the  State  of  Missouri,  at  Jefferson  City,  this 
12th  day  of  June,  1861. 

"  By  the  Governor.     CLAIBORNE  F.  JACKSON. 

"B.  F.  MASSE Y,  Secretary  of  State." 

°  "  To  THE  CITIZENS  or  MISSOURI  :  Prior  to  the  procla 
mation  issued  by  Governor  Jackson,  of  date  of  June  12, 
it  is  well  known  to  you  that  the  Governor  and  Legislature 
sympathized  with  the  rebellion  movements  now  in  pro 
gress  in  the  country,  and  had  adopted  every  "means  in 
their  power  to  effect  a  separation  of  this  State  from  the 
General  Government.  For  this  purpose,  parties  of  avowed 
secessionists  have  been  organized  into  military  companies 
throughout  the  State,  with  the  full  knowledge  and  ap 
proval  of  the  Governor.  The  establishment  of  encamp 
ments  in  the  State  at  an  unusual  period  of  the  year,  and 
authorized  /.v^  an  indefinite  period,  could  have  had  no 
other  object  than  the  concentration  of  a  large  military 
force,  to  be  subjected  to  the  provisions  of  the  military  law 
then  in  contemplation,  and  subsequently  passed — a  bill  so 
offensive  to  all  peaceable  inhabitants,  and  so  palpably  un 
constitutional,  that  it  could  be  accepted  by  those  only  who 
were  to  conform  to  its  extraordinary  provisions  for  the 


312 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


He    at    the    same    time    marshalled 
his  forces  at  St.  Louis,  and  hurried  to 

purpose  of  effecting  their  cherished  object — the  disruption 
of  the  Federal  Government.  That  bill  provides  for  an 
obligation  to  the  State  on  the  part  of  all  persons  enrolled 
under  its  provisions  irrespective  of  any  obligation  to  the 
United  States,  when  the  Constitution  requires  all  State 
officers  to  take  an  oath  of  allegiance  to  the  United 
States.  This  of  itself  is  a  repudiation  of  all  author 
ity  of  the  Federal  Government,  whose  Constitution  is 
the  supreme  law,  on  the  part  of  the  State  Government, 
its  officers,  and  such  citizens  as  might  choose  to  adopt  the 
provisions  of  the  bill,  and,  coupled  as  it  was,  on  the  part 
of  the  Legislature  and  the  Governor,  with  declarations 
hostile  to  its  authority  and  in  sympathy  with  those  who 
were  arrayed  in  a  condition  of  actual  hostility  against  it, 
could  leave  no  doubt  of  its  object  to  carry  out  the  pro 
visions  of  this  extraordinary  bill,  having  in  direct  view 
hostilities  to  the  Federal  Government.  It  was  so  de 
nounced  by  General  Harney,  who  characterized  it  as  a 
secession  ordinance  in  his  proclamation  of  14th  May  last. 
That  proclamation,  doubtless,  gave  rise  to  an  interview 
between  General  Harney  and  General  Price,  that  resulted 
in  an  agreement  which  it  was  hoped  would  lead  to  a  res 
toration  of  tranquillity  and  good  order  in  your  State.  That 
a  repudiation  of  the  military  bill,  and  all  efforts  of  the 
militia  of  the  State  under  its  provisions  was  the  basis  of 
the  agreement,  was  shown  as  well  by  this  proclamation  of 
General  Harney  immediately  preceding  it,  as  by  a  paper 
submitted  to  General  Price,  containing  the  preliminary 
conditions  to  an  interview  with  him. 

"  This  agreement  failed  to  define  specifically  the  terms 
of  the  peace,  or  how  far  a  suspension  of  the  provisions  of 
the  military  bill  should  form  a  part  of  it,  though  from  the 
express  declaration  of  General  Harney  at  the  time  of  the 
conference,  as  well  as  from  the  foregoing  paper,  a  suspen 
sion  of  any  action  under  the  bill  until  there  could  be  a 
judicial  termination  of  its  character  by  some  competent 
tribunal,  must  in  good  faith  be  regarded  as  a  fundamental 
basis  of  the  negotiation. 

"  Nevertheless,  immediately  after  this  arrangement,  and 
up  to  the  time  of  Governor  Jackson's  proclamation,  in 
augurating  complaints  of  attempts  to  execute  the  provi 
sions  of  this  bill,  by  which  most  exasperating  hardships 
have  been  imposed  upon  peaceful  loyal  citizens,  coupled 
with  persecutions  and  proscriptions  of  those  opposed  to  its 
provisions,  have  been  made  to  me  as  commander  of  the 
United  States  forces  here,  and  have  been  carried  to  the 
authorities  at  "Washington,  with  appeals  for  relief,  from 
the  Union  men  of  all  parties  of  the  State  who  have  been 
abused,  insulted,  and,  in  some  instances,  driven  from  their 
homes. 

"  That  relief  I  conceive  it  to  be  the  duty  of  a  just  gov 
ernment  to  use  every  exertion  in  its  power  to  give.  Upon 
this  point  the  policy  of  the  Government  is  set  forth  in  the 


rout  out  the  Governor  and  his  secession 
bands  from  Jefferson  City,  the  capital 

following  communication  from  the  Department  at  Wash 
ington  : 

"  'ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S  OFFICE,  ) 
WASHINGTON,  May  27,  1861.    j 

"  'BRIGADIER-GENERAL  W.  S.  HARNEY,  COMMANDING  DE 
PARTMENT  WEST  ST.  Louis — Sir:  The  President  observes 
with  concern  that,  notwithstanding  the  pledge  of  the 
State  authorities  to  co-operate  in  preserving  the  peace  of 
Missouri,  loyal  citizens  in  great  numbers  continue  to  be 
driven  from  their  homes.  It  is  immaterial  whether  these 
outrages  continue  from  inactivity  or  indisposition  on  the 
part  of  the  State  authorities  to  prevent  them.  It  is 
enough  that  they  continue,  and  it  will  devolve  on  you 
the  duty  of  putting  a  stop  to  them  summarily  by  the  force 
under  your  command,  to  be  aided  by  such  troops  as  you 
may  require  from  Kansas,  Iowa,  and  Illinois.  The  pro 
fessions  of  loyalty  to  the  Union  by  the  State  authorities 
of  Missouri  are  not  to  be  relied  upon.  They  have  already 
falsified  their  professions  too  often,  and  are  too  far  com 
mitted  to  secession  to  be  admitted  to  your  confidence,  and 
you  can  only  be  sure  of  their  desisting  from  their  wicked 
purposes  when  it  is  not  in  their  power  to  prosecute  them. 
You  will,  therefore,  be  unceasingly  watchful  of  their 
movements,  and  not  permit  the  clamors  of  their  partisans 
and  the  opponents  of  the  wise  measures  already  taken  to 
prevent  you  from  checking  every  movement  against  the 
Government,  however  disguised,  under  the  pretended 
State  authority.  The  authority  of  the  United  States  is 
paramount,  and  whenever  it  is  apparent  that  a  movement 
— whether  by  order  of  State  authorities  or  not — is  hostile, 
you  will  not  hesitate  to  put  it  down. 

"  'L.  THOMAS,  Adjutant-General.' 

"  It  is  my  design  to  carry  out  these  instructions  in  their 
letter  and  spirit.  Their  justness  and  propriety  will  be  ap 
preciated  by  whoever  takes  an  enlightened  view  of  the 
relations  of  the  citizens  of  Missouri  to  the  General  Gov 
ernment,  nor  can  such  policy  be  construed  as  at  nil  dis 
paraging  to  the  rights  or  dignity  of  the  State  of  Missouri, 
or  as  infringing  in  any  sense  upon  the  individual  liberty 
of  its  citizens.  The  recent  proclamation  of  Governor 
Jackson,  by  which  he  has  set  at  defiance  the  authorities  of 
the  United  States,  and  urged  you  to  make  war  upon  them, 
is  but  a  consummation  of  his  treasonable  purposes,  long 
indicated  by  his  acts  and  expressed  opinions,  and  now 
made  manifest.  If,  in  suppressing  these  treasonable  pro 
jects,  carrying  out  the  policy  of  the  Government,  and 
maintaining  its  dignity  as  above  indicated,  hostilities 
should  unfortunately  occur,  and  unhappy  consequences 
should  follow,  I  would  hope  that  all  aggravation  of  those 
events  may  be  avoided,  and  that  they  may  be  diverted 
from  the  innocent,  and  may  fail  only  on  the  heads  of 
those  by  whom  they  have  been  provoked. 

"  In  the  discharge  of  these  plain  but  onerous  dutieg.  I 


FIRST  MOVEMENT   OF   LYON. 


313 


of  Missouri,  where  they  were  plotting 
against  and  making  ready  to  attack  the 


Union  troops  and  overthrow  the  Fed 
eral  authority. 


CHAPTER    XXVIII. 

General  Lyon's  movement  from  St.  Louis.— Occupation  of  the  Railroad. — Force  under  Lyon. — Embarkation  of  Troops 
— Arrival  at  Jefferson  City. — Flight  of  the  Enemy. — Their  destructive  proceedings. — General  Lyon  in  pursuit. — 
Doernstein  at  the  capital. — Route  of  General  Lyon. — Reception  by  the  way. — Rochefort. — First  indication  of  the 
Enemy. — Dispersion  of  Scouts. — Disembarkation  of  General  Lyon. — March  of  the  Federal  Troops. — Coming  up 
with  the  Enemy.— Position  of  the  Antagonist. — Opening  Fire. — Battle  of  Booneville. — Flight  of  the  Enemy.— 
Courage  and  coolness  of  General  Lyon. — Pursuit  of  the  Enemy. — Another  Stand  and  another  Rout. — A  deserted 
Camp. — A  half-cooked  Breakfast. — The  Federal  Boats  doing  good  service. — Capture  of  a  Battery. — The  stand  at 
the  Fair  Grounds.— A  third  Rout. — The  scattering  of  the  Enemy. — The  Killed  and  Wounded. — The  Prisoners. — 
A  warlike  Parson. — Successful  Appeal  to  an  "  old  Rebel." — Comparative  strength  of  Forces. — Approach  to  Boone 
ville. — A  civic  and  military  Delegation. — Welcome  to  the  Town. — Union  Enthusiasm. — The  Secessionists'  Demand. 
— Danger  to  the  Unionists.— The  "Greatest  Crime,"  etc. — General  Lyon's  Proclamation. — Forgiveness  of  Rebels. 
—Mildness  and  Severity. — Proclamation  of  Boernstein  at  Jefferson  City. — The  Missouri  Convention  talcing  Cour 
age. — Convoked  to  reassemble. — The  Congratulations  of  the  Unionists. — Another  Riot  in  St.  Louis. — Attack  upon 
the  Federal  Soldiers. — Tragic  Results. — The  Verdict  of  a  St.  Louis  Jury. — General  Lyon  inspirited. — A  bold  move 
to  the  Southwest. — Sterling  Price  and  Ben  McCulloch. — Departure  of  Lyon. — An  Augmenting  Force. 


' 


GENERAL  LYON'S  first  movement  was 
to  send  the  Second  Regiment  of 
Missouri  Volunteers,  under  the  com 
mand  of  Colonel  Siegel,  by  land,  along 
June  ^ne  Pacific  Railroad,  to  occupy  the 
*2«  line,  and  thus  prevent  any  further 
destruction,  by  the  secessionists,  of  the 
bridges.  This  detachment  proceeded, 
without  any  show  of  opposition,  as  far 
as  the  Gasconade  River,  where  the 
enemy  had  destroyed  the  bridge.  On 
June  the  next  day,  Lyon  embarked  his 
13*  troops  in  two  divisions  ;  one  con 
sisting  of  the  Second  Battalion  of  the 
First  Regiment  of  Missouri  Volunteers, 
commanded  by  Lieutenant-Colonel  An 
drews,  one  section  of  Totten's  light  ar- 

shall  look  for  the  countenance  and  active  co-operation  of 
all  good  citizens,  and  I  shall  expect  them  to  discounte 
nance  all  illegal  combinations  or  organizations,  and  sup 
port  and  uphold,  by  every  lawful  means,  the  Federal  Gov- 
40 


tillery,  and  two  companies  of  regulars 
under  Captain  Lathrop  ;  and  the  other 
of  the  First  Battalion  of  the  First  Regi 
ment  of  Missouri  Volunteers  under 
Colonel  Blair,  another  section  of  Tot- 
ten's  artillery,  and  a  detachment  of 
pioneers,  numbering  in  all  about  two 
thousand  men.  Each  division  was  em 
barked  on  board  of  a  river  steamer  at 
the  wharves  of  St.  Louis,  and  together 
with  the  men  a  large  supply  of  horses, 
baggage  wagons,  camp  equipage,  am 
munition,  and  provisions  was  put  on 
board,  evidently  with  the  view  of  a  long 
march.  General  Lyon  and  his  staff  em 
barked  with  the  second  division,  and  the 
two  steamers  proceeded  up  the  Missouri 


ernment,  upon  the  maintenance  of  which  depend  their 
liberties  and  the  perfect  enjoyment  of  all  their  rights. 

' '  N.  LYON, 
"Brigadier-General  U.  S.  Volunteers  Commanding." 


314 


THE  WAR  WITH   THE   SOUTH. 


to  Jefferson  City,  the  capital,  situated 

on  that  river,  near  the  centre   of  the 
State. 

On  the  second  day  after  embarking, 
June  General   Lyon   reached    Jefferson 

15.  City,  but  on  marching  into  the 
place  found  that  Governor  Jackson, 
General  Sterling  Price,  and  their  seces 
sion  confederates  and  bands,  had  re 
treated  the  day  before  to  Booneville, 
some  forty  miles  farther  up  the  Missouri, 
within  the  interior  of  the  State.  They 
had  striven  to  conceal  their  destination, 
but  the  people  of  Jefferson  City  had  no 
doubt  of  the  direction  of  their  flight, 
and  being  loyally  disposed,  freely  gave 
all  the  information  they  possessed  to 
the  Federal  officers.  In  their  retreat 
the  secessionists  had  sought  to  hinder 
pursuit,  by  seizing  the  cars  and  loco 
motives,  which  they  carried  along  with 
them,  and  by  destroying  the  bridges 
and  telegraphs,  as  they  hurriedly  pushed 
forward. 

Lyon   promptly  hurried  on   in  pur- 
June  suit-       Embarking    again    in    the 

16«  steamers,  to  which  was  added  a 
third,  he  moved  with  his  troops  up  the 
Missouri,  having  left  three  companies 
of  Boernstein's  regiment  under  the 
command  of  the  Colonel  himself,  at 
Jefferson  City,  to  protect  the  capital. 
On  passing  the  little  town  of  Marion, 
on  the  Missouri  River,  the  inhabitants 
manifested  their  loyalty  by  heartily 
cheering  the  expedition.  Having  reach 
ed  Providence  during  the  night,  the 
steamers  hauled  up  until  daybreak, 
when  they  continued  their  course.  At 
Rochefort  the  sullenness  of  some  of  the 


people  indicated  that  the  Federal  forces 
had  arrived  in  a  part  of  the  State  where 
they  were  less  welcome.  Though  the 
citizens  were,  little  disposed  to  be  com 
municative,  the  information  was  obtained 
from  them  that  the  enemy  were  in  con 
siderable  force  some  miles  below  Boone 
ville. 

The  expedition,  after  pressing  into 
the  service  a  steam  ferry-boat  at  Roche- 
fort,  continued  its  course  up  the  river, 
until  it  reached  a  point  within  eight 
miles  of  Booneville.  Here  was  seen  the 
first  indication  of  the  enemy  in  a  battery 
on  the  bluff  or  high  embankment  of 
the  river,  and  some  scouts  appeared, 
who  hastened,  on  seeing  the  steamers, 
to  convey  information  of  their  approach 
to  the  main  body  of  the  secessionists. 
The  boats  now  moved  at  once  to  the 
shore,  where  there  was  a  stretch  of  al 
luvial  land  or  "bottom"  a  mile  and  a 
half  in  width  between  the  water  and  the 
bluff,  on  the  south  side  of  the  river,  and 
making  fast,  the  troops  disembarked 
without  opposition. 

Scouts  were  now  sent  in  advance,  and 
the  main  body  followed  them,  marching 
along  the  river  road.  The  troops  had 
thus  proceeded  about  a  mile  and  a  half 
to  the  point  where  the  road  ascends  the 
bluffs,  when  a  firing  was  heard,  indicat 
ing  that  our  scouts  were  engaged  with  . 
the  picket  guards  of  the  enemy,  whom 
they  succeeded  in  driving  back.  The 
Federal  troops  continued  to  push  on, 
marching  up  the  gentle  slope  of  the  as 
sent  for  nearly  half  a  mile,  when  their 
advanced  guard  came  galloping  back 
with  the  information  that  the  enemy 


BATTLE   OF   BOONEVILLE. 


315 


were  in  full  force,  posted  advantageously 
upon  the  summit  of  the  rising  ground, 
about  .three  hundred  yards  in  front. 

Their  position  was  on  the  crest  of 
the  hill  along  which  the  road  ascends. 
Colonel  Marmaduke,  in  command,  held 
the  road  itself  with  a  troop  of  horsemen 
and  a  battalion  of  infantry.  On  his  left 
was  a  brick  house  occupied  by  a  portion 
of  his  force,  and  to  the  rear,  in  a  lane 
leading  to  the  river,  was  formed  the 
main  body  of  his  left  wing.  Behind 
this  again  stretched  a  wheat-field,  in 
which  had  gathered  small  bodies  of 
men  apparently  without  form  or  order. 
The  enemy's  right  wing  was  posted  be 
hind  a  "worm"  fence,  which  divided 
the  wheat-field  where  the  men  were 
formed  from  a  neighboring  field  of 
Indian  corn. 

The  Federal  troops,  as  soon  as  they 
discovered  the  position  of  the  enemy, 
formed  on  the  ridge  of  rising  ground 
facing  them  and  separated  only  by  a 
shallow  valley  with  a  scattered  growth 
of  oak.  On  our  right  there  were  also 
some  trees,  while  on  the  left  there  was  a 
field  of  Indian  corn.  The  regular  troops 
were  posted,  with  Colonel  Blair's  regi 
ment  of  Missouri  Volunteers,  on  the 
left,  and  the  Germans,  also  volunteers, 
under  Lieutenant-Colonel  Shaeffer,  on 
the  right. 

Captain  Totten,  of  the  light  artillery, 
opened  the  engagement  by  firing  a  shell 
from  a  twelve-pounder,  among  the 
enemy's  force  in  the  road.  This  was 
immediately  followed  by  another  well- 
aimed  shell,  which  fell  among  the 
throngs  in  the  wheat-field,  and  forced 


them  to  a  hasty  retreat.  The  battle 
thus  begun,  our  men  on  the  right  and 
left  advanced  in  good  order  and  soon 
opened  with  a  volley  of  musketry, 
which  was  spiritedly  returned  by  the 
enemy.  The  regulars  on  our  right 
marched  boldly  along  the  field  of  In 
dian  corn,  until  they  reached  the  ascent 
which  led  to  the  crest  upon  which  the 
enemy  were  posted.  They  now  began 
to  move  more  cautiously,  creeping  along 
and  firing  when  a  good  opportunity  for  a 
shot  presented.  The  volunteers  sent  to 
support  them  gallantly  followed  the  ex 
ample  of  the  regulars  and  spiritedly 
joined  in  the  attack.  The  Germans  on 
the  right  were  advancing  no  less  firm 
ly  and  persistently  and  engaging  the 
enemy's  left.  The  secessionists  were 
forced  back  by  the  steady  advance  of 
our  men,  and  the  effective  firing  of 
Totten's  artillery.  They,  however,  as 
they  retired,  still  made  a  show  of  re 
sistance. 

Two  bombshells,  sent  by  Totten 
against  the  brick  house,  within  which 
the  enemy  had  sought  cover,  penetrated 
the  wall  and  effectually  routed  them 
out.  After  this  the  secessionists  gave 
way  more  rapidly  before  the  steady  ad 
vance  of  our  troops,  and  were  soon 
forced  to  abandon  their  position,  which 
the  Federalists  occupied  in  twenty  min 
utes  after  the  first  shot  fired  by  Totten, 
which  opened  the  engagement. 

"  The  commander,  General  Lyon," 
says  an  eye-witness  of  the  battle,  "  ex 
hibited  the  most  remarkable  coolness, 
and  preserved  throughout  that  undis 
turbed  presence  of  mind  shown  by  him 


316 


THE   WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


alike  in  the  camp,  in  private  life,  and  on 
the  field  of  battle.  '  Forward,  on  the 
extreme  right ;'  '  give  them  another 
shot,  Captain  Totten,'  echoed  above  the 
roar  of  musketry,  clear  and  distinct, 
from  the  lips  of  the  general  who  led  the 
advancing  column." 

The  enemy  continued  to  retreat  and 
the  Federalists  to  pursue  without  further 
collision,  until  the  latter  had  advanced 
about  a  mile  and  a  half,  when  the  for 
mer,  made  a  stand  in  some  woods  near 
their  encampment.  Two  shells,  how 
ever,  and  a  volley  of  musketry  soon  put 
them  again  to  the  rout,  and  they  fled  in 
confusion  towards  Booneville.  Their 
deserted  camp,  which  our  men  now  oc 
cupied,  was  found  to  contain  a  consider 
able  quantity  of  provisions,  arms,  and 
ammunition.  The  evident  haste  with 
which,  after  the  landing  of  the  Federal 
ists,  they  had  advanced  to  meet  them, 
proved  how  unexpected  had  been  their 
arrival.  The  breakfasts  of  the  men 
were  found  in  the  course  of  preparation 
in  the  camp  ;  the  half-baked  bread,  the 
partially  fried  pork,  the  ham  with  the 
knife  sticking  in  the  meat,  and  the  pots 
of  coffee  still  on  the  fire,  showed  how 
sudden  had  been  their  movement.  Oar 
troops  gave  them  no  opportunity  of  re 
suming  the  cooking  of  their  morning's 
meal,  or  of  breaking  their  long  morning's 
fast.  A  company  being  left  to  guard  the 
camp,  General  Lyon  led  the  rest  of.  his 
force  on  to  Booneville. 

In  the  mean  time,  while  the  main  body 
of  the  Federalists  had  been  acquitting 
themselves  so  satisfactorily  on  land,  the 
artillerists  under  Captain  Yoorhies,  and 


the  company  of  infantry  in  command  of 
Captain  Richardson,  who  had  been  re 
luctantly  left  behind  to  take  charge  of 
the  boats,  contrived  also  to  do  some 
effectual  service.  After  the  troops  be 
gan  their  march,  Richardson  went 
ashore  with  his  men,  and  captured  a 
battery  of  two  iron  six-pounders,  posted 
on  the  river  about  five  miles  below 
Booneville.  He  then  moved  on  with 
one  of  the  boats,  the  McDowell,  towards 
the  town,  with  the  view  of  co-operating 
with  the  land  force. 

This  he  was  able  to  effect,  when  Lyon 
had  marched  within  a  mile  of  Booneville, 
where  the  secessionists,  again  at  the 
fair  grounds,  seemed  disposed  to  make 
a  stand.  Captain  Richardson  being  from 
his  position  on  the  river  in  their  rear, 
first  discovered  their  intention,  and  was 
enabled  to  fire  upon  them  with  great 
effect.  A  shot  from  his  howitzer,  fol 
lowed  by  a  fire  from  Totten's  artillery, 
and  a  volley  of  musketry  from  Lyon's 
main  body,  which  had  in  the  mean  time 
become  aware  of  the  enemy's  purpose, 
soon  scattered  them  for  a  third  time. 
The  secessionists  now  continued  their 
flight,  dispersing  in  various  directions. 
Some  crossed  the  river,  some  went 
south,  but  the  chief  portion,  after  hav 
ing  passed  through  the  town,  escaped  up 
the  Missouri  in  boats  to  the  west. 

In  the  course  of  the  attack  and  pui 
suit  by  the  Federal  forces,  there  were 
but  three  of  them  killed,  ten  wounded, 
and  one  missing.  It  was  difficult  to  es 
timate  the  loss  of  the  secessionists,  but 
it  is  supposed  to  have  been  large. 
Eighty  were  taken  prisoners,  of  whoir 


SUDDEN  CONVERSION  TO  LOYALTY. 


317 


twenty-six  were  captured  by  the  chap 
lain  of  the  First  Regiment.  "He  had 
charge,"  says  the  authority  before 
quoted,  "  of  a  party  of  four  men,  two 
mounted  and  two  on  foot,  with  which  to 
take  charge  of  the  wounded.  Ascend 
ing  the  brow  of  a  hill,  he  suddenly  came 
upon  a  company  of  twenty-four  rebels, 
armed  with  revolvers,  and  fully  bent 
upon  securing  a  place  of  safety  for  their 
carcasses.  Their  intentions,  however, 
were  considerably  modified,  when  the 
parson  ordered  them  to  halt,  which  they 
did,  surrendering  their  arms.  Surround 
ed  by  the  squad  of  five  men,  they  were 
then  marched  on  board  the  Louisiana, 
prisoners  of  war.  The  parson  also 
captured  two  other  secessionists  during 
the  day,  and  at  one  time,  needing  a 
wagon  and  horses  for  the  wounded,  and 
finding  friendly  suggestions  wasted  on  a 
stubborn  old  rebel,  placed  a  revolver  at 
his  head,  and  the  desired  articles  were 
forthcoming.  In  time  of  peace  the 
preacher  had  prepared  for  war." 

The  enemy  were  reported  to  have 
been  four  thousand  strong,  and  the 
Federalists  only  two  thousand,  of  whom 
less  than  half  were  actively  engaged. 
Governor  Jackson  is  supposed  to  have 
discreetly  kept  at  a  distance  from  the 
battle,  and  to  have  been  among  the  first 
to  seek  safety  in  flight  while  General 
Sterling  Price  was  prevented  by  an  in 
opportune  attack  of  illness  from  taking 
command  of  the  secession  forces. 

As  General  Lyon  was  approaching 
the  town  of  Booneville,  he  was  met  by 
Borne  of  the  officials  and  leading  citizens 
bearing  a  flag  of  truce.  They  were 


anxious  to  impress  upon  the  victors, 
that  the  greater  proportion  of  their 
fellow-citizens  were  favorable  to  the 
Federal  cause.  General  Lyon  received 
them  in  a  conciliatory  spirit,  and  as 
sured  them  that,  if  no  resistance  should 
be  offered  to  the  entrance  of  his 
troops,  no  harm  need  be  feared.  Soon 
after  Major  O'Brien,  a  military  officer 
of  Booneville,  presented  himself,  and 
the  town  was  formally  surrendered.  The 
Federal  troops  now  advanced,  headed  by 
General  Lyon  and  the  civic  and  military 
representatives  of  the  place.  On  pass 
ing  through  the  principal  street,  they 
were  met  by  a  party  of  citizens  waving 
the  United  States  flag  and  cheering 
lustily  for  the  Union,  to  which  the  Fed 
eral  troops  gave  a  hearty  response. 
The  "  stars  and  stripes"  now  suddenly 
fluttered  out  from  house  window  and 
church  steeple,  and  Booneville  pro 
claimed  itself  once  more  a  loyal  town. 

"  One  can  hardly  imagine,"  declares  a 
writer  who  was  present  on  the  occasion, 
"  the  joy  expressed  and  felt  by  the  loyal 
citizens  when  the  Federal  troops  entered 
the  city.  Stores  which  had  been  closed 
all  day,  began  to  open,  the  national  flag 
was  quickly  run  up  on  a  secession  pole, 
cheers  for  the  Union,  Lyon,  Blair,  and 
Lincoln  were  frequently  heard,  and 
everything  betokened  the  restoration  of 
peace,  law,  and  order.  '  True  men'  are 
reported  to  have  said,  '  that  had  the 
troops  delayed  ten  days  longer,  it  would 
have  been  impossible  for  them  to  have 
remained  in  safety.  Irresponsible  vaga 
bonds  had  been  taking  guns  wherever 
they  could  find  them,  and  notifying  the 


318 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE   SOUTH. 


most  substantial  and  prosperous  citizens 
to  leave.'  One  worthy  citizen,  the  pro 
prietor  of  the  City  Hotel,  was  said  to 
have  denounced  '  the  whole  secession 
movement  as  the  greatest  crime  com 
mitted  since  the  crucifixion  of  our 
Saviour.' ' 

On  the  next  day  after  entering  Boone- 
Juue  ville,  General  Lyon  released  his 
!$•  prisoners,  most  of  whom  were 
youths  and  had  been  misled,  as  he  be 
lieved,  by  the  artful  devices  of  older 
conspirators. 

In  the  mean  time  Colonel  Boernstein, 
who  had  been  left  with  a  battalion  of  the 
Second  Regiment  of  Missouri  Volun 
teers,  in  command  of  Jefferson  City, 
the  capital,  was  effectually  keeping  in 
check  the  secessionists,  and  striving  to 
soothe  the  disaffected  with  proclaiming 
summary  punishment  for  treason  and 
security  for  property.  "Your  personal 
safety,"  he  said,  "  will  be  protected,  and 
your  property  respected.  Slave  prop 
erty  will  not  be  interfered  with  by  any 
part  of  my  command,  nor  will  slaves  be 
allowed  to  enter  my  lines  without 
written  authority  from  their  masters  ; 
and,  notwithstanding  we  are  in  times  of 
war,  I  shall  endeavor  to  execute  my  in 
structions  with  moderation  and  forbear 
ance,  and  at  the  same  time  shall  not 
suffer  the  least  attempt  to  destroy  the 
Union  and  its  Government,  by  the  per 
formance  of  any  unlawful  act." 

Under  the  protection  of  the  military 
rule  of  Boernstein,  at  the  capital,  and  in 
spirited  by  the  success  of  the  Federal 
troops  under  Lyon,  the  members  of  the 
Convention  of  the  State  of  Missouri  took 


courage.  Having  already,  as  early  as 
February,  refused  by  a  large  majority  to 
consider  the  question  of  secession,  they 
now  prepared  to  execute  the  will  of 
the  people  whom  they  represented,  in 
thwarting  the  action  of  the  secessionist 
Governor  and  his  confederates  of  the 
Legislature.  The  Convention  was  ac 
cordingly  called  to  reassemble  in  Jeffer 
son  City,  on  the  twenty-second  day  of 
July. 

Lyon  having  by  his  prompt  movement 
swept  the  eastern  part  of  Missouri,  from 
St.  Louis  to  Booneville,  clear  of  the 
secession  leaders  and  their  bands,  the 
unionists  began  to  congratulate  them 
selves  that  the  State  was  now  secure  in 
the  enjoyment  of  a  loyal  tranquillity. 
There  was,  however,  even  in  St.  Louis, 
some  unwillingness  to  submit  quietly  to 
the  Federal  power.  The  military  au 
thorities  having  considered  it  prudent  to 
station  guards  on  the  various  railways 
leading  from  the  city,  had  detailed  a 
regiment  commanded  by  Colonel  Kail- 
man  for  that  duty.  After  detailing  the 
necessary  number  of  men,  the  rest  of 
the  regiment  returned,  passing  through 
St.  Louis,  when  a  collision  took  j,,ue 
place  with  the  citizens.  '?• 

The  event  was  thus  related  by  one  of 
the  journals*  of  that  city. 

"  Forming  at  the  depot  in  good  order, 
they  marched  quietly  down  Broadway 
and  Seventh  Street  without  interruption 
or  disturbance  of  any  kind,  so  far  as 
is  known,  till  Company  B  reached  St. 
Charles  Street.  At  that  point  a  half- 
drunken  or  crazed  individual  insulted 

°  St.  Louis  Democrat. 


RIOT   IN   ST.   LOUIS. 


the  troops  with  language  so  abusive  and 
threatening,  that  several  of  them  took 
him  into  custody.  The  captain  came 
up,  inquiring  into  the  circumstances  of 
the  case,  and,  on  the  prisoner's  protest 
ing  that  he  meant  no  harm,  ordered  his 
release.  This  took  place  in  Olive  Street. 
In  a  moment  afterward  a  pistol  was 
fired  from  a  second-story  window  on  the 
east  side  of  the  street,  just  south  of 
Olive,  a  second  almost  simultaneously 
from  near  the  pavement,  and  instantly 
a  third  from  the  window  above. 

"  Some  of  the  troops  noticed  that  an 
attack  was  in  contemplation,  and  began 
arranging  caps  on  their  muskets,  a 
movement  perceived  by  spectators,  who 
were  as  yet  unaware  of  the  cause. 
During  this  quick  movement  one  of  the 
muskets  accidentally  exploded,  and  this 
occurred  near  the  time  of  the  first  firing 
of  the  pistol  as  described. 

"  Colonel  Kallman  gave  the  order  to 
halt,  pistol  shots  still  firing  from  the 
windows.  The  order  was  promptly 
obeyed,  and  the  troops,  till  then  march 
ing  four  abreast,  wheeled  westward  and 
formed  into  double  file,  fronting  east. 
No  order  to  fire  was  given.  Captain 
Risech,  of  Company  I,  marching  in  the 
rear,  was  shot  so  as  to  be  disabled  from 
command,  and  a  soldier  at  the  same 
time  fell  senseless  in  the  ranks.  The 
troops  began  firing  briskly  up  to  the 
windows  of  the  Missouri  engine-house 
and  Recorder's  court-room,  and  the 
second  story  of  the  building  adjoining 
on  the  north.  The  fire  of  the  pistols 
was  returned,  but  soon  ceased,  the 


officers  below  passing  along  the  ranks 
and  ordering  the  troops  to  stop  firing. 
The  terrible  scene,  which  lasted  scarcely 
a  minute  and  a  half  or  two  minutes  at 
the  furthest,  was  thus  terminated." 

There  were  no  less  than  six  victims 
of  this  tragic  occurrence,  all  of  whom 
were  private  citizens,  while  the  soldiers 
escaped  with  but  some  slight  wounds. 
The  coroner's  jury,  after  a  long  investi 
gation  of  ten  days,  rendered  a  verdict 
which,  while  it  exonerated  citizens  and 
the  military  officers,  imputed  the  blame 
to  the  soldiers.  They  declared  that  the 
"wounds  were  inflicted  without  any 
provocation  or  discharge  of  firearms 
from  the  citizens  then  present,  and  also 
without  any  order  to  fire  having  been 
given  by  the  officers  of  the  said  com 
panies." 

General  Lyon,  inspirited  by  his  success 
in  the  north  and  east,  and  trusting  to 
the  loyalty  which  his  triumphs  had  en 
couraged  to  manifest  itself,  now  boldly 
determined  to  push  on  to  the  south 
west,  where  Sterling  Price  and  Ben 
McCulloch,  the  Texan  ranger,  had  form 
ed  a  junction  and  mustered  a  strong 
force.  Lyon  accordingly,  with  his  char 
acteristic  self-reliance,  left  Boone-  juiy 
ville,  with  only  two  thousand  men.  $• 
This  meagre  band,  however,  rapidly  in 
creased  on  the  march  by  the  accessions 
of  the  loyal  men  of  the  country,  who 
welcomed  and  offered  their  services 
readily  to  the  victorious  leader  of  the 
Federal  troops.  The  events  of  this 
campaign  and  its  fatal  results  will  be  re 
lated  in  the  due  course  of  this  narrative 


32C 


THE   WAK   WITH  THE   SOUTH. 


CHAPTER    XXIX. 

Unabated  spirit  of  the  North. — Large  mustering  of  Troops. — The  Force  at  Washington. — The  Potomac  Line. — Com 
manders. — Force  at  Fortress  Monroe. — Force  in  the  neighborhood  of  Harper's  Ferry. — Force  in  Western  Virginia. 
— Force  at  Cairo. — Force  in  Missouri. — Force  in  Maryland. — The  Line  on  the  Potomac. — Topography  of  the  Country. 
— The  dangers  of  the  ground. — Fortifications. — Arlington  Heights. — Alexandria. — The  ghost  of  a  city. — Deserted 
Streets. — Abandoned  Houses.  —  Closed  Warehouses  and  Shops.  —  Military  Occupation. — Present  Inhabitants.— 
Soldiers  and  Negroes. — Description  of  Vienna. — Description  of  Fairfax  Court  House. — The  Position  of  the  Enemy 
in  Virginia. — Manassas  Junction. — Position  and  Fortifications. — Distances  and  Communications. — Exploit  of  Lieut. 
Tompkins  at  Fairfax  Court  House. — A  spirited  Charge. — The  result. — The  affair  at  Vienna. — A  clear  field  reported. 
— Orders  to  General  Schenck. — Departure  of  Schenck. — His  Force. — How  it  was  disposed  of. — A  sudden  stoppage 
— A  Masked  Battery. — A  Conflict. — Killed  and  Wounded. — Conduct  of  the  Engineer. —Criticism  upon  the  manage 
ment  of  the  Expedition. — The  Enterprise  denounced. — The  sacrifice. — Gallantry  of  Federal  Troops. — An  account 
of  the  Enemy. — Tribute  to  a  "Few." — The  Enemy's  Batteries  on  the  Potomac. — Captain  Ward's  Keconnoissance 
of  Matthias  Point. — An  Attack  planned. — Landing  of  Men. — Federal  Batteries  raised  on  the  Virginia  Shore. — A 
sudden  surprise  from  the  Enemy. — Death  of  Captain  Ward. — An  official  criticism  on  the  expedition. 


THERE  was  no  abatement  of  the  mili 
tary  spirit  of  the  loyal  North. 
With  each  development  of  secession 
there  was  an  increased  vigor  shown  on 
the  part  of  the  defenders  of  the  Union. 
In  two  or  three  months  after  the  fall  of 
Fort  Sumter  it  was  estimated  that  two 
hundred  and  twenty-five  thousand  men, 
militia  and  volunteers,  had  already  mus 
tered  into  the  service  of  the  United 
States.  Of  these  there  were  some  sixty 
thousand  who  had  marched  to  the  pro 
tection  of  the  capital,  one  half  of  whom 
were  stationed  in  and  about  the  city  of 
Washington,  under  the  command  of 
Brigadier-General  J.  K.  T.  Mansfield, 
and  the  other  half  on  the  opposite 
and  south  side  of  the  Potomac,  under 
the  command  of  Brigadier-General  T. 
McDowell. 

Twelve  thousand  men  were  at  Fortress 
Monroe  and  its  environs,  in  command  of 
Major-General  B.  F.  Butler.  Twenty 


thousand  had  marched  from  Pennsyl 
vania  under  Majors-General  Robert  Pat 
terson  and  W.  H.  Kein  to  the  neighbor 
hood  of  Harper's  Ferry,  to  which  point 
Major-General  George  Cadwallader  with 
six  thousand  was  also  proceeding.  This 
combined  force  was  intended  to  co-oper 
ate  with  Major-General  George  B.  Mc- 
Clellan,  who,  crossing  the  Ohio  from  the 
west,  was  in  Western  Virginia  at  the 
head  of  twenty-five  thousand  men. 
Seven  thousand  had  gathered  at  Cairo, 
under  the  command  of  Brigadier-Gen 
eral  B.  M.  Prentiss  ;  and  Brigadier-Gen 
eral  Lyon  was  supposed  to  be  able  to 
muster  throughout  the  State  of  Missouri 
a  force  of  nearly  thirteen  thousand. 
Major-General  N.  P.  Banks,  who  had  suc 
ceeded  Cadwallader,  was  keeping  Balti 
more  and  Maryland  in  check  with  over 
ten  thousand.  The  rest  of  this  large 
army  was  still  in  camp  in  the  various 
Northern  and  Western  States,  ready  to 


•*.  . 


DISASTER  AT  VIENNA. 


323 


captured  the  enemy's  picket  guard,  the 
Lieutenant  boldly  pushed  into  the  town. 
As  he  entered,  he  was  met  by  a  fire  from 
the  windows  of  the  houses.  He  then 
charged  on  the  troops  he  found  there, 
and  drove  them  from  the  town.  They, 
however,  being  reinforced  by  several 
companies,  were  encouraged  to  return, 
when  Tompkins,  finding  himself  greatly 
outnumbered,  retreated  in  good  order, 
bringing  with  him  as  trophies  five  prison 
ers  fully  armed  and  equipped  and  two 
horses. 

"  My  loss,"  the  Lieutenant  officially 
reported,  "  is  three  men  missing,  three 
slightly  wounded,  and  twelve  horses  lost. 
The  loss  of  the  rebels  is  from  twenty  to 
twenty-five  in  killed  and  wounded. 
From,  observations  I  should  judge  that 
the  rebels  at  that  point  numbered  fully 
one  thousand  five  hundred  men."  The 
Lieutenant  himself  was  reported  to  have 
lost  two  horses  killed  under  him,  but  to 
have  escaped  with  but  a  slight  wound 
from  the  fall  of  one  of  them. 

The  affair  which  occurred  at  Vienna 
was  less  successful.  A  detachment  of 
Connecticut  troops  having  been  sent  out 
to  reconnoitre,  reported,  although  one 
of  the  men  had  been  wounded  by  a 
concealed  shot,  that  the  railroad  from 
the  Federal  lines  to  two  miles  beyond 
Vienna  was  clear  of  the  enemy.  On  the 
same  night,  however,  General  McDowell 
learned  that  the  secessionists  were  about 
to  obstruct  the  road,  by  destroying  the 
bridges  and  tearing  up  the  rails.  He 
accordingly  ordered  Brigadier-General 
Sclienck,  of  the  Ohio  Volunteers,  for 
merly  member  of  Congress,  to  recon 


noitre  the  ground  and  station  guards  at 
the  various  exposed  points  of  the  road. 
Schenck  accordingly  mustered  six  hun 
dred  and  sixty- eight  rank  and  file,  with 
twenty-nine  field  and  company  officers 
of  the  First  Ohio  Volunteers,  and  started 
on  the  expedition  from  his  camp  three 
miles  beyond  Alexandria.  Placing  his 
men  in  the  railroad  cars  he  proceeded 
on  his  route  along  the  London  and 
Hampshire  Railroad,  upon  which  the 
village  of  Vienna  is  situated,  at  a  dis 
tance  of  about  fifteen  miles  from  the 
city  of  Alexandria. 

In  accordance  with  his  orders,  Schenck 
stationed  one  hundred  and  thirty  men 
at  the  crossing  of  the  road,  and  sent 
one  hundred  and  seventeen  men  to 
Falls  Church  to  reconnoitre  in  that  di 
rection.  He  then  went  on,  leaving  one 
hundred  and  thirty  men  to  guard  the 
railroad  and  the  bridge  between  the 
crossing  and  Vienna.  He  had  now  only 
four  companies  left,  consisting  of  two 
hundred  and  seventy-five  men.  With 
this  remnant  of  his  force  he  proceeded 
toward  Vienna." 

"  On  turning  the  curve  slowly,  within 
one  quarter  of  a  mile  of  Vienna,"  said 
the  Brigadier  in  his  official  report,  "we 
were  fired  upon  by  raking  masked  batteries 
of,  I  think,  three  guns,  with  shells, 
round  shot,  and  grape,  killing  and  wound 
ing  the  men  on  the  platform  and  in  the 
cars  before  the  train  could  be  stopped. 
When  the  train  stopped,  the  engine 
could  not,  on  account  of  damage  to 
some  part  of  the  running  machinery, 
draw  the  train  out  of  the  fire.  The 
engine  being  in  the  rear,  we  left  the 


324 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


cars,  and  retired  to  the  right  and  left  of 
the  train  through  the  woods. 

"Finding  that  the  enemy's  batteries 
were  sustained  by  what  appeared  about 
a  regiment  of  infantry,  and  by  cavalry, 
which  force  we  have  since  understood  to 
have  been  some  fifteen  hundred  South 
Carolinians,  we  fell  back  along  the  rail 
road,  throwing  out  skirmishers  on  both 
flanks ;  and  this  was  about  seven  p.  M. 
Thus  we  retired  slowly,  bearing  off  our 
wounded  five  miles  to  this  point,  which 
we  reached  at  ten  o'clock." 

The  loss  reported  was  five  killed,  six 
wounded,  and  ten  missing.  The  Gen 
eral  had  good  ground  of  complaint 
against  the  engineer,  who,  he  says, 
"  when  the  men  left  the  cars,  instead  of 
retiring  slowly,  as  I  ordered,  detached 
his  engine  with  one  passenger  car  from 
the  rest  of  the  disabled  train  and  aban 
doned  us,  running  to  Alexandria,  and 
we  have  heard  nothing  from  him  since. 
Thus  we  were  deprived  of  a  rallying- 
point,  and  of  all  means  of  conveying 
the  wounded,  who  had  to  be  carried  on 
litters  and  in  blankets." 

The  conduct  of  the  expedition  was  se 
verely  censured.  A  writer*  who  accom 
panied  it,  and  wrote  a  graphic  descrip 
tion  of  it,  while  he  did  not  withhold  his 
admiration  of  the  courage  of  the  Ohio 
troops  and  their  leaders,  did  not  hesitate 
to  rebuke  the  imprudent  management 
of  the  enterprise.  He  wrote  :  u  However 
wise  or  necessary  this  plan  of  dropping 
squads  behind  might  be  in  an  ordinary 
advance,  it  certainly  was  of  doubtful  ex 
pediency  in  this  case.  There  were  no 

0  Correspondent  of  the  New  York  Tribune. 


villages  or  groups  of  houses  along  the 
route,  among  which  the  enemy's  men 
could  have  established  themselves  in 
force,  and  the  only  point  from  which  an 
attack  could  be  seriously  apprehended 
was  Yienna  itself.  Had  the  entire  regi 
ment — and  a  larger  body  would  have 
been  better — been  pushed  rapidly  down 
to  Vienna,  we  should  have  been  more 
fully  prepared  to  encounter  and  act 
against  an  ambush ;  and,  had  all  proved 
quiet,  nothing  would  have  been  lost,  since 
we  had  the  advantage  of  railroad  speed, 
by  stationing  the  guards  on  the  return, 
instead  of  the  advance.  It  is  true  that 
the  entire  course  of  the  road  is  through 
a  valley,  and  that  the  hills  on  either  side, 
and  the  heavy  thickets  which  screen 
them,  appear  to  offer  excellent  situations 
for  ambuscade  ;  but  the  roads  in  the 
neighborhood  are  few,  and  those  which 
exist  are  quite  impracticable  for  the 
ready  transportation  of  troops,  not  to 
speak  of  artillery.  Decidedly  the  sus 
picious  spot  was  Yienna  and  its  vicinity. 
A  certain  disposition  to  tardy  caution 
was  frustrated  by  the  carelessness  of  the 
engine-driver.  He  had  been  directed  to 
stop  at  the  distance  of  a  mile  from  the 
town,  whence  skirmishers  were  to  be 
thrown  out,  and  proper  reconnoissances 
to  be  made.  Instead  of  doing  so,  lie 
shot  ahead  until  within  half  a  mile  or 
less,  so  that  this  single  chance  of  avert 
ing  the  impending  danger  was  wasted. 
The  train  was  rounding  a  gentle  curve, 
and  the  men  were  laughing,  quite  un 
conscious  of  peril,  when  the  first  round 
of  shot  fell  among  them,  tearing  five 
of  them  to  pieces,  and  wounding  main 


THE  AMBUSH  AT  VIENNA. 


325 


others.  The  rebels'  guns  had  been  care 
fully  planted  in  the  curve,  and  were 
hidden  until  the  worst  part  of  their 
work  was  accomplished.  The  first  dis 
charge  was  the  most  fatal.  The  four 
companies  were  disposed  upon  open 
platform  cars,  and  were  first  of  all  ex 
posed  to  the  enemy's  fire.  The  engine 
was  at  the  rear  of  the  train.  It  was 
fortunate  that  most  of  the  men  were 
sitting,  for  the  shot  flew  high,  and  only 
those  who  stood  erect  were  struck. 
Major  Hughey  was  among  the  foremost, 
but  was  unharmed.  General  Schenck 
and  Colonel  McCook  were  in  a  covered 
car  behind  the  troops.  The  Colonel 
instantly  sprang  out,  and  gathered  the 
best  part  of  his  men  together.  The 
enemy's  field-pieces  had  been  stationed 
to  command  the  line  of  the  railroad  and 
nothing  else.  They  were  at  the  termin 
ation  of  the  curve,  to  the  left  of  the 
track,  and  elevated  a  few  feet  above  the 
grade.  With  the  exception  of  that 
company  which  was  the  most  exposed, 
and  which  suffered  the  most,  the  men 
promptly  assembled  near  Colonel  Mc 
Cook,  who  proceeded  to  form  them  in 
line  of  battle,  and  to  lead  them  into  the 
protection  of  a  little  wood,  or  thicket, 
at  the  right  of  the  track,  apart  from  the 
range  of  the  battery.  Meanwhile  shot 
and  shell  continued  to  assail  the  train, 
and  those  who  lingered  near  it.  The 
engine-driver,  in  a  panic,  detached  his 
locomotive  and  a  single  car,  and  dashed 
off  at  full  speed.  The  rebel  artillerists 
then  directed  their  range,  so  as  to 
menace  Colonel  McCook's  three  com 
panies,  upon  which  the  Colonel  quietly 


marched  them  over  to  the  left  of  the 
track,  into  another  clump  of  trees, 
where  he  collected  all  his  little  force, 
and  arrayed  them  boldly  in  line.  The 
shot  from  the  rebels  now  flew  very 
wild,  cutting  the  trees  overhead  and 
around,  and,  in  their  hurry,  they  made 
the  frequent  blunder  of  discharging  their 
shell  without  opening  the  fuse.  But, 
notwithstanding  this,  Colonel  McCook's 
position  was  far  from  comfortable.  He 
saw  that  he  was  prodigiously  outnum 
bered,  and  that  if  the  enemy  could  only 
keep  their  wits  for  a  few  minutes,  he 
must  inevitably  be  captured,  or  ven 
ture  a  struggle  at  fearful  odds.  He  had 
only  about  one  hundred  and  eighty  men, 
while  the  rebel  force  exceeded  two 
thousand.  Their  field-pieces  alone,  de 
cently  managed,  would  have  destroyed 
the  little  Ohio  band  in  a  twinkling.  But 
the  Ohio  men  never  flinched,  and  this 
was  the  reward  of  their  bravery  :  the 
rebels  observing  such  a  mere  handful 
bearing  themselves  undaunted  before 
their  superior  host,  were  at  first  amazed, 
and  then  startled  into  the  conviction  that 
powerful  reinforcements  must  be  close 
at  hand.  How  else,  it  seemed  to  them, 
could  this  sprinkling  of  troops  hold  their 
ground.  It  could  be  nothing  but  the 
confidence  of  overwhelming  strength 
that  sustained  them.  And  this  is  not 
conjecture.  The  information  since  re 
ceived  from  Vienna  proves  it  to  have 
been  their  real  belief.  Disheartened  by 
this  belief,  they  became  irresolute,  their 
fire  slackened,  they  wavered,  and,  in  a 
few  minutes,  broke  up  their  lines  and 
slowly  retired.  At  the  same  time 


326 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE   SOUTH. 


Colonel  McCook,  having  secured  his 
wounded,  also  withdrew,  his  two  thou 
sand  assailants  making  no  attempt  or 
motion  to  oppose  his  retreat." 

The  enemy,  too,  gave  their  version  of 
the  affair  at  Vienna,  claiming  a  victory, 
which  they  said  they  had  won  with  a 
force  of  six  hundred  Carolinians,  a  com 
pany  of  artillery,  and  two  companies 
of  cavalry.  They,  moreover,  insisted 
that  the  attack  was  an  extemporaneous 
one,  and  that  they  "had  scarcely  time 
to  place  two  cannon  in  position"  when 
the  Federal  troops  first  showed  them 
selves.  One  "well-directed  shot," which 
raked  the  railroad  cars,  was  sufficient, 
they  asserted,  to  cause  consternation  and 
dismay ;  and  force  the  Federalists  to  fly 
to  the  woods.  "A  few  of  the  party," 
however,  they  confessed,  "exhibited 
some  bravery,  and  endeavored,  by 
shouts,  to  rally  their  flying  comrades, 
but  it  was  impossible." 

The  enemy  had  possession,  on  their 
right,  to  the  south  of  Alexandria,  of 
the  Virginian  bank  of  the  river  Po 
tomac,  and  here  they  had  been  zeal 
ously  at  work,  protecting  themselves 
with  batteries.  Captain  Ward,  of  the 
steamer  Freeborn,  and  in  command  of 
the  flotilla  of  the  Potomac,  was  on  the 
alert,  and  was  eager  to  prevent  the 
completion  of  these  batteries.  Ac 
cordingly,  having  discovered  that  the 
enemy  were  about  to  erect  works  at 
Matthias  Point,  a  commanding  position 
fifty  miles  below  "Washington,  where 
the  river  narrows  and  makes  an  abrupt 
turn,  first  to  the  north  and  then  to  the 
south,  Captain  Ward  determined  to  try 


to  dislodge  them.  His  plan  was,  to 
effect  a  landing  upon  the  point  under 
cover  of  the  guns  of  his  steamer,  and 
after  driving  away  the  enemy,  to  de 
stroy  the  works  in  progress  and  cut 
down  the  trees  which  concealed  them 
from  the  river.  He  accordingly  obtained 
from  Captain  Rowan,  in  command  june 
of  the  Pawnee,  stationed  above  on  27. 
the  Potomac,  off  the  mouth  of  Acquia 
Creek,  two  boats7  crews,  and  these,  to 
gether  with  some  of  his  own  men,  num 
bering  in  all  about  forty,  armed  and 
equipped  with  axes  and  building  ma 
terials,  he  sent  ashore  at  Matthias  Point, 
while  he  closed  in  with  his  own  steamer 
to  cover  their  landing. 

The  men  succeeded  in  reaching  the 
land  without  resistance,  and  selecting 
a  position  began  at  once  to  construct 
sand- bag  breastworks.  Under  cover 
of  the  guns  of  the  Freeborn  they  re 
mained  at  work  unmolested  for  four 
hours  and  a  half.  At  five  o'clock  in  the 
afternoon,  however,  when  returning  to 
their  boats,  with  the  view  of  going  on 
board  the  steamer  to  obtain  cannon  to 
mount  upon  the  work,  a  large  number 
of  the  enemy  suddenly  made  their  ap 
pearance,  arid  fired  upon  them  a  volley 
of  musketry. 

The  men  hurried  in  confusion  to  their 
boats,  and  as  they  pushed  off',  left  some 
of  their  comrades  behind.  The  Free 
born,  in  the  mean  time,  brought  her 
guns  to  bear  upon  the  enemy,  who 
were,  however,  greatly  protected  by 
the  brushwood,  behind  which  they  had 
sought  cover,  and  whence  they  kept  up 
a  direct  fire  upon  the  steamer.  The  gun- 


DEATH   OF   CAPTAIN  WARD. 


327 


ner  at  the  bow  guns  being  wounded, 
Captain  "Ward  took  his  place  himself, 
and  was  sighting  the  piece,  when  a 
Minie  ball  struck  him  in  the  abdomen 
and  killed  him  almost  on  the  instant. 

That  the  enterprise  of  Captain  Ward, 
however  gallantly  conducted,  was  an 
imprudent  one,  seemed  to  be  the  opinion 
of  some  of  his  fellow-officers.  Captain 
Rowan,  of  the  Pawnee,  says  "  the  Res 
olute  returned,  with  a  request  from 
Captain  Ward  that  I  should  send  her 
back,  if  I  had  no  more  important  service 
for  her.  I  immediately  despatched  the 


Reliance  to  Captain  Ward,  knowing  the 
danger  to  which  our  people  would  be 
exposed  if  he  contemplated  a  landing  at 
Matthias  Point,  as  I  feared  was  his  in 
tention,  judging  from  the  nature  of  the 
order  he  gave  me,  to  furnish  him  with 
such  equipments  as  were  necessary  to 
cut  down  trees  on  the  Point  and  burn 
them  ;"  and  Captain  Rowan  continues 
with  the  declaration,  that  "Lieutenant 
Chaplin  and  his  command"  (whom  he  sent 
to  the  aid  of  Ward,  and  complimented 
for  their  gallantry)  ' '  escaped  utter  de 
struction  by  a  miracle." 


CHAPTER    XXX. 

Occupation  of  Harper's  Ferry  by  the  Enemy. — Their  Force. — General  Johnston. — His  Life  and  Character. — The  advant 
ages  of  position  at  Harper's  Ferry. — The  defences  of  the  place. — The  movement  of  the  Federal  Forces  upon  Har 
per's  Ferry. — Combination  of  Federal  Generals. — Alarm  of  General  Johnston.— Evacuation  of  Harper's  Ferry. — 
Destructiveness. — A  lively  description  by  a  Secessionist. — A  conflagration. — A  picture. — Route  of  Johnston. — Ad 
vance  of  the  Federalists. — Movement  of  General  Patterson. — Crossing  the  Potomac. — Coming  up  with  the  Enemy. 
— Battle  of  Falling  Waters. — A  droll  description. — The  Secessionists  routed. — Flight  to  Bunker  Hill. — Pursuit  by 
General  Patterson. — Arrival  at  Martinsburgh. — Losses  at  Falling  Waters. — Harper's  Ferry  unoccupied. — Return  to 
Harper's  Ferry  of  a  detachment  of  the  Enemy. — Their  proceedings  on  the  occasion. — Terror  and  destruction.— Com 
bined  movement  of  the  Secessionists.— Subjection  of  Western  Virginia  intended. — The  Secession  force  under  Gen 
eral  Garnett.— The  encampment  at  Laurel  Hill. — Distribution  of  Troops. — March  of  General  Wise. — Position  of 
Johnston. — Advance  of  General  McClellan. — Proclamations.— Disposition  of  his  forces. — Skilful  strategy. — General 
Rosencranz  sent  against  the  enemy. — Battle  of  Rich  Mountain. — Flight  of  the  Enemy. — Losses. — A  rich  Capture. 
— Advance  of  McClellan  to  Beverly. — Sudden  disappearance  of  the  Enemy.— McClellan  in  possession  of  Beverly 
— The  retreat  of  the  Enemy. — Possession  of  their  camp.  — 7McClellan's  movement  to  cut  them  off. — Importance  of 
Beverly. — The  enemy's  works. — Inner  and  outer  works. — Rifle  Pits. — Abattis. — Redoubts. — McClellan's  reports. — 
Surrender  of  Pegram  and  his  force.— Correspondence  on  the  occasion. — Coming  up  with  Garnett. — Battle  of  Carrick's 
Ford. — Death  of  Garnett. — Account  of  the  Battle. — Reports  of  McClellan. — A  glowing  tribute  to  his  Soldiers.— 
Failure  of  a  well-laid  plan. — Escape  of  the  Fugitives. — An  enemy's  account  of  the  Battle  of  Rich  Mountain. 


EVER  since  the  abandonment  and  un 
fortunately  incomplete  destruction 
'  of  the   public  works    at   Harper's 
Ferry   by   Lieutenant    Jones,    already 
described  in  an  earlier  part  of  this  nar 
rative,    the    enemy   had    occupied    the 


place.  A  large  force,  amounting  to 
nearly  twenty  thousand  men,  was  here 
mustered  under  one  of  their  ablest 
officers,  General  Johnston. 

Joseph  Eccleston  Johnston  was  born 
in  Virginia,  in  1804,  and  at  an  early 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


age  entered  the  military  academy  of 
West  Point.  After  a  career  of  success 
ful  study  in  this  institution,  he  received 
the  commission  of  second  lieutenant  of 
artillery.  In  1836,  he  became  first 
lieutenant,  and  was  appointed  to  the 
lucrative  position  of  assistant  commis 
sary  of  subsistence.  In  1838,  such  was 
his  high  professional  repute,  he  was 
promoted  to  a  first  lieutenancy  in  that 
corps  d'elite  the  Topographical  Engineers, 
in  which  rank  he  served  during  the 
Indian  war  in  Florida,  and  was  brevetted 
captain  in  reward  for  his  services.  In 
1846,  he  was  promoted  captain  in  full, 
and  during  the  Mexican  war  served 
with  distinction,  first  in  the  engineer 
corps,  and  subsequently  with  the  volti- 
geurs.  He  was  brevetted  twice  for  good 
service  and  gallant  conduct.  At  the 
end  of  the  war  he  resumed  his  position 
as  an  officer  of  engineers,  and  after  a 
long  service  in  the  bureau  of  that  de 
partment,  was  appointed,  by  General 
Scott,  in  June,  1860,  quartermaster-gen 
eral.  Notwithstanding  this  late  ap 
pointment  to  so  important  a  post,  which 
would  seem  to  have  been  a  proof  of 
great  reliance  placed  in  his  fidelity  by 
the  commander-in-chief  of  the  United 
States,  Johnston  was  among  the  earliest 
of  the  Federal  officers  of  Southern 
origin  to  abandon  the  Union  and  give 
in  his  adherence  to  secession.  At  this 
time,  although  fifty-seven  years  of  age, 
a  man  of  great  energy,  he  was  esteemed 
one  of  the  ablest  officers  in  the  service 
of  the  Southern  Confederacy.  With 
great  ability  as  a  strategist  and  a  man 
of  inflexible  spirit,  he  proved  to  be  as  a 


leader  and  conspirator  a  most  persistent 
and  formidable  antagonist.  A  square 
and  compact  head,  a  firm  compression 
of  the  upper  lip  and  a  certain  fulness 
of  animal  development  about  the  lower 
lip,  chin,  and  neck,  are  the  external  in 
dications  of  those  qualities  of  calcula 
tion,  firmness,  and  brute  courage  which 
are  known  to  characterize  him. 

Johnston  seemed  determined  to  hold 
Harper's  Ferry  as  a  basis  of  operations. 
Commanding  the  Ohio  and  Baltimore 
Railroad,  the  great  avenue  of  communi 
cation  between  the  valley  of  the  Ohio 
and  the  sea,  through  Chesapeake  Bay, 
and  being  separated  from  Maryland  only 
by  the  river,  and  from  Pennsylvania  by 
a  narrow  stretch  of  the  former  State, 
Harper's  Ferry  was  favorably  placed 
for  operating  in  Western  Virginia,  Mary 
land,  or  even  in  Pennsylvania.  The 
enemy  seemed  determined  to  hold  the 
position,  and  raised  works  of  defence 
commanding  the  various  approaches  not 
only  on  the  Virginia  but  the  Maryland 
side  of  the  river,  where  they  occupied 
the  high  banks  in  force. 

The  Federal  forces  now  moved  from 
three  different  points  with  the  view  of 
driving  the  secessionists  from  Harper's 
Ferry.  General  McClellan  was  advanc 
ing  from  the  Ohio  through  Western 
Virginia  ;  General  Stone,  detached  from 
the  army  before  Washington,  was  mov 
ing  up  the  Potomac  ;  and  General  Pat 
terson  marching  with  his  column  from 
Pennsylvania  in  the  north,  with  the 
view  of  closing  in  upon  the  enemy's 
position  at  Harper's  Ferry. 

General  Johnston  becoming  alarmed, 


EVACUATION  OF  HARPER'S  FERRY. 


329 


determined  to  evacuate  the  place.  Be 
fore  leaving,  however,  he  strove  to  ren 
der  it  untenable  by  and  useless  to  his 
antagonists.  All  the  machinery  of  the 
public  works  left,  after  the  incomplete  de 
struction  by  Lieutenant  Jones,  had  been 
already  removed  to  Richmond  and  there 
utilized,  greatly  to  the  advantage  of  the 
enemy.  Johnston,  however,  destroyed 
all  the  remnant  of  the  arsenals  and  work 
shops,  the  great  railway  bridge  over  the 
Potomac,  and  a  portion  of  the  railroad 
itself.  A  secessionist  officer  has  given  a 
lively  description  of  the  evacuation. 
June  "  On  Thursday,  just  as  the  troops 
13t  were  in  a  fair  way  for  the  enjoy 
ment  of  the  holiday  from  military  duty, 
consequent  upon  the  fast-day,  an  order 
was  circulated  among  the  different  regi 
ments  for  immediate  preparations  for 
march.  This  was  the  first  intimation 
we  had  of  General  Johnston's  purpose 
to  evacuate  Harper's  Ferry.  Instantly 
the  whole  place  was  in  a  stir.  Hundreds 
of  baggage- wagons  were  laden,  burly, 
big-bellied  broad  treads,  and  stuffed  with 
provision  stores,  while  ammunition  was 
carefully  deposited  in  safe  trains,  and 
from  every  side  arose  the  swelling  strains 
of  music  as  the  troops  took  up  the  line 
of  march. 

"  The  necessity  of  this  step  was  ren 
dered  the  more  apparent  by  the  fact 
that  intelligence  had  been  received  of 
the  rapid  approach  of  General  McClel- 
lan's  division  of  the  Federal  army 
toward  Winchester.  Thus  we  were  to 
be  intercepted,  and  our  small  force  com 
pletely  hemmed  in  by  the  constantly 
augmenting  numbers  of  the  Northerners, 

42 


and  either  cut  to  pieces  or  compelled  to 
surrender.  Our  commander  very  pru 
dently  chose  to  take  neither  horn  of  the 
dilemma,  but  resolved  to  desert  Harper's 
Ferry  and  boldly  strike  into  the  valley 
of  Virginia,  where  he  could  attack  the 
enemy.  We  are  thus  to  be  made  the 
offensive  party,  and  shall  certainly,  in 
good  time,  make  a  proper  report  of  our 
interview  with  the  blustering  Hoosiers 
and  Buckeyes. 

"The  companies  of  Captains  Desha 
and  Pope  were  quickly  under  arms,  and 
moved  to  the  armory  yard,  where,  hav 
ing  stacked  their  rifles,  they  awaited 
orders.  The  Kentuckians,  under  Col 
onel  Duncan,  reported  themselves  at  the 
same  place,  and  were  subsequently  re 
moved  to  Camp  Hill,  overlooking  the 
battery.  A  large  number  of  men  left 
by  railway  for  Winchester,  and  others, 
for  lack  of  transportation,  marched  afoot. 
During  the  day  there  was  an  indescrib 
able  scene  of  excitement.  Broadway,  in 
its  palmiest  day,  never  witnessed  such  a 
jam  as  this  little  town.  The  business 
houses  were  closed,  families  were  at 
tempting  to  move  their  effects,  and 
every  street  and  avenue  was  crowded 
with  loaded  wagons.  Officers  were 
dashing  hither  and  thither,  and  soldiers 
were  on  the  qui  vive  for  movement. 
Loads  of  provisions,  that  it  was  found 
impossible  to  transport,  were  dumped  in 
the  river.  There  was  a  general  rush  by 
the  boys  for  sugar  and  bread.  It  was, 
indeed,  in  more  senses  than  one,  a  fast 
day.  In  the  first  place,  we  had  no  regu 
lar  meal,  and  every  movement  was  made 
at  the  most  accelerated  rate  of  speed. 


330 


THE  WAR   WITH   THE   SOUTH. 


"During  the  afternoon,  the  pickets 
of  the  enemy  were  distinctly  observable 
on  the  Maryland  Heights,  and  Captain 
Desha  and  Lieutenant  Rogers  took  a 
crack  at  them  with  their  rifles,  which 
caused  the  tories  to  disappear  rather 
suddenly. 

"Just   after   dark,    Captain    Desha' 
company    was    ordered    to    accompany 
Major  Whiting,  the  chief  engineer,  across 
the  Potomac,  and  make  preparations  for 
blowing   up  the  bridge.     This  was   an 
undertaking  of  no  inconsiderable  hazard. 
The  enemy  was  known  to  be  in  the  im 
mediate  vicinity,  and  it  was  thought  not 
unlikely   that   they   might    attempt   to 
force  a  passage  of  the  bridge.     I  have 
slept  in  many  places  and  under  many 
disadvantages,  but  never  before  above  a 
foaming,  turbulent  river;  and  just  above 
a  terrible  mine  that  in  an  instant  could 
flash  the  structure  into  a  myriad  of  frag 
ments.      The    night,    however,    passed 
quietly,  and  in  the   early  grey  of  the 
morning    we   were    visited    by   Major 
Whiting.     The    immense    bridge,    over 
three  quarters  of  a  mile  in  length,  was 
thoroughly  saturated,  the  torch  lit,  and 
just  as  we  reached  the  Virginia  shore 
the  magnificent  structure  was  hurried 
into  mid  air,  falling  a  shapeless  mass  of 
ruins  into  the  rapid  stream.     The  burn 
ing  dtbris,  with  the  clouds  of  lurid  flame, 
presented  a  picture  worthy  an  artist's 
study.     In  an  hour  or  two  the  massive 
and   extensive    armory   buildings  were 
ignited,  and  the  conflagration  that  en 
sued  was  of  the  most  terrific  and  im 
pressive  character.     In  order  to  prevent 
the  flames' extending  to  private  property, 


the  troops  were  detailed  to  act  as  fire 
men,  under  Captain  Fauntleroy,  of  the 
Confederate  navy,  and  right  manfully 
did  they  discharge  their  arduous  duty. 
Not  a  penny's  worth  of  that  which  did 
not  belong  to  the  Government  was  de 
stroyed." 

After  evacuating  Harper's  Ferry,  Gen 
eral  Johnston  retreated  along  the  valley 
of  the  Shenandoah  to  Winchester,  in 
order  to  secure  his  communications  with 
the  main  body  of  the  secessionists  at 
Manassas  Junction  and  the  city  of  Rich 
mond. 

It  is  here  necessary  to  recur  to  the 
progress  of  the  Federal  forces,  which 
had  caused  this  sudden  and  important 
movement  of  the  enemy  from  Harper's 
Ferry. 

General  Patterson  left  Chambersburg, 
in    Pennsylvania,    on    June    8th,    with 
nearly   twenty   thousand   men,    on   his 
march    southward    through    Maryland. 
From  Cumberland  and  Hagerstown,  in 
the  latter  State,  he  marched  to  Williams- 
port,  on  the  Potomac,  about  twenty-  j,,,|e 
five    miles   northwest  of  Harper's    18* 
Ferry.     Here  he  crossed  the  river  into 
Virginia,  a  movement  effected  with-  ju|y 
out  opposition   or  difficulty.     The     2. 
enemy,  however,  although  they  made  no 
show  of  resistance  to  the  passage  of  the 
troops  over  the  Potomac,  were  in  consid 
erable  force  at  a  short  distance  from  the 
ford  by  which  the  Federal  army  was 
passing. 

This  was  the  enemy's  rear  guard,  con 
sisting  of  three  or  four  thousand  men, 
with   cavalry   and   artillery  under    the 
ommand  of  General  Jackson,  encamped 


AFFAIR   AT  FALLING   WATERS. 


331 


at  a  place  called  Falling  Waters,  near 
Hainesville. 

The  advance  of  the  Federal  army, 
consisting  of  the  Wisconsin  First  and 
the  Pennsylvania  Eleventh  and  Twelfth 
Regiments  with  artillery  and  cavalry, 
was  immediately  thrown  forward  by 
Patterson,  while  his  main  body  was  still 
crossing  the  river  to  attack  the  enemy 
at  Falling  Waters.  The  commencement 
of  the  engagement  is  thus  drolly  de 
scribed  by  a  participator  : 

"The  battle  commenced  about  nine 
o'clock,  as  no  other  battle  probably  ever 
commenced  in  the  history  of  war. 
Colonel  Perkins'  battery  was  in  advance, 
and  the  Colonel  himself  a  quarter  of  a 
mile  in  the  lead  of  his  men,  when,  upon 
making  a  turn  in  the  road,  he  came 
suddenly  upon  two  mounted  officers. 
Military  salutes  were  passed,  hands 
were  shaken  all  round,  and  the  strangers 
asked  Colonel  Perkins  what  company  he 
belonged  to,  and  when  he  had  got  in. 
The  Colonel  replied  that  he  belonged  to 
Company  C,  and  had  just  arrived.  One 
of  the  strangers  observed,  reflectively, 
'  Company  C  !  Company  C  !'  and  just 
then  the  first  piece  of  the  battery  showed 
itself  around  the  turn,  when  he  ex 
claimed,  '  Artillery,  by  God !'  and  fled 
for  his  life  with  his  companion.  Colonel 
Perkins  immediately  shouted  to  his 
men,  '  Now,  boys,  come  on,  we've  got 
'em.'  In  less  than  a  minute  the  battery 
was  in  operation,  and  blazing  away  right 
and  left,  while  the  rebels  could  be  seen 
in  all  directions,  trying  to  form  their 
men." 

The  infantry  in  support  of  the  battery 


came  promptly  into  line  after  the  first 
shot,  and  poured  such  rapid  volleys  of 
musketry  upon  the  enemy  that  they 
did  not  find  time  to  form.  They  ac 
cordingly  retired  in  confusion,  turning 
and  shooting  irregularly  as  they  went. 
However,  on  reaching  a  farm  belonging 
to  a  person  of  the  name  of  Porterfield, 
they  succeeded  in  forming,  and  made  a 
brief  stand.  Although  covered  by  the 
house  and  barn,  behind  and  within  which 
they  sought  refuge,  they  were  soon 
again  forced  to  fly,  being  shelled  out  by 
the  artillery.  They  were  pursued  be 
yond  Hainesville,  when  our  wearied 
men  awaited  the  coming  up  of  their 
comrades,  and  the  secessionists  continued 
their  retreat  to  Martinsburgh.  Joined 
by  the  secession  troops  in  occupation  of 
that  place,  they  again  fell  back  until 
they  reached  the  main  body  under  Gen 
eral  Johnston,  encamped  at  Bunker  Hill. 

General  Patterson  followed  closely 
with  his  whole  force,  and  took  possession 
of  Martinsburgh  without  resistance,  on 
the  day  after  it  had  beer,  abandoned  by 
the  enemy.  The  loss  of  the  Federal 
troops  engaged  in  the  affair  at  Falling 
Waters,  was  three  killed  and  ten 
wounded  ;  that  of  the  enemy  was  esti 
mated  to  amount  to  nearly  thirty  killed 
and  fifty  wounded.  Their  force  in  the 
battle  was  said  to  have  numbered  five 
thousand  men,  while  the  unionists  were 
less  than  three  thousand. 

Harper's  Ferry,  for  some  good  strat 
egic  reason,  doubtless,  was  not  occupied 
by  the  Federal  troops,  and  General 
Johnston,  emboldened  by  the  fact,  sent 
back  a  detachment  to  the  place,  which 


332 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE   SOUTH. 


destroyed  the  fine  bridge  over  the  Shen- 
andoah,  the  railroad  bridge,  and  many 
of  the  public  buildings  and  private 
dwellings. 

Co-operating  with  the  army  under 
General  Johnston,  whose  retreat  from 
Harper's  Ferry  and  subsequent  ma 
noeuvres  until  he  reached  Winchester 
have  been  already  alluded  to,  were  two 
other  columns  of  Confederate  troops, 
thrown  into  Western  Virginia  with  the 
object  of  subjecting  that  loyal  district. 
One  of  these  columns,  estimated  to  num 
ber  about  ten  thousand  men,  under  the 
command  of  General  R.  S.  Garnett,  a 
Virginian,  and  formerly  an  officer  of 
repute  in  the  Federal  service,  had 
marched  into  the  valley  of  Cheat  River, 
the  principal  and  eastern  branch  of  the 
fork  of  the  Monongahela.  Garnett  had 
his  headquarters  at  Beverly,  on  the 
eastern  side  of  the  ridge  called  Laurel 
Hill,  which  lies  parallel  to  the  Alleghan}'- 
range  of  mountains.  Detachments  of 
his  command  were  distributed  in  various 
parts  of  Western  Virginia,  at  Bealington, 
Buckhannon,  Romney,  and  at  points  ap 
proaching  Philippi  and  Grafton,  which 
had  been  seized  by  the  unionists  under 
General  Kelley. 

The  third  column  of  secession  troops, 
under  the  command  of  Wise,  the  former 
Governor  of  Virginia,  had  advanced 
from  the  extreme  southwest  of  the  State 
beyond  the  Greenbrier  Mountains,  into 
the  valley  of  the  Kanawha. 

Johnston  was  thus  to  the  east  of  the 
Alleghanies,  between  that  range  and  the 
Blue  Ridge,  and  so  placed  that  he  might 
co-operate  either  with  the  Confederate 


line  extending  from  Manassas  to  the 
Potomac,  or  give  aid  to  Garnett,  who  was 
not  far  from  him,  though  on  the  other 
side  of  the  mountains,  while  Wise  was 
to  act  in  co-operation  with  the  whole  to 
the  extreme  west  beyond  the  Allegha 
nies. 

General  McClellan*   having  now,  in 


°  General  McClellan,  on  entering  Virginia,  issued  these 
proclamations  : 

' '  HEADQUARTERS  DEPARTMENT  OF  TIIE  OHIO,  i 
GRAFTON  (VA.),  June  23,  1861.  j 

"To  THE  INHABITANTS  OF  WESTERN  VIRGINIA  :  The  army 
of  this  department,  headed  by  Virginia  troops,  is  rapidly 
occupying  all  Western  Virginia.  This  is  done  in  co 
operation  with  and  in  support  of  such  civil  authorities  of 
the  State  as  are  faithful  to  the  Constitution  and  laws  of 
the  United  States.  The  proclamation  issued  by  me  under 
date  of  May  26,  1861,  will  be  strictly  maintained.  Your 
houses,  families,  property,  and  all  your  rights  will  be 
religiously  respected.  We  are  enemies  to  none  but  armed 
rebels,  and  those  voluntarily  giving  them  aid.  All  officers 
of  this  army  will  be  held  responsible  for  the  most  prompt 
and  vigorous  action  in  repressing  disorder  and  punishing 
aggression  by  those  under  their  command. 

"To  my  great  regret  I  find  that  the  enemies  of  the 
United  States  continue  to  carry  on  a  system  of  hostilities 
prohibited  by  the  laws  of  war  among  belligerent  nations, 
and  of  course  far  more  wicked  and  intolerable  when  di 
rected  against  loyal  citizens  engaged  in  the  defence  of  the 
common  Government  of  ail.  Individuals  and  marauding 
parties  are  pursuing  a  guerrilla  warfare,  firing  upon  sen 
tinels  and  pickets,  burning  bridges,  insulting,  and  even 
killing  citizens  because  of  their  Union  sentiments,  and 
committing  many  kindred  acts. 

"  I  do  now,  therefore,  make  proclamation  and  warn  all 
persons  that  individuals  or  parties  engaged  in  this  species 
of  warfare,  irregular  in  every  view  which  can  be  taken  of 
it,  thus  attacking  sentries,  pickets,  or  other  soldiers,  de 
stroying  public  or  private  property,  or  committing  injuries 
against  any  of  the  inhabitants  because  of  Union  senti 
ments  or  conduct,  will  be  dealt  with  in  their  persons  and 
property  according  to  the  severest  rules  of  military  law. 

' '  All  persons  giving  information  or  aid  to  the  public 
enemies  will  be  arrested  and  kept  in  close  custody ;  and 
all  persons  bearing  arms,  unless  of  known  loyalty,  will  be 
arrested  and  held  for  examination. 

"  GEO.  B.  MCCLELLAN,  Major-General  U.  S.  A., 
"  Commanding  Department." 

' '  To  THE  SOLDIERS  OF  THE  ARMY  OF  THE  WEST  :  You 
are  here  to  support  the  Government  of  your  country,  and 
protect  the  lives  and  liberties  of  your  brethren,  threatened 


DISPOSITION  OF  McCLELLAN'S  FORCES. 


883 


person,  entered  Western  Virginia,  from 
Ohio,  disposed  his  force  so  as  to  counter 
act  this  combination  of  the  Confederates 
for  the  subjection  of  the  loyal  valley  of 
the  Kanawha.  He  first  sent  a  detach 
ment,  under  the  command  of  General 
Cox,  up  the  Kanawha  River  to  meet 
Wise  advancing  in  that  direction,  and 
keep  him  in  check,  while  he  himself, 
with  his  main  body,  having  reached 
Clarksburgh,  on  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio 
Railroad,  marched  directly  from  that 
place  against  the  enemy  under  G-arnett, 
encamped  at  Laurel  Hill,  near  Beverly. 
At  the  same  time  a  detachment  was  sent 
to  Philippi  to  act  with  the  Western  Vir 
ginians  there  under  Kelley,  and  move  to 
Bealington  in  order  to  prevent  the  re 
treat  of  the  enemy  by  the  Cheat  valley  ; 
another  body  of  troops  was  despatched 
to  West  Union,  in  case  they  should  strive 
to  escape  by  that  way  over  the  Alle- 
ghanies  and  form  a  junction  with  John 
ston  at  Winchester. 

The  only  other  means  of  retreat  was 

by  a  rebellious  and  traitorous  foe.  No  higher  or  nobler 
duty  could  devolve  on  you,  and  I  expect  you  to  bring  to 
its  performance  the  highest  and  noblest  qualities  of 
soldiers — discipline,  courage,  and  mercy. 

"I  call  upon  the  officers  of  every  grade  to  enforce  the 
highest  discipline,  and  I  know  that  those  of  all  grades, 
privates  and  officers,  will  display  in  battle  cool,  heroic 
courage,  and  will  know  how  to  show  mercy  to  a  disarmed 
enemy.  Bear  in  mind  that  you  are  in  the  country  of 
friends,  not  of  enemies — that  you  are  here  to  protect,  not 
to  destroy.  Take  nothing,  destroy  nothing  unless  you  are 
ordered  to  do  so  by  your  general  officers.  Remember  that 
I  have  pledged  my  word  to  the  people  of  Western  Vir 
ginia,  that  their  rights  in  person  and  property  shall  be  re 
spected.  I  ask  every  one  of  you  to  make  good  this 
promise  in  its  broadest  sense. 

"  We  have  come  here  to  save,  not  to  upturn.  I  do  not 
appeal  to  the  fear  of  punishment,  but  to  your  appreciation 
of  the  sacredness  of  the  cause  in  which  we  are  engaged. 
Carry  into  battle  the  conviction  that  you  are  right  and 
that  God  is  on  our  side.  Your  enemies  have  violated  every 


through  the  Cheat  Mountain  Gap,  above 
Beverly,  which  the  self-reliant  McClellaii 
determined  himself  to  close,  by  a  victory 
which  he  confidently  calculated  upon. 

Having  reached  Buckhannon  on  his 
march,  and  after  some  spirited  ju|y 
skirmishes  with  the  enemy's  ad-  7» 
vance  in  that  neighborhood,  McClellan's 
scouts  discovered  a  large  body  of  the 
enemy,  under  Colonel  Pegram,  in  an  en 
trenched  camp  in  Rich  Mountain  Gap 
of  the  Laurel  Hill  range.  This  position, 
twenty-six  miles  east  from  Buckhannon 
and  four  from  Beverly,  commanded  the 
road  to  Staunton,  a  town  situated  to  the 
west  of  the  Alleghanies. 

After  a  thorough  reconnoissance,  Mc- 
Clellan  sent  a  detachment  under  Colonel, 
now  General,  Rosencranz,  to  make  a 
circuit  through  the  woods  and  attack 
the  position  at  Rich  Mountain,  while  he 
himself  led  his  main  body  against  Gar- 
nett's  principal  camp  at  Laurel  Hill. 

After  a  long  and  rapid  march,  eight 
miles  of  which  were  through  a  dense 

moral  law  ;  neither  God  nor  man  can  sustain  them.  They 
have  without  cause  rebelled  against  a  mild  and  paternal 
Government ;  they  have  seized  upon  public  and  private 
property  ;  they  have  outraged  the  persons  of  Northern 
men  merely  because  they  came  from  the  North,  and  of 
Southern  Union  men  merely  because  they  loved  the 
Union  ;  they  have  placed  themselves  beneath  contempt, 
unless  they  can  retrieve  some  honor  on  the  field  of 
battle. 

"  You  will  pursue  a  different  course  ;  you  will  be  honest 
brave,  and  merciful ;  you  will  respect  the  right  of  private 
opinion ;  you  will  punish  no  man  for  opinion's  sake. 
Show  to  the  world  that  you  differ  from  our  enemies  in 
these  points  of  honor,  honesty,  and  respect  for  private 
opinion,  and  that  we  inaugurate  no  reign  of  terror  where- 
ever  we  go. 

"  Soldiers,  I  have  heard  that  there  was  danger  here.  I 
have  come  to  place  myself  at  your  head,  and  share  it  with 
you.  I  fear  now  but  one  thing,  that  you  will  not  find 
foemen  worthy  of  your  steel.  1  know  that  I  can  rely  upon 
you.  GEO.  B.  MCCLELLAN,  Maj.-Gen.  Com'g." 


334 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


mountain  forest  and  in  a  dark  night 
with  a  severe  storm  of  rain,  Rosen- 
cranz  halted  his  troops  next  morning  in 
July  view  of  the  enemy's  pickets.  The 
11*  Federal  force  numbered  sixteen 
hundred  men  ;  that  of  the  secessionists, 
estimated  at  two  thousand,  was  strongly 
entrenched  on  the  west  side  of  the  mount 
ain,  at  its  foot.  They  had  felled  and 
"  rolled  whole  trees  from  the  mountain 
side  and  lapped  them  together,  filling  in 
with  stones  and  earth  from  a  trench 
outside,"  testifies  General  Rosencranz's 
guide,  who  thus  gives  an  artless  and 
interesting  account  of  his  personal  ex 
perience  in  the  battle. 

"We  started,"  he  says,  "about  day 
light,  having  first  taken  something  to 
eat  (but  got  nothing  more  until  six 
o'clock  next  night,  when  some  of  them 
got  a  little  beef),  and  turned  into  the 
woods  on  our  right.  I  led,  accompanied 
by  Colonel  Landor,  through  a  pathless 
route  in  the  woods,  by  which  I  had 
made  my  escape  about  four  weeks  before. 
We  pushed  along  through  the  bushes, 
laurels,  and  rocks,  followed  by  the  whole 
division  in  perfect  silence.  The  bushes 
wetted  us  thoroughly,  and  it  was  very 
cold.  Our  circuit  was  about  five  miles. 
About  noon  we  reached  the  top  of  the 
mountain,  near  my  father's  farm.  It 
was  not  intended  that  the  enemy  should 
know  of  our  movements  ;  but  a  dragoon 
with  despatches  from  General  McClellan, 
who  was  sent  after  us,  fell  into  the 
hands  of  the  enemy,  and  they  thus 
found  out  our  movements.  They  im 
mediately  despatched  two  thousand  five 
hundred  men  to  the  top  of  the  mountain 


with   three    cannon.     They  entrenched 
themselves   with    earth-works    on    my 
father's  farm,  just  where   we   were  to 
come  into  the  road.     We  did  not  know 
they  were  there  until  we  came  on  their 
pickets,    and  their  cannon   opened  fire 
upon  us.     We  were  then  about  a  quarter 
of  a  mile  from  the  house,  and  skirmish 
ing  began.     I  left  the  advance  and  went 
into  the  main  body  of  the  army.     I  had 
no  arms  of  any  kind.     The  rain  began 
pouring    down   in   torrents,    while    the 
enemy  fired  his  cannon,  cutting  off  the 
tree-tops  over  our  heads   quite  lively. 
They  fired  rapidly.     I  thought,  from  the 
firing,   they  had   twenty-five   or   thirty 
pieces.    We  had  no  cannon  with  us.    Our 
boys  stood  still  in  the  rain  about  half  an 
hour.     The  Eighth  and  Tenth  then  led 
off,  bearing  to  the  left  of  our  position. 
The  bushes  were  so  thick  we  could  not 
see   out,  nor  could   the  enemy  see   us. 
The    enemy's   musket   balls   could    not 
reach  us.     Our  boys,  keeping  up  a  fire, 
got  down  within    sight  and  then   pre 
tended  to  run,  but  they  only  fell  down 
in  the  bushes  and  behind  rocks.     This 
drew  the   enemy  from  their  entrench 
ments,  when    our    boys   let   into   them 
with  their  Enfield  and  Minie  rifles,  and 
I  never  heard    such    screaming  in  my 
life.     The  Nineteenth,  in  the  mean  time, 
advanced  to  a  fence  in  a  line  with  the 
breastworks,  and  fired  one  round.     The 
whole   earth   seemed   to    shake.     They 
then  gave  the  Indiana  boys  a  tremen 
dous  cheer,  and  the  enemy  broke  from 
their  entrenchments  in  every  way  they 
could.     The  Indiana  boys  had  previously 
been  ordered  to  fix  bayonets.     We  could 


BATTLE  OF  RICH  MOUNTAIN. 


335 


hear  the  rattle  of  the  iron  very  plainly 
as  the  order  was  obeyed.  Charge 
bayonets  was  then  ordered,  and  away 
went  our  boys  after  the  enemy.  One 
man  alone  stood  his  ground,  and  fired  a 
cannon,  until  shot  by  a  revolver.  A 
general  race  for  about  three  hundred 
yards  followed  through  the  bush,  when 
our  men  were  recalled  and  reformed  in 
line  of  battle,  to  receive  the  enemy  from 
the  entrenchments  at  the  foot  of  the 
mountains,  as  we  supposed  they  would 
certainly  attack  us  from  that  point ;  but 
it  seemed  that  as  soon  as  they  no  longer 
heard  the  firing  of  the  cannon  they  gave 
up  all  for  lost.  They  then  deserted  their 
works  and  took  off  whatever  way  they 
could.  A  reinforcement,  which  was  also 
coming  from  Beverly  to  the  aid  of  the 
two  thousand  five  hundred,  retreated 
for  the  same  reason.  We  took  all  their 
wagons,  tents,  provisions,  stores,  and 
cannon,  many  guns  which  they  left, 
many  horses,  mules,  etc.  In  short,  we 
got  everything  they  had,  as  they  took 
nothing  but  such  horses  as  they  were  on. 
We  found  several  of  these  in  the  woods. 
One  hundred  and  thirty-five  of  the 
enemy  were  buried  before  I  left.  They 
were  for  the  most  part  shot  in  the  head, 
and  hard  to  be  recognized.  Some  six 
hundred,  who  had  managed  to  get  down 
to  the  river  at  Caplinger's,  finding  no 
chance  of  escape,  sent  in  a  flag  of  truce, 
and  on  Saturday  morning  they  were 
escorted  into  Beverly  \y  the  Chicago 
cavalry,  which  had  been  sent  after  them, 
Gen.  McClellan  having  in  the  mean  time 
gone  on  there  with  his  main  column." 
The  enemy  lost  a  hundred  and  fifty 


killed  and  about  three  hundred  wound 
ed  and  captured.  The  Federal  loss  was 
reported  to  have  been  but  eighteen 
killed  and  some  thnty-five  wounded. 
The  struggle  lasted  only  forty  minutes, 
when  the  enemy  fled  precipitately,  aban 
doning  everything,  camp  and  camp  equi 
page,  provisions,  artillery,  and  ammuni 
tion,  to  our  victorious  troops. 

In  the  mean  time,  while  Rosencranz 
was  routing  the  enemy  at  Rich  Mountain. 
General  McClellan  was  advancing  toward 
Beverly.  He  arrived  at  night  before 
the  enemy's  fortified  position  at  Laurel 
Hill,  and  waited  but  for  the  break  of 
morning  to  plant  his  cannon  on  a  com 
manding  position  and  begin  his  attack. 
The  morning  came,  and  it  was  dis-  juiy 
covered  that  the  enemy  had  fled,  12. 
abandoning  their  strong  position,  which 
was  occupied  by  a  detachment  of  troops 
under  General  Morris,  while  McClellan 
himself  delayed  not  a  moment  in  push 
ing  forward  to  Beverly  to  prevent  their 
retreat  in  that  direction. 

The  enemy  thus  headed  off  by  the 
prompt  movement  of  McClellan,  were 
forced  to  countermarch  and  seek  another 
outlet  of  escape.  They  now  fled  down 
the  valley  toward  St.  George.  McClellan 
at  once  despatched  Captain  Benham, 
with  a  detachment  from  his  own  force, 
to  join  General  Morris  and  the  troops 
left  in  occupation  of  the  enemy's  aban 
doned  camp,  and  followed  the  fugitives 
in  rapid  pursuit. 

General  McClellan,  in  his  report  of  the 
action    under  Rosencranz,   gave    a  jujy 
characteristically  terse  yet  compre-    12» 
hensive  account  of  the  victory  : 


336 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


"  HEADQUARTERS  DEFT.  OF  OHIO, 
RICH  MOUNTAIN,  YA.,  July  12,  9  A.  M. 

"  COLONEL  E.  D.  TOWNSEND  : 

"  We  are  in  possession  of  all  the 
enemy's  works  up  to  a  point  in  sight  of 
Beverly.  We  have  taken  all  his  guns, 
a  very  large  amount  of  wagons,  tents, 
etc. — everything  that  he  had.  A  large 
number  of  prisoners  were  also  taken, 
many  of  whom  are  wounded,  and  sev 
eral  of  whom  are  officers.  The  enemy 
lost  many  killed.  We  have  lost,  in  all, 
perhaps  twenty  killed  and  forty  wounded, 
of  whom  all  but  two  or  three  belong  to 
the  column  under  General  Rosencranz, 
which  turned  the  position  of  the  enemy. 
The  mass  of  the  rebels  escaped  through 
the  woods,  entirely  disorganized. 

."Among  the  prisoners  is  Dr.  Taylor, 
formerly  of  the  army.  Colonel  Pegram 
was  in  command  of  the  enemy's  forces. 

"  General  Rosencranz's  column  left 
camp  yesterday  morning,  and  marched 
eight  miles  through  the  mountains,  reach 
ing  the  turnpike  two  or  three  miles  in  the 
rear  of  the  enemy,  and  defeated  an  ad 
vance  force  and  captured  a  couple  of 
guns.  I  had  a  position  ready  for  twelve 
guns  near  the  main  camp,  and  as  the 
guns  were  moving  up,  it  was  ascertained 
that  the  enemy  had  retreated. 

"  I  am  now  pushing  on  to  Beverly. 
A  part  of  General  Rosencranz's  troops 
are  now  within  three  miles  of  it.  Our 
success  is  complete,  and  almost  blood 
less.  The  behavior  of  our  troops  in 
action  and  toward  the  prisoners  is  ad 
mirable. 
"G.  B.  MCCLELLAN,  Maj.-Gen.  Com." 

McClellan's  own  movement  on  Beverly, 


though  effected  without  a  struggle  with 
the  enemy,  was  still  more  important 
than  that  of  Rosencranz.  The  position 
which  they  had  abandoned  at  Beverly, 
on  the  approach  of  the  Federal  troops, 
was  considered  of  great  importance 
naturally,  and  had  been  strengthened  by 
elaborate  works.  These  consisted  of  a 
line  of  entrenchments  nearly  a  mile  in 
extent,  stretching  on  both  sides  of  the 
main  road  which  runs  from  Philippi  to 
Beverly.  Divided  by  this  road  they  ex 
tended  up  the  slopes  of  the  hills  on 
either  side,  and  commanded  one  of  the 
most  important  mountain  passes.  Rifle 
pits  were  dug  to  the  depth  of  three  feet, 
while  the  earth  was  thrown  up  so  as  to 
form  breastworks  to  each,  which  were 
further  protected  by  large  bushes.  Trees 
had  been  cut  down  and  their  trunks  and 
branches  so  prepared  and  disposed  as  to 
form  an  abattis,  which  extended  for 
several  hundred  yards  in  front  of  the 
approaches.  On  the  summits  of  two 
commanding  elevations  of  ground  were 
built  redoubts  of  logs  and  earth,  with 
embrasures  for  six  cannon  and  loop 
holes  for  musketry.  Within  the  outer 
works  were  others,  consisting  of  en 
trenchments  with  two  salients  for  cannon. 
This  was  intended  as  a  cover  under 
which  the  enemy,  in  case  he  had  been 
driven  from  his  exterior  fortifications, 
might  make  a  stand.  The  work  seemed 
so  formidable,  and  the  natural  position 
of  Beverly  so  strong,  that  if  the  seces 
sionists  had  been  disposed  to  hold  their 
ground,  it  would  probably  have  cost  a 
severe  struggle  and  great  loss  of  life  to 
have  driven  them  from  it. 


SURRENDER  OF  PEGRAM. 


337 


General  McClellan  summed  up  the 
result  with  his  usual  conciseness  : 

"  BEVERLY,  July  13,  1861. 
"  COL.  E.  D.  TOWNSEND,  WASHINGTON,  D.  C. : 

"  The  success  of  the  day  is  all  that  I 
could  desire.  We  captured  six  brass 
cannon,  of  which  one  is  rifled,  and  all 
the  enemy's  camp  equipage  and  trans 
portation,  even  to  his  cups.  The  num 
ber  of  tents  will  probably  reach  two 
hundred,  and  more  than  sixty  wagons. 
Their  killed  and  wounded  will  amount 
to  fully  one  hundred  and  fifty,  with  at 
least  one  hundred  prisoners,  and  more 
coming  in  constantly.  I  know  already 
often  officers  killed  and  prisoners.  Their 
retreat  was  complete.  I  occupied  Bev 
erly  by  a  rapid  march.  Garnett  aban 
doned  his  camp  early  this  morning, 
leaving  much  of  his  equipage.  He  came 
within  a  few  miles  of  Beverly,  but  our 
rapid  march  turned  him  back  in  great 
confusion,  and  he  is  now  retreating  on 
the  road  to  St.  George.  General  Morris 
is  to  follow  him  up  closely.  I  have  tel 
egraphed  for  the  two  Pennsylvania  reg 
iments  at  Cumberland  to  join  General 
Hill  at  Rowlesburg.  The  General  is 
concentrating  all  his  troops  at  Rowles 
burg,  and  will  cut  off  Garnett's  retreat 
near  West  Union,  or,  if  possible,  at  St. 
George.  I  may  say  that  we  have  driven 
out  some  ten  thousand  troops,  strongly 
intrenched,  with  the  loss  of  eleven  killed 
and  thirty-five  wounded.  Provision  re 
turns  found  here  show  Garnett's  force 
to  have  been  ten  thousand  men.  They 
were  Eastern  Virginians,  Georgians, 
Tennesseeans,  and,  I  think,  Carolinians. 
I  trust  that  General  Cox  has  by  this 

43 


time  driven  Wise  out  of  the  Kanawha 
Valley.  In  that  case  I  shall  have  ac 
complished  the  object  of  liberating 
Western  Virginia.  I  hope  the  General- 
in-Chief  will  approve  of  my  operations 

"G.  B.  MCCLELLAN, 
"  Major-General  Department  of  Ohio." 

The  good  result  of  McClellan's  prompt 
movement  and  possession  of  Beverly 
following  the  success  of  Rosencranz  was 
soon  manifest  in  the  surrender  of  Gen. 
Pegram,  who  had  been  routed  at  Rich 
Mountain.  This  was  thus  announced 
by  McClellan  in  his  despatch  to  Wash 
ington  : 

"  HEADQUARTERS,  BEVERLY,  VA.,  July  13,  1861. 
"  COL.  E.  D.  TOWNSENP,  WASHINGTON,  D.  C. : 

"  I  have  received  from  Colonel  Pe 
gram  propositions  for  the  surrender, 
with  his  officers  and  remnant  of  hig 
command — say  six  hundred  men.  They 
are  said  to  be  extremely  penitent,  and 
determined  never  again  to  take  up  arms 
against  the  General  Government.  I 
shall  have  near  nine  hundred  or  one 
thousand  prisoners  to  take  care  of  when 
Colonel  Pegram  comes  in.  The  latest 
accounts  make  the  loss  of  the  rebels  in 
killed  some  one  hundred  and  fifty. 

"G.  B.  MCCLELLAN, 
"Major-General  Department  of  Ohio." 

The  correspondence  which  passed  be 
tween  the  Confederate  general  and 
McClellan  was  as  follows  : 

"  HEADQUARTERS  AT  MR.  KETTLE'S  HOUSE, 

"  Near  Tygarfs  Valley  River,         \ 
Six  miles  from  Beverly,  July  12,  1861.  f 
"  To   '  COMMANDING   OFFICER'    OF    NORTHEBN 
FORCES,  BEVERLY,  VIRGINIA  : 

"  SIR  :  I  write  to  state  to  you  that  I 


338 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


have,  in  consequence  of  the  retreat  of 
General  Garnett,  and  the  jaded  and  re 
duced  condition  of  my  command,  most 
of  them  having  been  without  food  for 
two  days,  concluded,  with  the  concur 
rence  of  a  majority  of  my  captains  and 
field-officers,  to  surrender  my  command 
to  you  to-morrow  as  prisoners  of  war. 
I  ha,ve  only  to  add,  I  trust  they  will  re 
ceive  at  your  hands  such  treatment  as 
has  been  invariably  shown  to  the  North 
ern  prisoners  by  the  South. 

"I  am,  sir,  your  obedient  servant, 

"JOHN  PEGRAM, 
"  Lieut.-Col.  P.  A.  C.  S.  commanding." 

"  HEADQUABTEBS  DEPABTMENT  OF  OHIO,  ) 
BEVEBLY,  VA.,  July  13,  1861.  f 

"  JOHN  PEGEAM,  ESQ.,  STYLING  HIMSELF  LIEU 
TENANT-COLONEL  P.  A.  C.  S. : 
"  SIR  :  Your  communication,  dated 
yesterday,  proposing  to  surrender  as  pris 
oners  of  war  the  force  assembled  un 
der  your  command,  has  been  delivered 
to  me.  As  commander  of  this  depart 
ment,  I  will  receive  you  and  them  with 
the  kindness  due  to  prisoners  of  war  ; 
but  it  is  not  in  my  power  to  relieve  you 
or  them  from  any  liabilities  incurred  by 
taking  arms  against  the  United  States. 
I  am,  very  respectfully,  your  obedient 
servant,  GEO.  B.  MCCLELLAN, 
"Major-General  U.  S.  A.,  Com.  Dept." 
General  Garnett  having  fled  from 
Beverly,  and  been  turned  by  McClellari 
and  Rosencranz,  was  forced  to  seek 
safety  in  the  direction  of  St.  George. 
General  Morris,  however,  and  Captain 
Benham  followed  close  after  him,  and 
succeeding  in  coming  up  with  him  at 
Oarrack's  Ford,  forced  him  to  a  fight, 


in  which  the  Confederate  commander 
lost  his  life,  and  his  troops  were  once 
more  dispersed.  One  who  served  under 
General  Morris  has  given  this  account  of 
the  engagement : 

"  We  entered  the  camp  at  Laurel  Hill 
at  ten  A.M.  on  Friday,  the  12th,  and  at 
eleven  o'clock  the  Fourteenth  Ohio  and 
Seventh  and  Ninth  Indiana  regiments 
started  in  pursuit.  The  command  push 
ed  on  about  two  miles  south  of  Leeds- 
ville  that  night,  and  halted  to  rest  from 
eleven  p.  M.  till  two  A.  M.  At  that  early 
hour  on  Saturday  morning,  the  force 
pushed  forward  in  a  pitiless  rain-storm, 
guided  by  the  baggage,  tents,  trunks, 
blankets,  haversacks,  knapsacks,  and 
even  clothing  of  the  flying  enemy.  It 
was  found  by  our  advanced  guard  that 
the  enemy,  in  striking  off  on  the  '  Lead 
ing  Creek'  road,  had  felled  trees  across 
it  as  they  fled,  to  retard  the  movement 
of  uiir  artillery.  Fortunately  a  guide 
directed  our  men  into  a  cross  road, 
which,  though  extremely  rough,  led 
again  into  the  route  of  the  enemy  at 
some  distance  from  the  Beverly  road, 
and  this  road  for  that  distance  was  un 
obstructed.  Reaching  the  enemy's  track 
again,  it  was  found  necessary  to  keep 
relays  of  axe-men  at  work  in  advance 
to  clear  the  road,  and  yet,  in  the  face 
of  the  terrible  storm,  our  gallant  men 
literally  cut  their  way  through,  handling 
their  axes  like  heroes,  and  gaining  on 
the  enemy  sensibly  every  hour. 

"  The  road  was  a  terribly  rough  one, 
and  was  rendered  extremely  muddy  by 
the  rain,  and  the  passage  of  several 
thousand  troops  in  front  had  not  im- 


BATTLE   OF  CARRACK'S  FORD. 


339 


proved  its  condition  ;  but  when  it  was 
found  that  the  enemy  had  left  the  turn 
pike  and  struck  off  to  the  right  over 
n  mere  wood-path,  up  and  down  the 
roughest  hills,  over  rocks,  and  through 
a  dense  forest,  hoping  to  discourage 
pursuit,  there  was  still  no  flinching. 
The  boys  had  no  time  to  eat  or  rest, 
and  thought  nothing  of  such  things — 
they  were  after  the  enemy,  and  with  this 
incentive,  and  the  prospect  of  a  fight 
ahead,  they  performed  one  of  the  most 
severe  marches  of  the  war  with  an  eager 
alacrity  exhilarating  to  behold.  This 
route  led  across  the  branches  of  the 
Cheat  River  several  times,  the  men 
plunging  through  the  streams  with  a 
dash,  and  hurrying  forward  with  re 
newed  zeal  as  the  articles  thrown  away 
along  the  road  began  to  indicate  that 
the  foe  was  so  hard  pushed  that  he  must 
soon  endeavor  to  make  a  stand. 

"  At  the  fourth  ford,  known  as  Car- 
rack's  Ford,  we  caught  sight  of  the  en 
emy.  Some  thirty  or  forty  wagons  were 
discovered  in  the  river  and  at  the  banks 
of  the  ford,  apparently  stuck  fast.  As 
our  column  pushed  rapidly  forward 
across  a  level  space,  the  Fourteenth  Reg 
iment,  Colonel  Stedman,  in  front,  the 
teamsters  called  out  that  they  would  sur 
render.  The  position,  however,  looked 
so  suspicious  that  the  men  were  disposed 
in  proper  order,  and  skirmishers  were 
thrown  out  toward  the  ford,  the  line 
moving  down  in  fine  order.  Just  as  our 
advance  was  near  the  stream,  and  only 
about  two  hundred  yards  from  a  steep 
bluff  rising  on  the  other  side,  an  officer 
was  seen  to  rise  from  the  bushes  and 


give  an  order  to  fire,  and  immediately  a 
volley,   coming  from  the  brow  of  the 
hill,  followed  by  a  very  rapidly  delivered 
fire  from  their  artillery,  announced  the 
fact  that  the  enemy  had  taken  a  stand 
on    his   own   ground.     The   Fourteenth 
and  Seventh  Indiana  formed  under  the 
fire,  and  with  the  utmost  rapidity  began 
to  return  it,  our  sharpshooters  picking 
off  numbers  of  the  enemy,  whose  fire 
went  almost  entirely  over  the  heads  of 
our  men,  the  shot  from  three  rifled  guns 
cutting  off  the  trees  from  two  to  four 
feet  over   the    heads   of  the  troops  in 
position.     The  Fourteenth  Ohio,  being 
nearest  the  ford,  were  almost  exclusively 
aimed  at,  and  Jfor  a  while  the  iron  hail 
above  them  was  terrible,  the  roar  of  the 
guns  across  the  river,  the  crashing  of 
trees,  shells  bursting,  and  volley  upon 
volley  of  musketry,  making  '  war's  fell 
music'  for  at  least  twenty  minutes.     Yet 
the  men  stood  like  stones,  and  returned 
the  fire  with  the  greatest  rapidity  and 
the  best  of  order.     Not  a  man  flinched. 
Meantime,  Burnett's  artillery  came  up 
and  opened,  and,   under  cover  of  their 
well-directed  fire,  the  Seventh  Indiana 
was  directed  to  cross  the  river  and  climb 
the  steep,  almost  perpendicular,  face  of 
the  bluff,  on  the  enemy's  right.     The 
order  was  in  process  of  execution,  and 
two  companies  had   nearly  scaled   the 
cliff,  when  they  were  ordered  to  return, 
and  Captain  Benham  directed  them  to 
move  down  the  bed  of  the  stream,  under 
the  bluff,  and  between,  but  below,  the 
fire  of  both  armies,  and  turn  the  enemy's 
right  flank.     No  sooner  said  than  it  was 
undertaken.     Colonel   Durnont  led   his 


340 


WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


men  down  the  stream  so  rapidly,  that 
the  enemy  were  unable  to  bring  their 
guns  to  bear  upon  them  until  they  were 
concealed  by  the  smoke  and  c'it  of 
reach  of  the  depression  of  the  guns  on 
the  bluff.  Meantime,  the  Fourteenth 
Ohio  and  the  Ninth  Indiana,  with  the 
artillery,  kept  up  a  brisk  fire  in  front, 
until,  with  a  cheer,  Colonel  Dumont's 
men  scaled  the  lower  bank  on  the 
enemy's  right  and  poured  in  a  volley. 
No  sooner  were  our  boys  seen  coming 
over  the  brink  of  the  river  bank,  than 
the  entire  force  of  the  enemy,  variously 
estimated  at  from  three  thousand  to 
four  thousand,  fled  in  the  wildest  con 
fusion. 

"  On  came  the  regiments  and  artillery 
from  beyond  the  river,  and  our  whole 
force  joined  in  a  hot  pursuit.  After 
leading  along  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile, 
the  road  again  crosses  the  stream,  and 
at  this  point  General  Garnett  endeavored 
vainly  to  stop  his  routed  troops  and 
rally  them  around  him.  Major  Gordon, 
of  the  Seventh  Indiana,  leading  the  ad 
vance,  reached  the  bank  in  pursuit 
among  the  first,  and  discovering  a  point 
from  which  fire  could  be  effectively  de 
livered,  called  up  Captain  Ferry's  com 
pany  of  his  regiment,  and  ordered  them 
to  fire.  Garnett  stood  near  the  river 
bank,  and  fell,  shot  through  the  heart. 
A  Georgia  boy  was  the  only  one  who 
fell  near  him.  The  panic-stricken  forces 
of  the  enemy  abandoned  the  dead  body 
of  the  General,  and  fled  up  the  hill  in 
utter  rout.  They  were  pursued  about 
two  miles,  when  our  exhausted  men 
were  recalled. 


"  General  Garnett's  body  was  brought 
to  this  place  to-day,  and  properly  cared 
for,  and  word  has  been  sent  to  his  friends 
that  it  is  at  their  disposal." 

McClellan,  who  is  always  reticent  of 
speech,  again  pithily  summed  up  the 
results  of  his  campaign  in  these  few 
words  : 

"  HUTTOXSVILLE  VA.,  July  14,  1861. 
"  COLONEL  E.  D.  TOWNSEND,  ASSISTANT-ADJU- 

TANT-GENERAL  : 

"  General  Garnett  and  his  forces  have 
been  routed  and  his  baggage  and  one 
gun  taken.  His  army  is  completely  de 
moralized.  General  Garnet  was  killed 
while  attempting  to  rally  his  forces  at 
Carrack's  Ford,  near  St.  George.  We 
have  completely  annihilated  the  enemy 
in  Western  Virginia.  Our  loss  is  but 
thirteen  killed  and  not  more  than  forty 
wounded,  while  the  enemy's  loss  is  not 
far  from  two  hundred  killed,  and  the 
number  of  prisoners  we  have  taken  will 
amount  to  at  least  one  thousand.  We 
have  captured  seven  of  the  enemy's 
guns  in  all.  A  portion  of  Garnett's 
forces  retreated,  but  I  look  for  their 
capture  by  General  Hill,  who  is  in  hot 
pursuit.  The  troops  that  Garnett  had 
under  his  command  are  said  to  be  the 
crack  regiments  of  Eastern  Virginia, 
aided  by  Georgians,  Tennesseeans,  and 
Carolinians.  Our  success  is  complete, 
and  I  firmly  believe  that  secession  is 
killed  in  this  section  of  the  country. 
11  G.  B.  MCCLELLAN,  Maj.-Gen.  U.  S.  A." 

McClellan  at  the  same  time  proved 
himself  not  incapable  of  a  warm  sym 
pathy  with  the  soldier,  and  of  a  fervid 
expression  of  it,  by  this  glowing  tribute 


RESULT  IN   WESTERN   VIRGINIA. 


341 


to  the  courage  and  good  conduct  of  his 
troops  : 

"  HEADQUARTERS  ARMY  OF  OCCUPATION,      ) 
WESTERN  VIRGINIA,  BEVERLY,  VA.,  July  19.  ) 

"  SOLDIERS  OF  THE  ARMY  OF  THE  WEST  : 

"  I  am  more  than  satisfied  with  you. 
You  have  annihilated  two  armies,  com 
manded  by  educated  and  experienced 
soldiers,  intrenched  in  mountain  fast 
nesses,  and  fortified  at  their  leisure. 
You  have  taken  five  guns,  twelve  colors, 
fifteen  hundred  stand  of  arms,  one 
thousand  prisoners,  including  more  than 
forty  officers.  One  of  the  two  com 
manders  of  the  rebels  is  a  prisoner,  the 
other  lost  his  life  on  the  field  of  battle. 
You  have  killed  more  than  two  hundred 
and  fifty  of  the  enemy,  who  has  lost  all 
his  baggage  and  camp  equipage.  All 
this  has  been  accomplished  with  the  loss 
of  twenty  brave  men  killed  and  sixty 
wounded  on  your  part.  You  have 
proved  that  Union  men,  fighting  for  the 
preservation  of  our  Government,  are 
more  than  a  match  for  our  misguided 
and  erring  brothers.  More  than  this, 
you  have  shown  mercy  to  the  vanquished. 
You  have  made  long  and  arduous  march 
es,  with  insufficient  food,  frequently  ex 
posed  to  the  inclemency  of  the  weather. 
I  have  not  hesitated  to  demand  this  of 
you,  feeling  that  I  could  rely  on  your 
endurance,  patriotism,  and  courage.  In 
the  future  I  may  have  still  greater  de 
mands  to  make  upon  you — still  greater 
sacrifices  for  you  to  offer.  It  shall  be 
my  care  to  provide  for  you  to  the  ex 
tent  of  my  ability  ;  but  I  know  now 
that  by  your  valor  and  endurance  you 
will  accomplish  all  that  is  asked 


Soldiers,  I  have  confidence  in  you,  and 
I  trust  you  have  learned  to  confide  in 
me.  Remember  that  discipline  and 
subordination  are  qualities  of  equal 
value  with  courage.  I  am  proud  to  say 
that  you  have  gained  the  highest  reward 
that  American  troops  can  receive — the 
thanks  of  Congress  and  the  applause  of 
your  fellow-citizens. 
"GEORGE  B.  MCCLELLAN,  Maj.-Gen." 

McClellan  was,  however,  disappointed, 
notwithstanding  his  well-laid  plan,  in 
his  expectation  of  cutting  off  completely 
the  escape  of  the  Confederate  forces. 
General  Hill  had  failed  to  intercept  the 
fugitives  at  West  Union  and  thus  pre 
vent  their  crossing  the  mountains.  If 
McClellan's  skilful  strategy  had  not 
thus  been  thwarted  by  the  incompeteucy 
or  indifference  of  his  subordinate,  the 
result  in  Western  Virginia  might  have 
justified  his  boast,  that  "secession  was 
killed  in  that  section  of  the  country.'' 
This  campaign,  however,  had  been  more 
brilliant  and  successful  than  that  of 
any  Federal  general  since  the  beginning 
of  the  war.  He  was  soon  called  to  a 
wider  field,  destined  to  be  the  scene  of 
still  greater  deeds,  it  was  hoped,  as  it 
was  of  graver  duties  and  weightier  re 
sponsibilities. 

The  enemy  strove  to  console  them' 
selves  for  their  defeat  in  Western  Vir 
ginia  by  an  attempt  to  diminish  its 
gravity,  and  to  exaggerate  the  strength 
of  the  Federal  forces.  A  writer  in  one 
of  their  journals*  gave  this  account  of 
the  battle  of  Rich  Mountain  : 

"  It  is  a  sad  pleasure  to  communicate 

0  The  Richmond  Whig 


342 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE   SOUTH. 


to  you  a  state  of  affairs  in  Northwestern 
Virginia  that  at  first  sight  may  appear 
disastrous,  but  which,  upon  closer  ex 
amination,  sheds  many  a  ray  of  satisfac 
tion  and  encouragement  to  our  future 
career — satisfaction  that  our  late  ill  suc 
cess  has  lost  to  our  State  that  portion 
which  should  never  have  been  defended, 
and  encouragement  from  the  fact  that 
our  gallant  boys  fight  with  so  much  suc 
cess  against  a  thousand  odds. 

"  Camp  Garnett  is  situated  in  a  gorge 
just  beyond  the  pass  that  runs  between 
Rich  and  another  mountain.     The  low 
slope  of  this  latter  mountain   retreats 
from  the  camp,  and  consequently  does 
not  command  it  ;  but  the  more  perpen 
dicular  slope  of  Rich  Mountain  is  adja 
cent  to  the  position,  and  upon  it  there 
is  an  eminence  that  is  considered  the 
very  key  to  Camp  Garnett.     On  Tuesday 
last,  Colonel  Pegram,  knowing  the  im 
portance  of  this  point,  detached  three 
companies    (Buckingham    Lee    Guard, 
Rockbridge   Guard,   and   Pryor  Rifles) 
and    one    gun    from    the    Lynchburgh 
Artillery,  to  secure  the  position  at  all 
hazards.     They  gained  the  height,  and 
about  ten  o'clock  had  built  a  breastwork 
to  the  height  of  two  logs  ;  meanwhile  the 
enemy,  headed  by  the  Union  Mountain 
eers,   had,   by    squads   and   companies, 
reached  a  point  beyond  the  breastworks 
and  a  little  more  elevated.     Immediately 
they  commenced  an    attack    upon    our 
unfinished  breastwork  from  the  distance 
of    fifteen    hundred   yards.      They    ad 
vanced,  and  fired  with  Minie  rifles  in 
cessantly.     No  execution,  however,  was 
done  with  these  arms.     Our  loss  was  at 


shorter  distances  from  the  deadly  fire  of 
our  brother  Virginians.  Approaching 
within  five  hundred  yards,  they  began 
to  feel  the  fatal  shots  from  our  boys. 
At  this  and  shorter  distances  they  were 
mowed  down  like  wheat  before  the  blade. 
At  every  volley  from  us  they  fell  back 
in  confusion,  but  their  overwhelming 

o 

numbers  pressed  forward  until  they  dis 
charged  their  pieces  in  our  very  faces  ; 
then  we  thought  retreat  better  than  a 
foolhardy  death,  and  each  one  sought 
safety  in  flight  down  the  other  side  of 
the  mountain. 

"  The  whole  force  of  the  enemy  was 
said  to  have  been  eight  thousand.    Three 
thousand  advanced  to  the  attack,  while 
the  rest  were  held  in  reserve.     Part  of 
the   reserve    occupied   Rich   Mountain, 
while    part   descended   that    mountain, 
crossed  the  pass,  and  occupied  the  side 
of  the  other  mountain,  not  far  from  the 
road — thus  being  on  both  sides  of  the 
road,  in  order,   I  suppose,   to  cut  off 
Colonel  Pegram,  if  he  should  attempt 
to  retreat  to  Beverly.     Our  whole  force 
in  the  engagement  was  two  hundred  and 
fifty.     We  held  the  enemy  in  check  with 
this  little  handful   for  an  hour  and  a 
lalf.     Leonidas,  with  his  three  hundred 
Spartans,    could    have    done    no   more. 
Our  loss  was,  considering  all  the  circum 
stances,  comparatively  small — sixty  will 
cover  the  whole.     The  Buckingham  Lee 
jruard  suffered   most   severely,   having 
hirty  men,  together  with  Captain  Irving 
md  Lieutenant  Boyd,  killed.     Captain 
urry,  of  the   Rockbridge   Guard,  and 
Captain  Anderson,   of  the  Lynchburgh 
Artillery,  were  also  among  the  killed. 


THE  ENEMY'S  ACCOUNT. 


343 


Four  hundred  of  the  enemy  found  a 
merited  doom  in  death. 

"  The  battle  began  at  half-past  one, 
and  ended  at  three.  At  sunset,  report 
says  that  Colonel  Pegram  led  six  com 
panies  out  from  his  camp  up  Rich 
Mountain  to  retake  his  position,  but 
mistaking  his  way  he  missed  his  mark, 
and  told  his  men  to  save  themselves  as 
best  they  could — he  would  return  and 
bring  out  the  regiment.  In  this  latter 
attempt  he  was  taken  prisoner.  Many 
of  his  men  cut  through  the  enemy,  and 
came  up  with  our  regiment  on  its  re 
treat.  This  is  the  last  we  know  of  the 
affair. 

' '  Now  for  the  movements  of  our  (the 
Forty-fourth)  regiment.  That  morning 
(the  llth)  we  resumed  our  march  at 
Beverly  from  Staunton  to  Laurel  Hill, 
and  had  advanced  five  miles,  when 
Colonel  Scott  received  a  despatch  from 
Colonel  Pegram,  urgently  begging  for 
assistance.  Colonel  Scott  faced  about, 
marched  back  to  Beverly,  and  took  a 


road  almost  at  right  angles  for  Rich 
Mountain.  Within  three  miles  of  Rich 
Mountain  he  heard  the  firing,  and  ad 
vanced  at  quick  time  to  the  scene  of 
action.  Arriving  there  at  three  o'clock, 
when  the  firing  had  almost  ceased,  he 
halted  in  the  mountain  path.  And  upon 
his  six  hundred  unconscious  men  the 
reserve  of  the  enemy  were  looking  down 
from  each  mountain.  They  must  have 
mistaken  us  for  friends,  or  our  destruc 
tion  would  have  been  certain.  Colonel 
Scott  was  not  aware  of  the  proximity 
of  the  enemy  until  he  sent  forward  a 
scout  (Lipford,  of  Fluvanna)  to  recon 
noitre.  This  scout  being  shot,  he  im 
mediately  ordered  a  retreat.  Sending 
on  the  baggage  train,  he  returned  to 
Beverly.  Here  he  halted  an  hour,  and 
resumed  his  march  toward  the  Cheat 
Mountains.  After  two  nights'  and  a  day's 
march  we  reached  Greenbrier  River,  at 
which  place  (Saturday  morning)  I  left 
the  camp,  on  special  detail,  for  Rich 
mond." 


THE   WAR   WITH   THE   SOUTH. 


CHAPTER    XXXI. 

Maryland  still  a  source  of  inquietude. — Successor  to  General  Butler. — Failure  of  Cadwalader. — Major-General  Banks. 
— Birth. — Early  Education. — At  work  in  a  Factory. — Ambitious  Youth. — Apprentice  to  a  Machinist. — Dramatic 
Tastes. — Amateur  Theatricals. — A  public  Lecturer. — Editor  of  a  Paper. — Politician. — Member  of  the  Legislature. 
— Shifting  of  his  Profession. — A  Machinist  turned  Lawyer. — Speaker  of  Massachusetts  House  of  Eepresentatives. 
— A  Democrat. — Member  of  Congress — Abandonment  of  Party.— A  Reviser  of  the  Constitution. — A  Republican. 
— Speaker  of  Congress. — Governor  of  Massachusetts. — Retirement  from  Public  Life. — Manager. — Director  of  Illi 
nois  Central  Railroad. — Removal  to  Chicago. — Martial  qualities. — Appointed  Major-General. — In  command  of  the 
Department  of  Annapolis. — Personal  Appearance  and  Character. — Energy  in  Maryland. — Arrest  of  Kane. — Kane's 
Conduct. — Action  of  Police. — Justification  of  the  Arrest  of  Kane. — Protest  of  Police  Commissioners. — Rejoinder 
of  Banks. — Suspicion  of  the  Loyalty  of  Police  Commissioners. — Discovery  of  Concealed  Arms. — Arrest  of  Police 
Commissioners — Good  effect  upon  the  Unionists. — Provost-Marshal. — Martial  Law. — Relief  of  Baltimore. — A  new 
Police  Marshal. — The  Federal  Troops  withdrawn  from  the  City. — Stringent  orders. — Maryland  and  Baltimore 
secured  to  Federal  Authority. 


1861. 


MARYLAND  continued  to  be  a  source 
of  great  inquietude  to  the  Federal 
Government.  General  Butler  had 
apparently  succeeded,  when  in  command 
of  that  department,  by  his  prompt 
energy,  in  keeping  the  restless  seces 
sionists  in  awe,  and  the  less  active 
unionists  in  courage.  On  his  removal, 
however,  to  Fortress  Monroe,  his  suc 
cessor,  Cadwalader,  either  by  a  too  great 
disposition  to  conciliate,  or  with  too 
little  force  to  subject,  allowed  a  freer 
scope  to  the  seditious,  and  gave  a  pro 
portionate  check  to  the  loyal. 

The  Federal  authority,  however,  was 
June  now  represented  by  a  man  who  had 
W«  the  capacity  as  well  as  the  resolu 
tion  to  make  it  respected.  This  was 
Major-General  Banks,  who  had  been  ap 
pointed  to  the  command  of  the  depart 
ment  of  Annapolis,  with  his  headquarters 
in  Fort  McHenry,  at  Baltimore. 

Nathaniel  Prentiss  Banks  was  born  in 
Waltham,  Massachusetts,  on  the  30th 


of  January,  1816.  In  common  with 
most  New  England  youths  of  whatever 
origin,  he  was  sent  to  the  public  school 
of  the  State,  where  he  made  fair  pro 
gress  in  the  elements  of  a  good  English 
education.  As  his  father,  however,  who 
was  the  overseer  of  a  cotton  factory,  was 
forced  to  be  frugal,  and  to  economize 
both  time  and  money,  he  withdrew  his 
son  at  an  early  period  from  school  and 
set  him  to  work  under  his  own  eye. 
Anxious  to  be  something  more  than  a 
mere  operative,  tied  down  to  the  un 
varying  routine  of  the  day's  labor,  the 
lad  sought,  by  apprenticing  himself  to  a 
machinist,  a  wider  scope  for  the  exercise 
of  his  faculties. 

Having  a  taste  for  dramatic  entertain 
ments,  he  got  up,  by  the  aid  of  his  com 
rades,  for  the  amusement  of  his  leisure 
hours,  theatrical  representations,  in  which 
he  assumed  the  leading  parts,  and  with 
such  success,  that  some  of  his  friends 
would  have  persuaded  him  to  become 


ARREST   OF   KANE. 


347 


Government.  As  early  as  the  attack  by 
the  Baltimore  mob  on  the  Massachusetts 
April  soldiers,  he  had  telegraphed  to 
19*  Bradley  T.  Johnson,  holding  a  com 
mand  in  the  Confederate  army,  declar 
ing  that  the  streets  of  the  city  were 
"red  with  blood,"  and  emphatically 
urging  him  to  come  with  his  men  to 
meet  the  Northern  troops  who  were 
expected,  while  he  boastingly  said,  "  We 
will  fight  them,  and  whip  them,  or  die." 
Kane,  it  could  not  be  questioned,  was 
keeping  up  a  constant  correspondence 
with  the  secession  leaders,  and  was  pre 
paring  to  organize  in  Baltimore  a  move 
ment  to  oppose  the  Federal  authorities 
and  co-operate  with  the  enemy.  The 
police  force  under  his  control  was  so 
modified  by  changes  among  the  men,  or 
by  influences  brought  to  bear  upon  them, 
that  they  were  ready  to  do  the  bidding 
of  the  marshal  and  carry  out  his  insur 
rectionary  plans.  Arms  had  been  ob 
tained  by  Kane  and  secreted  at  the  head 
quarters  and  the  stations  of  the  police, 
and  it  seemed  that  he  was  only  awaiting 
a  favorable  opportunity  to  rise  with  his 
whole  force  and  begin  an  insurrection, 
which  it  was  hoped  might  wrest  Balti 
more  from  the  Federal  authority. 

Banks  accordingly  determined  to  ar- 

o   */ 

June  rest  the  marshal.  Eighteen  hun- 
27«  dred  men  marched  from  Fort  Mc- 
Henry  into  Baltimore  with  loaded  mus 
kets  and  fixed  bayonets,  just  before 
daybreak.  "  The  men,"  wrote  a  lively 
correspondent,*  "wore  their  cartridge 
boxes,  in  which  were  a  few  rounds, 
but  no  knapsacks.  They  knew,  there- 


«  New  York  Herald. 


fore,  that  serious  work  was  expected,  and 
that  they  had  not  far  to  go  to  find  it. 
They  had  marched  a  square,  when  a 
policeman,  in  his  cool  summer  uniform, 
and  swinging  his  long  baton,  was  ob 
served  crossing  the  street  ahead.  In 
stantly  the  head  of  the  column  opened, 
the  body  swept  on,  and  the  policeman, 
riveted  to  the  ground  in  astonishment  at 
this  manoeuvre,  unknown  to  the  tactics 
of  either  Matsell  or  Vidocq,  found  him 
self  swallowed  up  and  borne  along  in 
the  resistless  advance.  Two  squares 
ahead  another  policeman  was  discovered. 
Again  the  column  opened  and  another 
was  engulfed.  By  the  time  the  column 
reached  the  residence  of  the  marshal, 
not  less  than  fifty- seven  of  the  vigilant 
guardians  of  the  night  had  been  thus 
swallowed  up  ;  but  when  they  found 
that  their  captors  had  halted  at  the  door 
of  the  marshal's  house,  they  began  to 
smell  a  rat  of  the  largest  possible  dimen 
sions.  An  officer  now  rang  the  bell. 
After  some  delay  a  night-capped  head 
popped  out  of  the  window,  and  the 
well-known  voice  of  Marshal  Kane  in 
quired,  in  a  rather  gruff  tone,  what  was 
wanted.  The  officer  blandly  replied 
that  he  himself  was  the  article  just  then 
in  demand.  '  Hum,  hum,'  said  the  mar 
shal,  never  at  a  loss  for  a  joke,  '  I'll 
supply  that  demand.' 

"Did  the  vision  of  escape  cross  the 
marshal's  mind  ?  Possibly.  It  is  certain 
that  he  skipped  with  agility  to  a  back 
window,  raised  the  curtain  and  looked 
out.  Alas !  the  moonbeams  played  upon 
five  hundred  glittering  bayonets  in  the 
yard  below.  The  game  was  up,  and  the 


348 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE   SOUTH. 


marshal  knew  he  must  submit  to  his  in 
evitable  fate.  He  descended  the  stair 
and  opened  the  front  door.  '  Good 
God !'  he  exclaimed  to  the  officer  in 
command,  '  why  did  you  not  bring  five 
or  six  more  regiments  and  some  artil 
lery  ?  If  you  had  sent  me  a  note  and  a 
carriage,  I  would  have  come  without  all 
this  fuss.' 

"It  was  daybreak  then,  and  the 
column  moved  briskly  forward,  and  the 
marshal  enjoyed  the  rare  sight  of  sunrise 
from  the  ramparts  of  Fort  McHenry. 
The  policemen  were  released  as  soon  as 
the  gate  of  the  fortress  was  closed  upon 
the  marshal,  and,  returning  to  the  city, 
soon  spread  the  tidings  like  wildfire 
throughout  the  town.  It  is  said  that 
General  Banks  was  convinced  that  the 
rebels  in  the  city  would  rise  in  a  few 
days  unless  this  step  was  taken." 

General  Banks  justified  this  arrest  in 
a  proclamation.* 


0  "  HEADQUARTERS  OF  THE  DEPARTMENT  OF  ANNAPOLIS,  ) 
June  11,  1861. 

"  By  virtue  of  the  authority  vested  in  me,  and  in  obedience 
of  orders  as  Commanding  General  of  the  Military  Depart 
ment  at  Annapolis,  I  have  arrested,  and  do  now  detain  in 
custody,  Mr.  George  P.  Kane,  chief  of  police  of  the  city 
of  Baltimore.  I  deem  it  proper,  at  this  the  moment  of  ar 
rest,  to  make  a  formal  and  public  declaration  of  the  motive 
by  which  I  have  been  governed  in  this  proceeding.  It  is 
not  my  purpose,  neither  is  it  in  consonance  with  my  in 
structions,  to  interfere  in  any  manner  whatever  with  the 
legitimate  government  of  the  people  of  Baltimore  or 
Maryland.  I  desire  to  support  the  public  authorities  in  all 
appropriate  duties  in  preserving  the  peace,  protecting  the 
property,  in  obeying  and  enforcing  every  municipal  regu 
lation  and  public  statute  consistent  with  the  Constitution 
and  laws  of  the  United  States  and  Maryland.  But  unlaw 
ful  combinations  of  men  organized  for  resistance  to  such 
laws,  to  provide  hidden  deposits  of  arms  and  ammunition, 
to  encourage  contraband  traffic  with  men  at  war  with  the 
Government,  and  who,  while  enjoying  its  protection  and 
privileges,  stealthily  wait  an  opportunity  to  combine  their 
means  and  forces  with  those  in  rebellion  against  its  author 
ity,  are  not  among  the  recognized  or  legal  rights  of  any 


The  commissioners,  forming  a  board 
of  reputable  citizens  of  Baltimore,  upon 
whom  the  control  of  the  police  devolved 
by  law,  protested  emphatically  against 
this  action  of  General  Banks  as  illegal.* 

class  of  men,  and  cannot  be  permitted  under  any  form  of 
government.  Such  combinations  are  well  known  to  exist 
in  this  Department,  and  the  mass  of  the  citizens  of  Balti 
more  and  of  Maryland  loyal  to  the  Constitution  and  the 
Union  are  neither  parties  to  nor  responsible  for  them. 
But  the  chief  of  police  is  not  only  cognizant  of  these  facts, 
but  in  contravention  of  his  duty  and  in  violation  of  law, 
he  is,  by  direction  or  indirection,  both  witness  and  pro 
tector  to  the  transactions  and  parties  engaged  therein 
Under  such  circumstances  the  Government  cannot  regard 
him  otherwise  than  as  the  head  of  an  armed  force  hostile 
to  its  authority,  and  acting  in  concert  with  its  avowed 
enemies  ;  for  this  reason,  superseding  his  official  authority, 
as  well  as  of  the  commissioners  of  police,  I  have  arrested, 
and  do  now  detain  him  in  custody  of  the  United  States ; 
and,  in  further  pursuance  of  my  instructions,  I  have  ap 
pointed  for  the  time  being,  Colonel  Kenly,  of  the  First 
Maryland  Regiment  of  Volunteers,  provost  marshal  in  and 
for  the  city  of  Baltimore,  to  superintend  and  cause  to  be 
executed  the  police  laws  provided  by  the  Legislature  of 
Maryland,  with  the  aid  and  assistance  of  the  subordinate 
officers  of  the  police  department,  and  he  will  be  respected 
accordingly. 

' '  Whenever  a  loyal  citizen  shall  be  otherwise  named 
for  the  performance  of  his  duty,  who  will  execute  the  laws 
impartially  and  in  good  faith  to  the  Government  of  the 
United  States,  the  military  of  this  Department  will  render 
to  him  that  instant  and  willing  obedience  which  is  due 
from  every  good  citizen  to  the  Government. 
"  NATH.  P.  BANKS,  Major-General  Commanding  Dept." 
°  The  following  was  the  protest  of  the  commissioners  : 
"  Whereas,  The  laws  of  the  State  of  Maryland  give  the 
whole  and  exclusive  control  of  the  police  force  of  the  city 
to  the  Board  of  Police  organized  and  appointed  by  the 
General  Assembly  ;  and  not  only  are  the  said  Board  June 
bound  to  exercise  the  powers  vested  in  and  discharge   27. 
the  duties  imposed  upon  them,  but  all  other  persons  are 
positively  prohibited,  under  heavy  penalties,  from  inter 
fering  with  them  in  so  doing  ;  and  whereas,  there  is  no 
power  given  to  the  Board  to  transfer  the  control  over  any 
portion  of   the  public  force   to  any  person  or  persons 
whomsoever,  other  than  the  officers  of  police  appointed 
them,  in  pursuance  of  the  express  provisions  of  the 
aw,  and  acting  under  their  orders  ;  and  whereas,  by  the 
orders  of  Major-General  Banks,  an  officer  of  the  United 
tates  Army  commanding  in  this  city,   the  marshal  of 
)olice  has  been  arrested,  the  Board  of  Police  superseded, 
an  officer  of  the  army  has  been  appointed  provost 
marshal,  and  directed  to  assume  the  command  and  control 
f  the  police  force  of  the  city  ;  therefore  be  it 


ARREST  OF  COMMISSIONERS. 


349 


The  assertion  in  their  protest,  that  the 
active  operation  of  the  police  law  was 
suspended  by  the  arrest  of  its  chief 
executive  officer  and  his  acolytes,  was 
met  by  a  counter-declaration*  of  G-en- 

"  Resolved,  That  this  Board  do  solemnly  protest  against 
the  order  and  proceedings  above  referred  to,  of  Major- 
General  Banks,  as  an  arbitrary  exercise  of  military  power, 
not  warranted  by  any  provision  of  the  Constitution  or  laws 
of  the  United  States,  or  of  the  State  of  Maryland,  but  in 
derogation  of  all  of  them. 

"  Resolved,  That  while  the  Board,  yielding  to  the  force 
of  circumstances,  will  do  nothing  to  increase  the  present 
excitement,  or  obstruct  the  execution  of  such  measures  as 
Major-General  Banks  may  deem  proper  to  take  on  his  own 
responsibility  for  the  preservation  of  the  peace  of  the  city 
and  of  public  order,  they  cannot,  consistently  with  their 
views  of  official  duty,  and  of  the  obligations  of  their  oaths 
of  office,  recognize  the  right  of  any  of  the  officers  or  men 
of  the  police  force,  as  such,  to  receive  orders  or  directions 
from  any  other  authority  than  from  this  Board. 

"  Resolved,  That  in  the  opinion  of  the  Board,  the  forcible 
suspension  of  their  functions  suspends  at  the  same  time 
the  active  operation  of  the  police  law,  and  puts  the  officers 
and  men  off  duty  for  the  present,  leaving  them  subject, 
however,  to  the  rules  and  regulations  of  the  service  as  to 
their  personal  conduct  and  deportment,  and  to  the  orders 
which  this  Board  may  see  fit  hereafter  to  issue,  when  the 
present  illegal  suspension  of  their  functions  shall  be  re 
moved. 

' '  CHARLES  HOWARD,  President,  WILLIAM  H.  GATCHELL, 
CHARLES  D.  HINKS,  JOHN  W.  DAVIS,  GEORGE  W.  BROWN, 
Mayor,  and  ex  officio  member  of  the  Board. ' ' 

°"My  attention,"  wrote  the  General  to  his  provost 
marshal,  ' '  has  been  called  to  a  resolution  purporting  to 
have  been  this  day  (June  27 )  passed  by  the  late  board  of 
police  commissioners,  expressing  the  opinion  that  '  the 
suspension  of  their  functions  suspended  at  the  same  time 
the  operations  of  the  police  law,  and  puts  the  officers  and 
men  off  duty  for  the  present.' 

"You  will  take  special  notice,  sir,  that  by  my  procla 
mation  of  this  day  neither  the  law  nor  the  officers  ap 
pointed  to  execute  the  laws  are  affected  in  any  manner 
whatever,  except  as  it  operates  upon  the  members  of  the 
board  of  commissioners  and  the  chief  of  police,  whose 
functions  were  and  are  suspended.  Every  part  of  the 
police  law  is  to  be  enforced  by  you,  except  that  which  re 
fers  to  the  authority  of  the  commissioners  and  chief  of 
police  ;  and  every  officer  and  man,  with  the  exception  of 
those  persons  above  named,  will  be  continued  in  service 
by  you,  in  the  positions  they  now  occupy,  and  with  the 
advantages  they  now  receive,  unless  one  or  more  shall  re 
fuse  to  discharge  their  duties. 

"If  any  police  officer  declines  to  perform  his  duty,  in 


eral  Banks  in  his  instructions  to  the  pro 
vost  marshal,  Kenly,  whom  he  had  ap 
pointed. 

It  now  was  suspected  that  the  board 
of  commissioners  of  police,  who  had 
protested  so  earnestly  against  the  arrest 
of  Kane  and  the  deposition  of  the  police, 
were  implicated  in  the  conspiracy  of  the 
marshal  and  his  men,  to  overthrow  the 
Federal  authority.  This  suspicion  was 
confirmed  by  the  discovery  of  a  large 
quantity  of  arms  and  munitions  of  war 
concealed  at  the  headquarters  of  police, 
under  the  control  of  the  commissioners 
themselves. 

In  addition  to  what  was  found  secreted 
at  the  various  public  stations,  there  was 
discovered  at  the  headquarters  the  fol 
lowing  formidable  collection  of  imple 
ments  and  munitions  of  war  :  Two  six- 
pound  iron  guns  ;  two  four-pound  iron 
guns  ;  half  ton  assorted  shot ;  half  keg 
shot  for  steam  gun ;  one  hundred  and 
twenty  flint  muskets  ;  two  Hall's  car 
bines  ;  forty-six  rifles  ;  three  double-bar- 


order  to  avoid  the  anarchy  which  it  was  the  piirpose  of 
the  commissioners  to  bring  upon  the  city,  by  incorrectly 
stating  that  it  had  been  by  my  act  deprived  of  its  police 
protection,  you  will  select,  in  conference  with  such  of  the 
public  authorities  as  will  aid  you,  good  men  and  true  to 
fill  their  places  and  discharge  their  duties. 

"You  will  also  take  especial  notice  that  no  opinion, 
resolution,  or  other  act  of  the  late  board  of  commissioners 
can  operate  to  limit  the  effective  force  of  the  police  law, 
or  to  discharge  any  officer  engaged  in  its  execution.  If 
any  provision  of  the  law  fails  to  be  executed,  it  will  be 
from  the  choice  of  the  city ;  and  if  any  officer,  except 
such  as  are  herein  named,  leaves  the  service,  it  will  be 
upon  his  own  decision. 

"  You  will  cause  these  views  to  be  made  known  as  the 
rule  of  your  conduct. 

"  I  repeat  my  declaration  and  my  purpose — no  interven 
tion  with  the  laws  or  government  of  the  city  whatever  is 
intended,  except  to  prevent  secret,  violent,  and  treason 
able  combinations  of  disloyal  men  against  the  Government 
of  the  United  States." 


350 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


relied  shot  guns ;  eight  single-barrelled 
shot  guns  ;  nine  horse  pistols  ;  sixty-five 
small  pistols ;  one  hundred  and  thirty- 
two  bullet  moulds  ;  four  cwt.  balls  ; 
eight  dirk  knives ;  five  swords  ;  eight 
kettle  drums  ;  one  lot  of  screw  drivers  ; 
one  box  musket  cartridges  ;  thirty-three 
gun  coats ;  forty-four  copper  flasks ; 
eighteen  muskets ;  one  hundred  and 
seventeen  canisters ;  one  lot  flannel 
bags  ;  twelve  old  muskets  ;  twenty-five 
Mini e"  muskets  ;  forty-six  Hall's  car 
bines  ;  one  lot  of  slow  matches  ;  forty- 
eight  thousand  percussion  caps ;  two 
kegs  ball  cartridges  ;  one  hundred  rifle 
ball  cartridges ;  seven  hundred  and 
thirty-five  Hall's  rifle  cartridges  ;  three 
thousand  one  hundred  and  sixty-two 
round  ball  cartridges  ;  six  thousand  five 
hundred  and  twenty  long  ball  Minie 
cartridges  ;  seven  canister  shot ;  twenty 
small  flasks  ;  one  ball,  twelve -pounder, 
labelled  "from  Fort  Sumter  to  Colonel 
Kane." 

General  Banks  accordingly  did  not 
hesitate  to  arrest  the  police  commission 
ers  themselves.* 

These  decided  measures  of  General 

°  On  making  the  arrest  General  Banks  issued  this  procla 
mation  : 

"  The  headquarters  under  the  charge  of  the  Board, 
July  when  abandoned  by  the  officers,  resembled  in  some 
!•  respects  a  concealed  arsenal.  After  public  recognition 
and  protest  against  the  suspension  of  their  functions,  they 
continued  their  sessions  daily.  Upon  a  forced  and  un 
warrantable  construction  of  my  proclamation  of  the  28th 
ultimo,  they  declared  that  police  law  was  suspended,  and 
the  police  officers  and  men  put  off  duty  for  the  present, 
Intending  to  leave  the  city  without  any  police  protection 
whatever. 

''They  refused  to  recognize  the  officers  and  men  neces 
sarily  selected  by  the  provost  marshal  for  its  protection, 
and  hold,  subject  to  their  orders  now  and  hereafter,  the 
old  police  force,  a  large  body  of  armed  men,  for  some 


Banks  seemed  to  have  an  inspiriting 
effect  upon  the  Union  men  of  Baltimore 
who  rallied  around  him.  At  their  sug 
gestion  he  relieved  the  city  from  the 
control  of  martial  law,  and  substituted 
a  citizen  of  Baltimore,  George  R.  Dodge, 
Esquire,  as  marshal,  in  place  of  Colonel 
John  P.  Kenly,  one  of  the  officers  of 
the  Federal  army,  who,  as  provost  mar 
shal,  had  joined  to  his  military  duties 
the  civic  functions  of  chief  of  police. 

General  Banks  gave  proof  of  his  dis 
position  to  recognize  the  right  of  self- 
government  by  this  new  appointment, 
which  he  had  made,  as  he  stated,  "  at  the 
suggestion  and  upon  the  advice  of  very 
many  influential  and  honorable  citizens 
of  Baltimore,  representing  its  different 
sections,  parties,  and  interests.  And  in 
order  that  public  opinion  shall  have 
proper  influence,  and  the  civil  authority 
due  weight  in  all  municipal  affairs,  it  is 
my  desire,"  he  added,  "  and  expectation, 
that  the  marshal  shall  receive  suggestion, 
advice,  and  direction  from  them  and 
other  loyal  citizens,  as  from  all  the  de 
partments  of  the  government  of  the 
city,  and  in  all  respects  to  administer 

purpose  not  known  to  the  government,  and  inconsistent 
with  its  peace  or  security. 

"  To  anticipate  any  intentions  or  orders  on  their  part, 
I  have  placed  temporarily  a  portion  of  the  force  under  my 
command  within  the  city. 

"  I  disclaim,  on  the  part  of  the  Government  I  represent, 
all  desire,  intention,  and  purpose  to  interfere  in  any  man 
ner  whatever  with  the  ordinary  municipal  affairs  of  the 
city  of  Baltimore.  Whenever  a  loyal  citizen  can  be  named 
who  will  execute  its  police  laws  with  impartiality,  and  in 
good  faith  to  the  United  States,  the  militarv  force  will  be 
withdrawn  from  the  central  parts  of  the  municipality  at 
once.  No  soldiers  will  be  permitted  in  the  city  except 
under  regulations  satisfactorily  to  the  marshal ;  and  if  any 
so  admitted  violate  the  municipal  law,  they  shall  be  pun 
ished  by  the  civil  law,  by  the  civil  tribunals. 


EXTRAORDINARY  SESSION   OF  CONGRESS. 


851 


every  department  of  the  police  law  in 
full  freedom,  for  the  peace  and  prosperity 
of  the  city,  and  the  honor  and  perpetuity 
of  the  United  States." 

G-eneral  Banks,  at  the  same  time, 
withdrew  the  Federal  troops  from  the 
Custom  House,  Post  Office,  City  Hall, 
and  other  public  buildings  and  squares 
where  they  had  been  posted,  while  he 
was  executing  these  decided  measures 
for  the  suppression  of  the  supposed  in 
surrectionary  movement. 

The  soldiers  accordingly  broke  up 
their  camps  within  the  city  and  resumed 
their  former  position  in  the  suburbs. 
The  officers,  moreover,  were  ordered 


not  to  allow  a  man  to  visit  Baltimore 
unless  with  good  cause  and  without 
arms,  while  the  soldiers  were  counselled 
to  good  conduct  and  reminded  that  who 
ever  violated  "  the  ordinances  established 
for  the  government  of  the  city,  will  be 
punished  by  the  civil  tribunals  according 
to  the  laws  of  the  State." 

The  prompt  and  energetic  action  of 
General  Banks  seemed  effectually  to 
have  checked  every  attempt  at  insurrec 
tion,  and  so  to  have  secured  the  city  of 
Baltimore  and  the  State  of  Maryland  to 
the  Federal  power,  that  the  Union  senti 
ment,  wherever  it  might  exist,  had  free 
scope  for  development  and  expression. 


CHAPTER    XXXII. 

Meeting  of  Congress  in  Extraordinary  Session. — Importance. — Peculiar  character. — Message  of  President  Lincoln.— 
Its  style. — Its  purport. — Justification  of  his  conduct. — Action  in  regard  to  Fort  Sumter  explained. — His  sugges 
tions  and  demands. — Regret  at  being  forced  into  the  War. — Report  of  Secretary  of  War. — His  suggestions. — Report 
of  Secretary  of  Treasury. — His  Financial  Schemes. — Report  of  Secretary  of  Navy. — His  statements  of  the  Naval 
Force  and  suggestions  for  additional  strength. — The  unity  of  Congress. — Irrelevant  Discussion  effectually  checked. 
— General  war  spirit. — Few  exceptions. — Union  of  all  parties. — Extremists. — Breckenridge  in  opposition. — Others 
like  him. — Eccentricity  of  Abolitionists. — Mr.  Lovejoy's  motion  tabled. — The  President's  action  sanctioned. — 
Superfluous  Legislation. — Division  of  responsibility.— Heroic  remedies. — The  Military  Acts. — Great  Vote  of  Men 
and  Money. — The  President's  demands  exceeded. — The  President  apologizes  for  the  largeness  of  his  demands. — 
The  Act  of  Confiscation.— Reluctance  of  Lincoln  to  sign. — Unanimity  of  Congress.— The  small  Majority  of  Op 
ponents. — Protest  against  the  Treason  Bill. — The  Integrity  of  the  Union  declared  to  be  the  object  of  the  War. — 
Fjxpulsion  of  Southern  Members  of  Congress. — Adjournment  of  Congress. 


1861, 


ON  the  Fourth  of  July,  Congress  as 
sembled  in  extraordinary  session  in 
accordance  with  the  proclamation  of 
the  President.  This  Congress,  apart  from 
its  important  action,  will  be  always 
memorable  as  the  first — would  that  it 
were  the  last ! — in  which  the  United 
States  was  not  represented  in  its  unity. 


With  the  exception  of  Kentucky,  Ten 
nessee,  Missouri,  and  Maryland,  whose 
allegiance,  though  divided,  still  clung  to 
the  sovereignty  of  the  Union,  all  the 
slave  States  contumaciously  withheld 
their  representatives  from  the  national 
Legislature,  and  gave  their  fealty  to  a 
government  arbitrarily  created  by  them- 


352 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE   SOUTH. 


selves,  denied  by  the  United  States,  and 
unrecognized  by  the  world. 

On  the  day  after  the  assembling  of 
July  Congress,  President  Lincoln  sent 
&•  in  his  message  to  the  two  Houses. 
This  document  was  characteristic  of  its 
author,  being  forcible  in  argument  though 
somewhat  inelegant  in  expression,  and 
exhibited  such  a  strong  sense  of  con 
stitutional  obligations,  that  it  was  re 
ceived  as  a  welcome  indication  of  his 
honesty  of  purpose. 

The  President  began  by  alluding  to  the 
condition  of  the  country  at  the  time  of 
his  inauguration,  and  declared  that  his 
policy  "  looked  to  the  exhaustion  of  all 
peaceful  measures  before  a  resort  to 
stronger  ones.  It  sought  only  to  hold 
the  public  places  and  property  not 
already  wrested  from  the  Government, 
and  to  collect  the  revenue  ;  relying  for 
the  rest  on  time,  discussion,  and  the 
ballot  box." 

Concerning  his  action  in  regard  to 
Fort  Sumter,  he  said  that  he  had  deter 
mined  at  first,  after  consulting  with  his 
cabinet  and  the  commander-in-chief,  to 
abandon  all  intention  of  making  an  effort 
to  hold  it.  Failing,  however,  in  an  at 
tempt  to  reinforce  Fort  Pickens,  in  con 
sequence  of  delay  in  the  arrival  of  orders, 
by  which  it  was  intended  to  manifest 
the  "  policy"  of  the  Government,  he  was 
driven  to  the  necessity  of  appearing  to 
relieve  Fort  Sumter.  ' '  It  was  believed, " 
said  the  President,  "that  to  abandon 
that  position  under  the  circumstances, 
would  be  utterly  ruinous ;  that  the 
necessity  under  which  it  was  to  be  done 
would  not  be  understood  ;  that  by  many 


it  would  be  construed  as  a  part  of  a 
voluntary  policy  ;  that  at  home  it  would 
discourage  the  friends  of  the  Union, 
embolden  its  adversaries,  and  go  far  to 
insure  to  the  latter  a  recognition  abroad  ; 
that,  in  fact,  it  would  be  our  national  de 
struction  consummated." 

The  President  thus  resolved  upon  pro 
visioning  the  garrison  at  Fort  Sumter, 
which  was  threatened  with  starvation. 
While  proceeding  to  execute  this  pur 
pose,  South  Carolina  inaugurated  the 
civil  war  by  bombarding  the  fort  and 
forcing  Major  Anderson  to  surrender. 

The  President  being  thus  driven  to 
evoke  the  full  war  power  of  the  Govern 
ment,  made  a  demand  upon  the  country 
for  troops.  The  call  was  only  obeyed 
by  the  free  States  and  Delaware.  Vir 
ginia  passed  an  ordinance  of  secession, 
but  even  before  its  passage  seized  the 
arsenal  at  Harper's  Ferry  and  the  navy- 
yard  at  Gosport.  Referring  to  the  atti 
tude  of  neutrality  which  Kentucky  pro 
posed  to  maintain,  the  President  called 
it  "  disunion  completed."  He  admitted 
that  in  calling  for  troops,  and  suspending 
the  habeas  corpus  act,  he  had  exceeded 
his  constitutional  powers,  and  looked  to 
Congress  for  indemnity.  He  was  forced 
to  choose  between  breaking  one  law,  or 
seeing  all  the  others  violated  with  im 
punity,  and  chose  the  former  as  the  least 
evil.  His  demands  from  Congress  were 
summed  up  as  follows  : 

"It  is  now  recommended  that   you 
give  the  legal   means  for  making  this 
contest  a  short  and  decisive  one  ;  that 
you  place  at  the  control  of  the  Govern 
ment  for  the  work  at  least  four  hun- 


PRESIDENT'S  MESSAGE. 


353 


dred  thousand  men  and  $400,000,000. 
That  number  of  men  is  about  one  tenth 
of  those  of  proper  ages,  within  the 
regions  where,  apparently,  all  are  will 
ing  to  engage  ;  and  the  sum  is  less  than 
a  twenty-third  part  of  the  money-value 
owned  by  the  men  who  seem  ready  to 
devote  the  whole.  A  debt  of  $600,000,- 
000  now  is  a  less  sum  per  head  than 
was  the  debt  of  our  Revolution  when 
we  came  out  of  that  struggle,  and  the 
money-value  in  the  country  bears  even 
a  greater  proportion  to  what  it  was  then 
than  does  the  population.  Surely  each 
man  has  as  strong  a  motive  now  to  pre 
serve  our  liberties  as  each  had  then  to 
establish  them.  A  right  result  at  this 
time  will  be  worth  more  to  the  world 
than  ten  times  the  men  and  ten  times 
he  money.77 

The  President  then  proceeded  to  show 
that  there  is  not,  and  never  was,  any 
such  thing  as  State  sovereignty — touched 
upon  the  cases  of  Florida  and  Texas,  and 
denied  the  principle  of  secession,  which 
he  called  one  of  perpetual  disintegration. 
He  affirmed  that  the  people  in  many  of 
the  seceded  States  were  still  in  favor  of 
the  Union,  and  charged  the  seceding 
politicians  with  keeping  out  of  view  the 
rights  of  the  people.  Alluding  to  the 
resignations  of  officers  of  the  navy  and 
army,  he  said  that  not  one  private 
soldier  or  sailor  had  resigned. 

"  Our  popular  Government,"  he  con 
tinued,  ''has  often  been  called  an  ex 
periment.  Two  points  in  it  our  people 
have  settled — the  successful  establishing 
and  the  successful  administrating  of  it. 
One  still  remains.  Its  successful  main- 

45 


tenance  against  %  formidable  internal 
attempt  to  overthrow  it.  It  is  now  for 
them  to  demonstrate  to  the  world  that 
those  who  can  fairly  carry  an  election 
can  also  suppress  a  rebellion  ;  that  bal 
lots  are  the  rightful  and  peaceful  suc 
cessors  of  bullets,  and  that  when  ballots 
have  fairly  and  constitutionally  decided, 
there  can  be  no  successful  appeal  back 
to  bullets  ;  that  there  can  be  no  success 
ful  appeal  except  to  ballots  themselves 
at  succeeding  elections.  Such  will  be  a 
great  lesson  of  peace,  teaching  men  that 
what  they  cannot  take  by  an  election, 
neither  can  they  take  it  by  a  war ; 
teaching  all  the  folly  of  being  the  be 
ginners  of  a  war.'7 

Finally,  the  President  regretted  that 
he  had  been  forced  into  this  war,  and 
emphatically  declared  that  he  would  not 
betray  the  vast  and  sacred  trust  confided 
to  him  by  a  free  people. 

Accompanying  the  President's  mes 
sage  were  the  reports  of  the  several  ex 
ecutive  officers  of  the  Federal  Govern 
ment. 

The  Secretary  of  War,  Mr.  Cameron, 
recommended  that,  in  the  enlistment  of 
men  to  fill  the  additional  regiments  of 
the  regular  army,  the  term  should  be 
made  for  three  years,  and  that  a  bounty 
of  one  hundred  dollars  be  given  to  all 
who  should  receive  an  honorable  dis 
charge  at  the  close  of  their  service  ;  that 
an  appropriation  be  made  for  the  re 
construction  and  equipment  of  railroads, 
the  expense  of  maintaining  and  operat 
ing  them,  and  also  for  the  construction 
of  additional  telegraph  lines  and  their 
appurtenances  ;  that  a  special  appropri- 


354 


THE  WAR  WITH   THE  SOUTH. 


ation  be  made  for  the  reconstruction  of 
the  Long  Bridge  across  the  Potomac 
that  Congress  consider  the  subject  of 
a  properly  organized  military  tribunal, 
empowered  to  take  cognizance  of  crim 
inal  offences,  and  to  punish  the  guilty  , 
also,  the  enlargement  of  the  powers  of 
the  commissariat,  and  the  better  equip 
ment  of  the  army  ;  that  our  troops  should 
be  supplied  in  part  from  private  domestic 
factories,  instead  of  from  abroad.  The 
Secretary  further  recommended  a  more 
liberal  supply  of  improved  arms  to  the 
militia  of  the  States  and  Territories,  and 
called  attention  to  the  system  of  disci 
pline  pursued  at  West  Point.  He  con 
cluded  with  a  recommendation,  that 
Congress  should  authorize  the  appoint 
ment  of  an  Assistant  Secretary  of  War, 
and  the  requisite  appropriation  for  an 
extra  force  of  clerks. 

The  report  of  Mr.  Chase  and  the  finan 
cial  scheme  it  developed  were  considered 
very  able. 

The  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  asked 
for  $320,000,000.  He  believed  that 
$80,000,000  should  be  sought  by  taxa 
tion,  to  meet  the  ordinary  demands  for 
1862,  for  which  actual  appropriations 
had  been  made  amounting  to  $65,887,- 
849  34,  while  interest,  estimated  at 
$9,000,000  and  $5,000,000,  toward  the 
reduction  and  final  extinguishment  of 
the  public  debt,  would  complete  the 
amount.  He  proposed  to  meet  this  de 
mand  by  a  duty  of  2i  cents  per  pound 
laid  on  brown  sugar,  3  cents  per  pound 
on  clayed  sugar,  4  cents  per  pound  on 
loaf  and  other  refined  sugars,  2i  cents 
per  pound  on  the  syrup  of  sugar-cane, 


6  cents  per  pound  on  candy,  6  cents  per 
gallon  on  molasses,  and  4  cents  per  gallon 
on  sour  molasses  ;  and  suggested   also 
that  a  duty  of  5  cents  per  pound  be  im 
posed  on  coffee,  15  cents  per  pound  on 
black  tea,  and  20  cents  per  pound  on 
green   tea.     The   collection   of  internal 
duties  on  stills  and  distilled  liquors,  ale 
and  beer,  tobacco,  bank-notes,  spring- 
carriages,  silver- ware  and  jewelry,  and 
on  legacies  was  recommended,  although 
it  was  suggested  that,  if  preferred  by 
Congress,  the  plan  of  taxation  of  real  and 
personal  property  would  achieve  the  same 
result.     The  use  of  the  confiscated  prop 
erty  of  the  rebels,  together  with  a  reduc 
tion,  for  a  time  at  least,  of  10  per  cent, 
upon  salaries  and  wages  paid  by  the  Fed 
eral  Government,  was  also  recommended. 
To  raise  the  $240,000,000  needed  for 
the   thorough   prosecution   of  the  war, 
the  Secretary  proposed  a  national  loan 
of  not  less  than   $100,000,000,    to  be 
issued  in  the  form  of  Treasury  notes, 
bearing  a  yearly  interest  of  7  3-10  per 
centum  (an  interest  equal  to  one  cent  a 
day  on  $50,  and  therefore  very  easy  of 
calculation),  and  in  sums  of  $50,  $100, 
$500,  $1,000,  and  $5,000  ;  books  to  be 
opened  at  the  Treasury  Office  in  Wash 
ington,    and    at   various    other    offices 
throughout  the  States,   and  sums  sub 
scribed  to  be  paid  in  cash.     In  case  the 
national  loan  should  prove  insufficient, 
it  was  proposed  that  bonds,  or  certificates 
of  debt,   be    issued   to   lenders   in   the 
country,  or  in  any  foreign  country,  not 
exceeding  in  the  aggregate  $100, 000, 000, 
o  be  made  redeemable  at  the  pleasure 
of.  the  Government  after  a  period  not 


REPORTS  OF  DEPARTMENTS. 


355 


exceeding  30  years,  and  bearing  an  in 
terest  not  exceeding  7  per  cent.  To 
supply  the  full  amount  required  for  the 
service  of  the  fiscal  year,  it  was  recom 
mended  that  provision  be  made  for  the 
issue  of  Treasury  notes  for  $10  or  $20 
each,  payable  one  year  from  date,  to  an 
amount  not  exceeding  $50,000,000 — 
these  notes  bearing  interest  at  the  rate 
of  3  65-100  per  cent.,  and  exchangeable 
at  the  will  of  the  holder  for  Treasury 
notes  with  7  3-10  per  cent,  interest,  or 
exchequer  bills. 

The  Secretary  of  the  Navy  asked 
Congress  to  sanction  the  extraordinary 
measures  which  were  necessarily  taken 
to  meet  the  difficulties  treachery  had 
thrown  in  the  way  of  the  Department. 
Purchases  and  contracts  had  been  made, 
the  authority  for  which  was  found  in  the 
exigencies  of  the  times.  The  naval 

O 

force  in  commission  was  stated  to  have 
been  augmented  to  82  vessels,  carrying 
upward  of  1,100  guns,  and  a  comple 
ment  of  about  13,000  men,  exclusive  of 
officers  and  marines.  The  Naval  Acad 
emy,  formerly  at  Annapolis,  temporarily 
removed  to  Newport,  Rhode  Island,  was 
reported  to  be  without  its  authorized 
number  of  pupils,  one  third  of  the  dis 
tricts  having  neglected  or  refused  to  be 
represented,  and  there  being  no  legal  way 
of  supplying  this  deficiency  from  other 
districts.  It  was  suggested  that  Con 
gress  should  provide  for  the  deficit,  and 
that  for  a  period,  at  least,  the  numbers 
in  the  school  should  riot  be  increased 
until  there  was  a  full  complement  of 
officers.  The  Secretary  recommended 
that  an  officer  should  be  appointed,  to  be 


known  as  the  director  of  ordnance,  who 
should,  under  the  Department,  have  the 
immediate  supervision  of  the  manufac 
ture,  description,  and  supply  of  ordnance 
for  the  navy,  in  all  its  details.  A  change 
or  modification  of  the  law  regulating  the 
navy  ration  was  advised,  by  which  the 
vessels  stationed  along  the  coast  might  be 
regularly  supplied  with  nourishing  food. 
An  increase  of  the  number  of  surgeons 
and  assistant  surgeons  was  recommend 
ed  ;  also  an  increase  of  the  marine  corps, 
with,  perhaps,  an  entire  reorganization 
of  the  corps  ;  also,  the  appointment  of 
a  proper  and  competent  board  to  inquire 
into  the  expediency  of  iron-clad  steamers 
or  floating  batteries  j  also,  an  increase 
of  the  clerical  force  of  the  Department, 
together  with  the  appointment  of  an 
Assistant  Secretary  of  the  Navy. 

The  Congress  now  in  session  applied 
itself  with  directness  and  unity  of  pur 
pose  to  the  momentous  interests  of  the 
country,  unexampled  in  its  previous 
history.  One  of  the  very  first  acts  of 
the  House  of  Representatives  was  to 
check  all  irrelevant  discussion  by  adopt 
ing  a  resolution  "only  to  consider  bills 
and  resolutions  concerning  military  and 
naval  appropriations  for  the  Government 
and  financial  affairs  connected  therewith, 
and  that  all  bills  of  a  private  character, 
and  all  other  bills  and  resolutions  not 
directly  connected  with  the  raising  of 
revenue  and  military  and  naval  affairs 
shall  be  referred  without  debate  to  the 
appropriate  committees,  to  be  considered 
at  the  next  regular  session  of  Congress." 
To  this  resolution,  however,  was  added 
an  amendment  to  admit  the  considera- 


356 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


tion  of  questions  of  a  judicial  character. 
Both  senators  and  representatives,  with 
but  few  exceptions,  responding  to  the 
universal  war  spirit  of  the  country, 
waived  all  partisan  objects  and  animos 
ities,  and  with  great  unanimity  intrusted 
the  Government  with  the  power  and 
means  of  maintaining  its  authority. 
Democrats  and  Republicans  were  thus 
found  in  friendly  union.  Those  who  had 
so  long  been  arrayed  against  each  other 
in  political  camps  were  now  mustered 
under  the  same  banner.  A  few  there 
were  who,  from  incompatibility  and 
other  causes,  resisted  all  fusion  with  this 
general  political  combination ;  others, 
though  disposed  to  union  from  similarity 
of  principle,  were  yet  too  impetuously 
in  advance  to  be  always  within  the  com 
mon  control. 

Breckenridge,  the  senator  from  Ken 
tucky,  and  former  Yice-President,  hardly 
making  an  effort  to  conceal  that  sym 
pathy  with  the  seceding  States  which 
his  subsequent  conduct  has  more  clearly 
manifested,  opposed  every  measure  of 
the  Government.  Other  senators  and 
representatives  from  border  States  of 
divided  allegiance  were  alike  bold  in 
their  expression  of  opposition.  Some 
even  from  the  Northern  States,  either 
from  a  perverse  partisanship  or  a  weak 
loyalty,  did  not  hesitate  to  resist  the 
general  patriotic  action  of  their  fellow- 
legislators. 

An  early  indication  was  made  of  the 
eccentric  tendencies  of  the  extreme  ab 
olitionists.     Mr.  Lovejoy,  of  Illinois,  in-  „ 
troduced  a  resolution  declaring  that  it  is 
no    part   of  the   duty   of  the   army  to 


capture  and  return  fugitive  slaves  ;  also 
directing  inquiry  as  to  the  expediency 
of  repealing  the  fugitive  slave  law. 
This  was  promptly  tabled  by  a  vote  of 
eighty-seven  to  sixty-two.  The  perti 
nacious  member  for  Illinois,  on  a  subse 
quent  day,  renewed  his  resolution,  which 
he,  however,  modified  by  dropping  the 
recommendation  in  regard  to  the  fugitive 
slave  law.  His  perseverance  was  re 
warded  by  the  passage  of  his  resolution 
by  a  vote  of  ninety-two  to  fifty-five. 

True  to  their  pledge  to  confine  them 
selves  strictly  to  the  business  of  the 
occasion,  both  houses  of  Congress  pro 
ceeded  directly  and  rapidly  to  pass  vari 
ous  acts  of  immediate  moment.  The 
action  of  the  President  in  his  efforts  to 
check  the  insurrection  was  duly  con 
firmed  and  ratified,  and  his  scruples 
and  those  of  the  country,  in  regard  to 
measures  confessedly  unconstitutional, 
but  universally  acknowledged  to  be 
necessary,  removed.  Some  publicists 
contended,  it  is  true,  that  no  such  justi 
fication  for  the  conduct  of  Mr.  Lincoln 
was  required,  and  that  the  action  of 
Congress  was  supererogatory,  as  it  could 
not  make  that  legal  which  was  in  itself 
illegal.  The  first  law  of  nations,  as  of 
individuals,  that  of  self-preservation,  and 
the  plea  of  necessity,  were  sufficient  to 
authorize  or  extenuate  the  President's 
action.  Congress,  however,  was  credited 
with  the  generous  motive  of  desiring  to 
share  in  the  responsibility,  whatever  it 
might  be,  of  the  chief  magistrate  of  the 
Union,  who  had  applied  an  heroic  rem 
edy  to  save  the  state  while  apparently 
in  extremis. 


ACT   OF   CONFISCATION. 


357 


The  most  important  proceeding,  how 
ever,  of  Congress,  about  the  relevancy 
and  purport  of  which  there  could  be  no 
question,  was  the  passage  of  an  act 
authorizing  the  President  to  call  into 
the  field  an  army  of  five  hundred  thou 
sand  volunteers,  to  serve  for  three  years, 
or  during  the  war.  At  the  same  time 
an  increase  of  the  regular  army  was 
voted,  and  various  acts  were  passed  with 
the  view  of  improving  the  condition 
and  efficiency  of  the  soldiers.  Their 
pay,  which  before  had  been  eleven  dol 
lars  a  month,  was  increased  to  thirteen. 

The  navy  was  no  less  amply  provided 
for.  The  President  was  authorized  to 
buy  or  charter  as  many  merchant  vessels 
as  might  be  necessary  to  complete  the 
blockade  or  check  privateering.  Twenty- 
three  gun-boats,  and  twelve  side-wheel 
steamers  of  light  draught,  and  four  first- 
class  sloops  of  war  were  voted  as  addi 
tions  to  the  navy,  and  bills  passed  to 
secure  the  proper  number  of  sailors  and 
marines  for  the  manning  of  this  expan 
sive  naval  force. 

The  appropriations  of  money  were 
equally  liberal,  amounting  in  all  to  the 
immense  sum  of  five  hundred  millions, 
thus  exceeding  by  a  hundred  millions 
the  demand  of  President  Lincoln,  who, 
in  his  message,  had  asked  for  four  hun 
dred  millions  of  money  and  four  hun 
dred  thousand  men,  while  he  excused 
the  apparent  exorbitancy  of  his  demand 
by  a  proof  of  its  reasonableness.  "  That 
number  of  men,"  he  said,  "  is  about 
one-tenth  of  those  of  proper  ages  within 
the  regions  where  apparently  all  are 
willing  to  engage  ;  and  the  sum  is  less 


than  a  twenty-third  part  of  the  money- 
value  owned  by  the  men  who  seem 
ready  to  devote  the  whole.  A  debt  of 
six  hundred  millions  of  dollars  now,  is 
a  less  sum  per  head  than  was  the  debt 
of  our  Revolution  when  we  came  out 
of  that  struggle  ;  and  the  money-value 
in  the  country  now  bears  even  a  greater 
proportion  to  what  it  was  then  than  does 
the  population.  Surely  each  man  has  as 
strong  a  motive  now  to  preserve  our  lib 
erties  as  each  had  then  to  establish  them." 

The  act,  however,  which  will  probably 
bear  the  most  important  part  in  the 
final  issue  of  the  war,  was  that  entitled 
"  An  act  to  confiscate  property  used  for 
insurrectionary  purposes."  This  was 
proposed  by  Senator  Trumbull,  of  Illi 
nois,  and  adopted  by  a  vote  of  thirty-three 
to  six.  The  act  is  here  given  at  length : 

"  Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House 
of  Representatives  of  the  United  States  of 
America  in  Congress  assembled,  That  if, 
during  the  present  or  any  future  insur 
rection  against  the  Government  of  the 
United  States,  after  the  President  of  the 
United  States  shall  have  declared,  by 
proclamation,  that  the  laws  of  the 
United  States  are  opposed,  and  the  ex 
ecution  thereof  obstructed,  by  combina 
tions  too  powerful  to  be  suppressed  by 
the  ordinary  course  of  judicial  proceed 
ings,  or  by  the  power  vested  in  the 
marshals  by  law,  any  person  or  persons, 
his  heir,  or  their  agent,  attorney  or  em 
ployee,  shall  purchase  or  acquire,  sell  or 
give,  any  property  of  whatsoever  kind 
or  description,  with  intent  to  use  or  em 
ploy  the  same,  or  suffer  the  same  to  be 
used  or  employed,  in  aiding,  abetting, 


358 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


or  promoting  such  insurrection  or  resist 
ance  to  the  laws,  or  any  person  or  per 
sons  engaged  therein  ;  or  if  any  person 
or  persons  being  the  owner  or  owners 
of  any  such  property,  shall  knowingly 
use  or  employ,  or  consent  to  the  use  or 
employment  of  the  same  as  aforesaid, 
all  such  property  is  hereby  declared  to 
be  lawful  subject  of  prize  and  capture 
wherever  found,  and  it  shall  be  the  duty 
of  the  President  of  the  United  States  to 
cause  the  same  to  be  seized,  confiscated, 
and  condemned. 

"  SEC.  2.  And  be  it  further  enacted, 
That  such  prizes  and  capture  shall  be 
condemned  in  the  district  or  circuit 
court  of  the  United  States  having  juris 
diction  of  the  amount,  or  in  admiralty 
in  any  district  in  which  the  same  may 
be  seized,  or  into  which  they  may  be 
taken  and  proceedings  instituted. 

"  SEC.  3.  And  be  it  further  enacted, 
That  the  attorney-general,  or  any  dis 
trict  attorney  of  the  United  States  in 
which  said  property  may  at  the  time 
be,  may  institute  the  proceedings  of  con 
demnation,  and  in  such  case  they  shall 
be  wholly  for  the  benefit  of  the  United 
States  ;  or  any  person  may  file  an  in 
formation  with  such  attorney,  in  which 
case  the  proceedings  shall  be  for  the  use 
of  such  informer  and  the  United  States 
in  equal  parts. 

"SEC.  4.  And  be  it  further  enacted, 
That  whenever  any  person  claiming  to 
bo  entitled  to  the  service  or  labor  of  any 
other  person,  under  the  laws  of  any 
State,  shall  employ  such  person  in  aiding 
or  promoting  any  insurrection,  or  in  re 
sisting  the  laws  of  the  United  States,  or 


shall  permit  him  to  be  so  employed,  lie 
shall  forfeit  all  right  to  such  service  or 
labor,  and  the  person  whose  labor  or 
service  is  thus  claimed  shall  be  thence 
forth  discharged  therefrom,  any  law  to 
the  contrary  notwithstanding." 

The  President  is  reported  to  have 
signed  .this  act  of  confiscation  with  great 
reluctance.  It  had,  however,  been  passed 
by  the  Senate  with  wonderful  unanimity, 
there  being  only  a  minority  of  six  who 
voted  against  it.  These  were  Breck- 
enridge  and  Powell  of  Kentucky,  John 
son  of  Missouri,  Kennedy  and  Pearce  of 
Maryland,  and  Polk  of  Missouri,  men 
who  either  openly  sympathized  with  the 
secessionists,  or  were  little  disposed  to 
resist  them. 

The  bill  entitled  "An  act  to  define  and 
punish  certain  conspiracies"  also  met 
with  opposition  from  the  same  source. 
Not  content  with  resisting  it  by  their 
votes,  nine  senators,  who  composed  the 
minority,  entered  their  formal  protest* 
against  its  passage. 

0  "  PROTEST. — The  undersigned  members  of  the  Senate 
dissent  from  the  passage  of  the  bill  on  the  following 
grounds : 

"  The  Government  of  the  United  States  is  a  Government 
of  specially  delegated  powers,  and  though  treason  is  one 
of  the  highest  crimes  known  to  the  law,  it  is  a  political 
oifence. 

"To  guard  against  the  abuses  which,  in  times  of  high 
excitement  had,  in  the  history  of  England,  previous  to  the 
revolution  of  1688,  too  often  sacrificed  able,  virtuous,  and 
innocent  men  on  the  charge  of  treason  and  kindred  offences, 
unaccompanied  by  acts,  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States  expressly  defines  the  crime  of  treason  in  the  follow 
ing  terms  : 

"'Art.  3,  Sec.  3. — Treason  against  the  United  States 
shall  consist  only  in  levying  war  against  them,  or  in 
adhering  to  their  enemies,  giving  them  aid  and  comfort.' 

' '  It  further  provides  that  '  no  person  shall  be  con  victed 
of  treason,  unless  on  the  testimony  of  two  witnesses  to  the 
same  overt  act,  or  on  confession  in  open  court. ' 


ADJOURNMENT  OF   CONGRESS. 


359 


While  Congress  proved  its  warlike 
spirit  by  rejecting  without  debate  every 
conciliatory  proposition  for  securing 
peace,  it  unanimously  passed  a  resolu 
tion,  declaring  that  the  only  object  of 
the  Government  in  prosecuting  the  war 
was  to  maintain  the  integrity  and  the 

' '  The  intent  to  restrict  Congress  in  the  creation  of  crimes 
of  the  nature  created  by  this  bill  seems  obvious,  for  in 
treason  all  are  principals,  and  in  any  conspiracy  of  the  kind 
stated  in  the  bill,  an  overt  act  in  pursuance  of  it,  proved  by 
two  witnesses,  would  be  treason  against  the  United  States. 

"Thus  the  creation  of  an  offence  resting  in  intention 
alone,  without  overt  act,  would  render  nugatory  the  pro 
visions  last  quoted,  and  the  door  would  be  open  for  those 
similar  oppressions  and  cruelties  which,  under  the  excite 
ment  of  political  struggles,  have  so  often  disgraced  the 
past  history  of  the  world. 

"  The  undersigned  can  conceive  no  possible  object  in  de 
fining  the  crime  of  treason  by  our  ancestors,  and  requiring 
proof  by  two  witnesses  to  the  same  overt  act,  to  justify  the 
conviction  of  the  accused,  unless  it  be  to  restrict  the 
power  of  Congress  in  the  creation  of  a  political  crime  kin 
dred  to  treason,  and  charged  as  resting  an  intent,  which 
would,  if  accompanied  by  an  overt  act,  be  treason. 


unity  of  the  entire  country,  and  when 
these  were  secured,  it  should  terminate. 
The  senators  and  members  of  the  House 
belonging  to  the  Confederate  States  hav 
ing  been  stigmatized  by  being  expelled 
from  Congress,  both  Houses  finally  ad 
journed  on  the  6th  of  August. 

"  It  matters  not  that  the  punishment  prescribed  in  the 
law  is  not  death  but  imprisonment,  for  the  passage  of  th>. 
bill,  though  it  might  not  affect  the  life  of  an  innocent 
man,  would  give,  from  the  uncertainty  of  the  offence 
charged,  and  the  proof  requisite  to  sustain  it,  the  utmost 
latitude  to  prosecutions  founded  on  personal  emnity  and 
political  animosity,  and  the  suspicions  as  to  the  intention 
which  they  inevitably  engender. 

'  J.  A.  BAYARD,  Delaware. 

'  JOHN  C.  BRECKENRIDGE,  Kentucky. 

'  L.  W.  POWELL,  Kentucky. 

1  WALDO  P.  JOHNSON,  Missouri. 

'  J.  D.  BRIGHT,  Indiana. 

'W.  SAULSBURT,  Delaware. 

'  TRUSTEN  POLK,  Missouri. 

'  J.  A.  PEARCE,  Maryland. 

'A.  KENNEDY,  Maryland." 


CHAPTER     XXXIII.' 


Magnitude  of  the  Contest. — Relative  Strength  of  the  two  Antagonists. — Population  of  the  United  States. — Popula 
tion  of  the  Northern  States. — Population  of  the  Southern  States. — Number  of  Slaves. — Proportion  liable  to  Mili 
tary  Duty  in  the  United  States. — Proportion  at  the  North. — At  the  South. — The  Slaves  an  Element  of  Strength. — 
Slave  Labor  compared  with  Free. — Nature  of  Southern  Resources. — The  Advantages  of  Agriculture  in  times  of 
War.  — The  Southern  Force  in  the  Field.—  Proportion  of  Soldiers  to  Population  in  the  States  of  Europe. — The  Armies 
of  the  North  and  South  compared  numerically.  — The  Sentiment  of  the  North  and  South. — Slavery  endangered. — 
Slavery,  how  regarded  by  the  South.  —  Union  an  Abstraction.  —  Slavery  a  Reality.  —  How  the  Southerner  and 
Northerner  fight. — Resources  of  the  North  and  South  compared. — Munitions  of  War  at  the  South.— Superiority 
of  the  North. — Southern  and  Northern  Marine. — Navies — Edible  products,  Live-stock,  Grain,  etc. — Wealth  of  the 
South. — Cotton  and  Negroes. — Their  value  computed. — The  Geographical  Difficulties  of  the  War. — Area  of  the 
Southern  States. — A  Gigantic  War. 


To  form  a  judgment    of  the  magni- 
1861.  tude   of   the  contest,  its   duration, 

°  This  chapter  was  written  early  in  1862,  and  embraces 
the  statistics  then  available,  as  well  as  the  author's  views 
of  the  rebellion  at  that  period. — Publishers. 


and  final  issue,  it  will  be  necessary  to 
measure  the  relative  strength  of  the 
contending  parties.  The  population  of 
the  United  States,  according  to  the  cen 
sus  of  1860,  was  thirty-one  million 


360 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE   SOUTH. 


four  hundred  and  forty  thousand  five 
hundred  and  ninety-seven  (31,440,597) 
souls.  Of  these,  eighteen  million  nine 
hundred  and  five  thousand  and  eighty- 
two  (18,905,082)  inhabited  the  Northern 
States,  and  twelve  million  two  hundred 
and  forty  thousand  two  hundred  and 
ninety-six  (12,240,296),  the  Southern  or 
slave  States.  Of  the  aggregate  North 
ern  population,  two  hundred  and  twenty- 
one  thousand  seven  hundred  and  thirty- 
eight  (221,738)  were  negroes,  who  of 
course  are  free,  leaving  a  population  of 
whites  amounting  to  eighteen  million  six 
hundred  and  eighty-three  thousand  three 
hundred  and  forty-four  (18,683,344). 

Of  the  population  of  the  Southern 
States,  eight  million  forty-one  thousand 
nine  hundred  and  eighty-two  were 
whites  (8,041,982),  two  hundred  and 
forty-seven  thousand  nine  hundred  and 
seventy-one  (247,971)  free  blacks,  and 
three  million  nine  hundred  and  fifty 
thousand  three  hundred  and  forty-three 
(3,950,343)  were  slaves. 

Of  the  slave  States,  eleven  only  have 
seceded — Alabama,  Arkansas,  Florida, 
Georgia,  Louisiana,  Mississippi,  North 
Carolina,  South  Carolina,  Tennessee, 
Texas,  and  Virginia,  whose  white  popu 
lation  amounts  to  five  million  four  hun 
dred  and  fifty  thousand  seven  hundred 
and  eleven  (5,450,711),  and  negro  pop 
ulation  to  three  million  six  hundred  and 
fifty-two  thousand  three  hundred  and 
three  (3,652,303).  Portions  of  Western 
Virginia  and  Eastern  Tennessee  being 
still  loyal  to  the  Federal  Government,  in 
estimating  the  strength  of  the  enemy, 
it  would  be  necessary  perhaps  to  deduct 


nearly  a  million  persons,  were  they  not 
more  than  counterbalanced  by  the  fight 
ing  force  supplied  to  the  South  by  the 
still  loyal  States  of  Missouri,  Kentucky, 
and  Maryland. 

The  proportion  of  white  males  through 
out  the  United  States  between  eighteen 
and  forty-five  years  of  age,  being  the 
period  when  men  are  supposed  to  be 
serviceable  for  military  duty,  is  estimated 
at  five  million  four  hundred  and  eighty- 
four  thousand  (5,484,000).  Of  these, 
three  million  seven  hundred  and  sev 
enty-eight  thousand  (3,778,000)  are  pos 
sessed  by  the  Northern  States  •  one  mil 
lion  one  hundred  and  eighty-six  thou 
sand  (1,186,000)  by  the  seceded  States  ; 
five  hundred  and  thirty-nine  thousand 
(539,000)  by  the  border  slave  States, 
and  fifty-one  thousand  (51,000)  by  the 
Territories.  These  latter — belonging  to 
the  border  States  and  Territories,  which 
are  divided  in  sentiment — may  be  ap 
portioned  equally  between  the  two  bel 
ligerents. 

The  number  of  fighting  men  at  the 
service  of  the  Federal  Government 
would  thus  seem  greatly  to  surpass  the 
available  force  of  the  Southern  Con 
federacy.  But  it  must  be  borne  in 
mind,  that  an  estimate  based  on  age 
alone  is  not  e  .arely  reliable.  It  would 
not  be  practicable  for  the  North,  even 
under  the  most  urgent  demands  for  men, 
to  bring  into  the  field  all  of  those  who 
are  within  the  age  of  military  service. 
A  large  number  of  such  are  necessarily 
so  occupied  by  labor,  indispensable  to 
the  trade,  manufactures,  and  commerce 
of  the  country,  that  their  services  could 


ADVANTAGE  OF   SLAVERY. 


361 


not  be  withdrawn  from  civil  life  without 
ruin  to  those  resources  of  the  nation 
upon  which  its  power  as  a  belligerent 
depends.  There  are,  moreover,  from  the 
complicated  nature  of  the  relations  of 
society  and  business  which  prevail  in  a 
highly  civilized  community  like  that  of 
the  North,  obligations,  ties,  habits,  and 
affections  which  men  are  either  unable 
or  unwilling  to  rend.  They  thus  become 
reluctant,  however  patriotically  disposed, 
to  leave  their  homes  to  carry  on  war 
against  a  distant  people. 

In  the  seceded  States,  the  laboring 
population  is  composed  of  slaves,  who 
amount  in  round  numbers  to  four  mil 
lions.  These,  provided  they  remain 
faithful  to  their  masters,  form  an  element 
of  greater  strength  than  the  same  num 
ber  of  white  laborers  at  the  North.  As 
the  negro  children  and  women  are  forced 
to  work  as  well  as  the  men,  it  is  neces 
sary,  in  forming  a  comparative  estimate 
of  the  laboring  power  of  the  North  and 
South,  to  give  due  weight  to  this  fact. 
It  probably  gives  an  additional  force 
which  may  be  numerically  estimated  as 
one-third  of  the  whole.  The  four  mil 
lions  of  Southern  slaves  may  thus  be 
considered  as  equalling  six  millions  of 
Northern  white  laborers  in  productive 
power.  It  must  be  also  recollected  that 
slave  labor  may  be  kept  up  to  a  maxi 
mum  of  work  upon  a  minimum  of  sup 
port.  Labor  that  is  free  not  only  exer 
cises  its  will  in  regard  to  the  extent  and 
character  of  its  work,  but  its  caprices 
and  tastes  in  the  use  of  the  results. 

Agriculture,  moreover,  being  the  chief 
productive  industry  of  the  slave  States, 

46 


admits,  by  its  simple  operations,  of  com 
paratively  rude  labor,  while  but  little 
supervision  of  a  superior  intelligence  is 
required.  There  is  no  occasion  accord 
ingly  for  the  employment  at  the  South 
of  that  large  class  of  intelligent  masters 
and  workmen,  who,  engaged  in  the  more 
complicated  vocations  of  commerce, 
trade,  and  manufactures  requiring  prac 
tised  skill,  can  not  arrest  their  functions 
without  diminishing,  if  not  ruining,  the 
main  sources  of  Northern  wealth.  The 
Southerner  can  leave  his  cotton,  rice, 
and  tobacco  fields  to  be  tilled  by  his 
gangs  of  negro  slaves,  while  their  dis 
ciplined  obedience  may  be  rendered 
subservient  to  his  wealth  in  his  absence. 
Thus  in  the  slave  States  large  numbers 
of  whites  are  free  to  go  to  the  war, 
while  the  same  class  in  the  North  are 
kept  at  home. 

The  agricultural  pursuits  of  the  South 
have,  moreover,  the  advantage  of  being 
easily  adapted  to  the  immediate  neces 
sities  of  the  war.  A  tobacco  or  cotton 
plantation  can  be  changed  in  the  course 
of  a  single  season  into  fields  of  corn,  to 
which  the  patient  slave  may  transfer  his 
unthinking  labor  with  undiminished 
effect,  though  his  dulled  brain  has  hardly 
awakened  to  the  consciousness  of  the 
change.  The  complicated  occupations 
of  the  North  do  not  admit  of  these 
rapid  changes.  It  would  be  hardly  prac 
ticable  to  turn  a  Broadway  drygoods 
store  into  a  corn  mill,  and  its  shopmen 
into  millers,  or  a  New  England  pin  fac 
tory,  with  its  complicated  machinery, 
into  an  armory,  and  its  workmen  into 
makers  of  improved  rifles. 


362 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE   SOUTH. 


That  the  Congress  of  the  Southern 
Confederacy  should  have  authorized  the 
President  to  call  out  four  hundred  thou 
sand  men,  was  considered  a  vaunting 
affectation  of  power  which  it  did  not 
possess.  It  seems  probable,  however, 
that  the  seceded  States  had  already  over 
three  hundred  thousand  soldiers  in  the 
field.  On  October  1st,  1861,  the  follow 
ing  estimate  was  made  by  a  New  York 
journal  :* 

THE   FORCES   BEFOKE   WASHINGTON. 

Gen.  Beauregard's  column 70,000 

Gen.  Johnston's  column  between  Chain  Bridge 

and  Leesburgh 43,000 

Gen.  Magruder's  reinforcement,  intended  to  cross 

the  Potomac  at  Aquia  Creek 25,000 


Total 138,000 

At  the  various  batteries  on  the  Potomac,  York, 

James,  Rappahannock  rivers 15,000 

At  Yorktown,  Norfolk,  and  Portsmouth 20,000 

Reserves  at  Fredericksburgh    5,000 

Petersburgh 3,000 

Brentsville 1,000 

Culpepper 3,000 

Gordonsville 3,000 

Staunton 3,000 

Covington 2,000 

Charlottesville 5,000 

Lynch ville 5,000 

Burkesville  and  other  places  . . .  3,270 
Other  places 5,000 


In  Western  Virginia,  under  Generals  Lee,  Wise, 

and  Floyd 

Near  Winchester  and  Strasburg 

In  Kentucky,  Missouri,  and  the  West 

In  coast  fortifications  . . 


38,270 

25,000 
10,000 
41,000 
10,000 


Total  in  the  field 297,270 

This  is  certainly  a  large  number  of 
soldiers  in  proportion  to  the  population. 
With  the  four  millions  of  slaves  added 
to  the  five  millions  of  whites,  the  aggre 
gate  number  of  the  inhabitants  of  the 
Confederacy  amounts  to  only  nine  mil 
lions,  and  three  hundred  thousand  sol 
diers  would  be  very  nearly  in  the  pro 
portion  of  one  soldier  to  every  thirty 
inhabitants.  In  Prussia,  which  supplies 
the  largest  army  relative  to  its  popula- 

°  New  York  Herald. 


tion,  there  is  but  one  soldier  to  ever}' 
forty-eight  inhabitants,  in  Austria  one  to 
fifty-five,  in  Holland  one  to  fifty-eight, 
in  Spain  one  to  sixty-one,  in  France  one 
to  seventy,  and  in  Russia  one  to  ninety. 
The  following  is  the  estimate  of  the 
force- — taking  one  to  fifty  as  the  ratio — 
which  the  North  and  South  can  rela 
tively  sustain.  Delaware,  Maryland, 
and  Missouri  are,  however,  classed  with 
the  Northern  States,  although  they  have 
undoubtedly  supplied  a  large  contingent 
to  the  Southern  Confederacy. 

States.                                           Population.  Troops. 

Virginia 1,596.000  31,920 

North  Carolina 992.000  19,8-10 

Georgia 1,057,000  21,140 

Florida 140,000  2,800 

Alabama 964.000  19,280 

Mississippi 791,000  15,820 

Louisiana 709,000  14,180 

Arkansas 435,000  8,700 

Texas 602,000  12,040 

Tennessee 1,109,000  22,180 

Kentucky 1,155,000  23,100 

South  Carolina 703,000  14,060 


Total 10,253,000    205,060 

States.                                             Population.  Soldiers. 

Maine 628,000    12,560 

New  Hampshire 326,000    6,520 

Vermont 3 15,000    6,300 

Massachusetts 1,231,000    24,620 

Rhode  Island 174,000    3,480 

Connecticut 460.000    9,200 

New  York 3,880,000    77,600 

Pennsylvania 2,906,000    58, 120 

New  Jersey 672,000    13,440 

Ohio        2,339.000    46,780 

Indiana 1,350,000    27,000 

Illinois 1,71 1,000    34,220 

Michigan 749,000    14,980 

Wisconsin 775,000    15,500 

Iowa 675,000    13,500 

Minnesota, 172,000    3,440 

Kansas 107,000    2, 140 

Oregon 52,000    1.040 

California 380,000    7,600 

Delaware , .  -      112,000    2,240 

Maryland 687,000    13,740 

Missouri 1,182,000    23.640 

Territories 220,000    4.400 


Total 21,103,000    422,060 

The  North  has  greatly  exceeded  this 
estimate,  as  may  be  seen  by  the  follow 
ing  statement  in  Secretary  Cameron's 
Report  of  July  2d,  1861. 


SOUTHERN   SENTIMENT. 


363 


The  following  presents  the  entire  es 
timated  strength  of  the  army,  both  vol 
unteers  and  regulars  : 


-Volunteers.- 


8tate«.  Three  Months.  For  the  War.  Aggregate. 

Califo;  aia -         4,688 4,688 

Connecticut 2,236  ....  12,400  ....  14,636 

Delaware 775 2,000  ....    2,775 

Illinois 4,941  ....  80,000  ....  84,941 

Indiana 4,686  ....  57,332  ....  62,018 

Iowa 968  ....  19,800  ....  20,768 

Kentucky -         ....  15,000  ....  15,000 

Maine 768  ....  14,239  ....  15,007 

Maryland —      ....    7,000....    7,000 

Massachusetts 3,435 26,760 30,195 

Michigan 781  ....  28,550  ....  29,331 

Minnesota •         4,160 4,160 

Missouri 9,356  ....  22,130  ....  31,486 

New  Hampshire 779  ....    9,600  . .  '.' .  10,379 

New  Jersey 3,068  ....    9,342  ....  12,410 

New  York 10,188  . . .  100,200  .  . .  110,388 

Ohio 10,236  ....  81,205  ....  91,441 

Pennsylvania 19, 199 94,760  .    .  1 13,959 

Rhode  Island 1,285 5,898 7,183 

Vermont 780  ....    8,000 8,780 

Virginia 779 12,000  ....  12,779 

Wisconsin 792 14,153  ....  14,945 

Kansas —      5,000 5,000 

Colorado —      1,000....     1,000 

Nebraska —      ....    2,500....     2,500 

Nevada —      1,000....     1,000 

Nnw  Mexico -         ....     1,000....     1,000 

District  of  Columbia 2,823 1,000 3,823 

Total 77,875  . . .  640,637  . . .  718,512 

Estimated  strength  of  the 

regular  army,  including 

tho  new  enlistments  un- 
•     der  the  act  of  Congress 

of  July  29,  1861 —     ....  20,334  .... 

Total ...  660,971  .... 

The  several  arms  of  the  service  are 
estimated  as  follows  : 

Volunteers.       Eegulars.        Aggregate. 

Infantry 557,208  ....  11,175  ....  568,383 

Cavalry 54,654  ....    4,744  ....    59,398 

Artillery 20,380  ....    4,308 24,688 

Rifles  and  Sharpshooters.     8,395 —   8,395 

Engineers - 107 107 

Total 640,637  ....  20,334  ....  660,971 

The  force  of  the  Southern  Confeder 
acy,  there  is  also  reason  to  believe, 
transcends  the  estimate  in  this  chapter. 


It  is  stated  on  good  authority  that  on 
December  1,  1861,  the  enemy  had 
360,000  men  in  the  field.  [These  esti 
mates  have  been  all  exceeded  since,  as 
will  be  seen  in  the  course  of  this  nar 
rative.] 

Some  in  making  such  an  estimate 
might  be  disposed  to  deduct  the  slaves 
from  the  population  of  the  Southern 
States.  It  has,  however,  been  already 
shown  that  the  negro  element  more 
than  supplies  the  same  numerical  quan 
tity  of  labor  at  the  North,  and  thus 
should  be  considered  as  setting  free  a 
proportionate  number  of  inhabitants  for 
military  service. 

In  calculating  the  probable  ratio  of 
soldiers  to  the  population  in  the  South 
ern  Confederacy,  the  sentiment  of  the 
people  must  also  be  taken  into  account. 
However  unreasonable  or  criminal  we 
at  the  North  may  consider  the  motive 
which  has  induced  those  in  the  South  to 
rise  in  arms  against  the  Federal  author 
ity,  it  can  not  be  now  questioned  that 
the  general  opinion  of  the  latter  is  that 
the  war  they  are  waging,  is  one  in  de 
fence  of  their  country  and  its  institu 
tions.  Apart  from  the  political  heresy 
of  "  State  Rights,"  which  widely  prevails 
among  the  Southern  people,  freeing  them, 
as  they  erroneously  believe,  from  all  fealty 
to  the  sovereignty  of  the  Union,  they  are 
firmly  persuaded  that  the  existence  of 
slavery  is  endangered  by  Northern  ag 
gression.  It  is  needless  here  to  strive  to 
prove  the  groundlessness  of  this  belief, 
or  to  trace  it  to  its  probably  real  source, 
the  plausible  arguments  and  corrupt 
designs  of  ambitious  political  leaders. 


364 


THE  WAIi   WITH   THE   SOUTH. 


Of  the  existence  of  such  a  belief,  what 
ever  may  have  been  its  cause,  there  can 
be  little  doubt. 

The  Southern  people  imagine  they 
are  fighting  for  their  dearest  interests, 
believing,  also,  that  slavery,  which  is 
interwoven  with  all  that  attaches  them 
to  their  country,  is  in  danger.  This 
institution  is  the  foundation  of  their 
property,  the  principle  of  their  social 
organization,  and  an  element  of  their 
domestic  life.  Not  only  is  it  clung  to 
as  their  wealth,  their  main  social  tie, 
and  chief  source  of  domestic  enjoyment, 
but  it  is  commended  to  them  by  the 
traditions  of  their  forefathers,  who  es 
tablished  and  bequeathed  it  ;  by  the 
sophistries  of  their  leaders,  who  claim 
it  to  be  the  corner-stone  of  political 
freedom  and  happiness ;  and  by  the 
teachings  of  their  religious  guides,  who 
sanction  it  on  the  revered  authority  of 
the  revelation  of  God. 

Contending  thus,  as  they  believe,  for 
property,  society,  home,  political  excel 
lence,  history,  and  even  religion,  it  is 
not  surprising  that  the  Southern  Con 
federacy  should  engage  in  the  struggle 
with  all  the  earnestness  and  energy  that 
have  ever  characterized  a  spirited  people 
rising  in  defence  of  interests  dearer  to 
them  than  life  itself. 

In  calculating,  therefore,  the  power  of 
resistance  of  our  antagonists,  it  is  neces 
sary  to  give  full  weight  to  the  sentiments 
which  actuate  them.  The  ordinary  es 
timates  of  statisticians  would  fall  far 
short  of  the  might  of  a  people  stimu 
lated  by  the  intensity  of  a  dominating 
passion,  which  unquestionably  has  been 


aroused  in  the  South  by  the  supposed 
danger  to  slavery. 

When  in  South  Carolina  an  aged  man 
of  three-score  and  ten,  the  grey-haired 
politician  Ruffin,  joins  the  ranks  and  is 
the  first  to  open  fire  upon  the  Federal 
flag  at  Sumter  ;  when  a  patriarch  of  the 
Church,  Bishop  Polk,  of  Louisiana,  lays 
aside  the  crosier,  the  emblem  of  the 
gentle  shepherd  meekly  leading  his  flock 
to  the  Lord's  pasturage,  and  grasping 
the  sword  fiercely  marshals  soldiers  to 
battle  ;  when  boys  just  in  their  teens 
leave  the  playground  and  its  mimic  con 
tests,  and,  encouraged  by  a  mother's 
smile,  shoulder  the  musket  and  go  with 
tragic  earnestness  to  the  battle-field,  to 
return  perhaps  in  death  to  that  mother's 
embrace,  through  whose  tears  even  then 
shine  a  glow  of  exultation  in  the  sacri 
fice  of  her  child  to  his  country  ;  when  a 
people  thus  are  willing  to  give  up  so 
much  that  is  dear  to  a  cause  which  they 
believe  dearer  still,  what  becomes  of 
the  calculations  of  the  unfeeling  statis 
tician  ? 

That  the  Confederate  States  thus  have 
been  enabled  to  call  into  the  field  a 
larger  proportion  of  their  population 
than  is  usually  estimated  as  the  quota 
of  soldiers  in  the  same  number  of  inhab 
itants,  will  be  readily  conceded.  The 
ordinary  limit  for  military  service  be 
tween  eighteen  and  forty-five  has  un 
doubtedly  been  practically  if  not  for 
mally  extended.  Old  men  of  three 
score,  as  well  as  boys  hardly  in  their 
teens,  are  to  be  seen  more  frequently  in 
the  ranks  of  the  enemy  than  in  our  own 
or  in  any  other  army. 


COMPARATIVE  RESOURCES. 


365 


There  is  also  undoubtedly  a  strong 
patriotic  sentiment  at  the  North,  which 
has  already  shown  itself  in  the  rapid 
enrolment  of  an  immense  force,  now 
estimated  at  600,000  men.  This  is  in 
spired  by  an  enthusiastic  attachment  to 
the  Union,  and  a  deep  indignation  against 
those  who  have  attempted  to  destroy  it. 
The  Northern  sentiment,  unlike  that  of 
the  South,  comes  from  no  fear  of  danger 
to  any  immediate  personal  interests. 
Our  people  feel  secure  in  their  own 
States,  of  retaining  all  their  social  insti 
tutions.  The  advantages  of  the  Union, 
though  firmly  believed  in  and  spiritedly 
contended  for,  are  not  felt  to  be  direct 
and  personal.  They  accept  as  a  truth, 
that  the  preservation  of  the  Government 
in  its  unity  is  essential  to  the  glory  of 
their  country.  Practically  experiencing 
all  the  immediate  benefits  of  good  gov 
ernment,  security  to  property,  to  life,  and 
to  the  pursuit  of  happiness,  they  can  not 
personally  appreciate  the  danger  to  their 
interests  that  would  arise  from  dismem 
berment  of  the  nation.  To  them,  there 
fore,  the  assertion,  by  arms,  of  the  Fed 
eral  authority — which  to  the  thoughtful 
statesman  is  absolutely  necessary  for  the 
preservation  of  national  existence — is 
merely  a  struggle  for  an  idea.  The 
common  soldier,  at  the  North,  so  far  as 
he  is  prompted  by  any  motive  beyond 
the  simple  duty  of  serving  his  country, 
is  fighting  for  an  abstraction,  while  the 
Southerner  has  taken  up  arms  for  a 
reality.  This  of  course  is  to  be  under 
stood  rather  as  a  difference  in  sentiment 
than  in  nature  ;  for  the  preservation 
of  the  Union  is  believed  to  be,  by  the 


thoughtful,  a  much  more  genuine  inter 
est  than  the  conservation  of  slavery, 
even  if  it  were  endangered. 

The  sentimental  influence,  however, 
prevailing  to  a  much  greater  extent  at 
the  South  than  at  the  North,  has  pro 
duced  in  the  former  a  more  intense  de 
gree  of  earnestness.  It  is  seen  not  only 
in  the  wonderful  force  and  obstinacy  with 
which  the  Confederates  have  hitherto 
resisted  the  superior  numbers  and  re 
sources  of  the  Federal  Government,  but 
in  the  spirit  with  which  the  Southern 
soldier  enters  battle.  He  rushes  to  the 
fight  with  a  wild  shout,  and  seems  in 
spired  with  an  insatiable  desire  of  venge 
ance.  The  Northern  soldier,  on  the 
contrary,  is  observed  to  be  silent,  and 
though  not  less  brave,  is  certainly  less 
fierce. 

In  regard  to  material  resources,  those 
of  the  North  undoubtedly  greatly  pre 
ponderate.  The  South,  however,  is  prob 
ably  provided  with  means  which  will 
prove  to  a  people,  animated  as  they  are 
by  an  intense  spirit  of  fanaticism,  amply 
sufficient  for  carrying  on  a  long  defen 
sive  war. 

Of  munitions  of  war,  the  Southern 
Confederacy  is  reported  to  have  a  large 
supply.  A  Southern  journal,*  whose 
account,  however,  must  be  taken  with 
reserve,  asserted  that  the  following  arms 
had  been  seized  since  the  beginning  of 
the  secession  movement : 


Baton  Rouge 70,000 

Alabama  Arsenal 20,000 

Elizabeth,  N.  C 30.000 

Fayetteville,  N.  C. . .  35,000 
Charleston 23,000 


Harper's  Ferry 5,000 

Norfolk 7.000 

Other  places 100,000 


Total 290,000 

The  following  are  reported  to  have 

0  The  Memphis 


366 


THE   WAR   WITH  THE   SOUTH. 


Mississippi 50,000 

Florida 17,000 


been  previously  purchased  by  the  sev 
eral  seceding  States. 

Alabama 80,000 

Virginia 73.000 

Louisiana 30,000 

Georgia 120,000 

South  Carolina 47,000       Total 417,000 

This  makes  a  grand  total  of  707,000 
stand  of  arms,  to  which  the  same  author 
ity  adds  200,000  revolvers. 

Another  Southern  newspaper*  makes 
the  following  statement : 

"  The  facts  we  are  about  to  state  are 
official  and  indisputable.  Under  a  single 
order  of  the  late  Secretary  of  War,  the 
Hon.  Mr.  Floyd,  made  during  last  year, 
there  were  115,000  improved  muskets 
and  rifles  transferred  from  the  Spring 
field  Armory  and  Watervliet  Arsenal  to 
different  arsenals  at  the  South.  The 
precise  destination  that  was  reached  by 
all  these  arms,  we  have  official  authority 
for  stating  to  have  been  as  follows : 

Percussion        Altered          Percus. 
Muskets.         Muskets.  Rifles. 

Charleston  (S.  C.)  Arsenal. .    9,280 5,720 2,000 

North  Carolina  Arsenal 15,408 9,520 2,000 

Augusta  (Ga.)  Arsenal 12,380 7,620 2,000 

Mount  Vernon  (Ala.) 9,280 5,720 2,000 

Baton  Rouge,  La 18.520 11 ,420 2,000 

'  The  total  number  of  improved  arms 
thus  supplied  to  five  depositories  in  the 
South,  by  a  single  order  of  the  late 
Secretary  of  War,  was  114,868.  What 
numbers  were  supplied  by  other  and 
minor  orders,  and  what  numbers  of  im 
proved  arms  had,  before  the  great  order, 
been  deposited  in  the  South,  can  not 
now  be  ascertained." 

The  Southern  Confederates,  moreover, 
were  well  supplied,  by  the  capture  of  the 
Federal  forts,  foundries,  and  navy-yards, 
with  a  large  quantity  of  ordnance  of  vari- 

0  The  Richmond  (Va.)  Inquirer. 


ous  kinds.  At  the  same  time,  having  suc 
ceeded  in  securing  machinery  abandoned 
or  incompletely  destroyed  by  the  United 
States  garrisons,  they  have  been  enabled 
to  manufacture  arms  and  cannon,  while 
they  have  continued,  in  spite  of  the 
blockade,  to  add  constantly  to  their  store 
from  Europe.  It  is  supposed,  therefore, 
though  they  may  have  some  difficulty  in 
readily  supplying  themselves  with  pow 
der,  that  the  enemy  have  generally  a 
good  stock  of  the  best  munitions  of  war. 

Their  resources  in  this  respect,  though 
more  abundant,  perhaps,  at  the  begin 
ning  of  the  war  than  those  of  the  North, 
will  diminish  in  comparison,  if  hostilities 
should  be  long  protracted.  The  North 
ern  States,  apart  from  their  free  com 
merce  with  Europe,  have,  with  their 
more  skilled  artisanship,  greater  sup 
plies  of  coal  and  iron,  and  facilities  of 
machinery,  advantages  with  which  the 
slave  States  can  not  possibly  compete. 

It  is  in  the  marine,  however,  that 
the  inferiority  of  the  Southern  Confed 
eracy  is  most  manifest.  Notwithstand 
ing  the  extended  sea-coast  of  the  slave 
States,  and  the  fact  that  their  chief  pro 
ductions  are  raised  for  export,  their 
commerce  has  been  almost  entirely 
carried  on  by  Northern  vessels.  Their 
own  commercial  marine  was  confined  to 
a  few  small  coasters,  an  occasional  trader 
to  foreign  countries,  and  to  river  steam 
ers.  The  new  government  has  therefore 
but  little  material  from  which  to  form  a 
navy.  The  Federal  vessels  which  the 
secessionists  have  seized,  added  to  those 
they  already  possessed,  have  been  armed, 
and  constitute  a  naval  force  which  is 


THE   NAVIES. 


367 


estimated  at  twenty-six  steamers  and 
propellers,  mounted  with  a  total  of  fifty 
guns,  and  five  sailing  vessels,  originally 
United  States  revenue  cutters,  carrying 
in  all  ten  guns.  It  is  true  that,  by  the 
abandonment  by  United  States  officers  of 
the  Norfolk  navy-yard  and  the  incom 
plete  destruction  of  the  vessels,  several 
men-of-war,  more  or  less  available  for  ser 
vice,  fell  into  their  possession.  These, 
however,  have  been  hitherto  blockaded 
in  James  River  by  the  Federal  Fortress 
Monroe  and  our  cruisers. 

The  privateers  fitted  out  may  amount 
perhaps  to  about  a  score,  carrying  prob 
ably  four  guns  each.  The  whole  naval 
force  of  the  Southern  Confederacy  can 
hardly  be  more  than  half  a  hundred 
vessels,  with  a  total  of  150  guns. 

The  Federal  navy,  though  at  the 
beginning  of  the  conflict  in  a  condition 
very  unfavorable  for  service,  was  even 
then  immeasurably  superior  to  the 
strongest  force  that  the  enemy  could  float. 
Those  United  States  vessels  which  were 
fit  for  use  had  been  sent  mostly  on  for 
eign  service,  through,  it  was  suspected, 
the  machinations  of  Southern  conspira 
tors.  With  these,  the  whole  available 
July  force  amounted,  according  to  the 
3»  report  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy, 
to: 

Guns. 

1  ship-of-the-line 84 

8  frigates 400 

20  sloops 406 

3  brigs 16 

3  storeships 1 

6  steam  frigates 212 

6  first-class  steam  sloops 90 

4  tirst-class  side- wheel  steamers 46 

8  second-class  steam  sloops 45 

5  third-class  screw  steamers 28 

4  second-class  side-wheel  steamers 8 

2  steam  tenders 4 


69 


1,346 


Of  this  force  the  following  were  in 
commission,  the  remainder  being  in  or 
dinary,  dismantled,  etc. : 

Guns. 

2  frigates TOO 

11  sloops 232 

3  storeships 7 

1  screw  frigate.   12 

6  first-class  steam  sloops 90 

3  side-wheel  steamers 35 

8  second-class  steam  sloops 45 

5  third-class  screw  steamers 28 

3  side-wheel  steamers 5 

1  steam  tender. 1 

42  565 

These  vessels  had  a  complement,  ex 
clusive  of  officers  and  marines,  of  about 
7,600  men,  and  nearly  all  of  them  were 
on  foreign  stations.  The  home  squadron 
consisted  of  12  vessels,  carrying  187 
guns  and  about  2,000  men.  Of  this 
squadron  only  4  small  vessels,  carrying 
25  guns  and  about  280  men,  were  in 
Northern  ports. 

With  the  immense  commercial  marine, 
however,  of  the  North,  the  Federal 
Government  can  augment  its  naval  force 
almost  indefinitely.  Already,  at  jujy 
the  beginning  of  July,  it  had  !• 
thirty-seven  regular  men-of-war,  and 
thirty-nine  steam  gun-boats  engaged  in 
blockading  the  Southern  coast,  with  an 
aggregate  of  59,229  tons,  720  guns,  and 
10,113  men.  In  addition,  the  Govern 
ment  had  either  bought  or  chartered 
some  thirty-nine  merchant  steamers,  and 
has  been  since  constantly  augmenting 
this  force,  besides  building  fleets  of  gun 
boats  and  other  craft.  Mr.  Welles,  the 
Secretary  of  the  Navy,  in  his  report 
(December  2d)  makes  the  following  com 
putation  : 

"  When  the  vessels  now  building  and 
purchased,  of  every  class,  are  armed, 


368 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE   SOUTH. 


equipped,    and   ready   for   service,   the 
'ondition  of  the  navy  will  be  as  follows  : 


0Tt>   NAVY. 
Class.  No.        Tonnage. 

3hips-of-line 6 16,094  . 

Frigates 7 12,104  . 

Sloops 17 16,031  . 

Brigs 2 639  . 

Storeships 3 342  . 

Receiving  ships,  etc 6  ....    6,340  . 

Screw  frigates 6 21,460  . 

First-class  screw  sloops 6  ....  11,953  . 

Firstxjlass  side- wheel  steam  sloops  4  ....    8,003  . 

Second-class  screw  sloops 8  ....    7,693  . 

Third-class  screw  sloops 6  ....    2,405  . 

Third-class  side- wheel  steamers. . .  4  ....    1,808  . 
Steam  tenders..  .2..  599. 


Guns. 
.  . .  504 
. . .  350 
...  342 
...  12 
7 

. . .  106 
. . .  222 
. . .  109 
...  46 
...  45 
...  28 
...  28 
4 


Total..  ...76 


105,271  ...1,803 


PURCHASED  VESSELS. 

Side-wheel  steamers 36 26,680  . . 

Screw  steamers 43 20,403  . . , 

Ships 13 9,998  ... 

Schooners 24 6,324  . . . 

Barks 18  ....    8,432  .., 

Brigs 2 460  ... 


166 

175 

52 

49 

78 

4 


Total 136  ....  71,297  ....  524 


98 
92 
48 


VE398EL3  CONSTRUCTED. 

Screw  sloops 14 16,787  . . 

Gun-boats 23 11 ,661  . . 

Side-wheel  steamers 12  ....    8,400  . . , 

Iron-clad  steamers 3  ....    4,600  ....    18 

Total 52  ....  41,448  ....  256 

— making  a  total  of  264  vessels,  2,583 
guns,  and  218,016  tons.  The  aggregate 
number  of  seamen  in  the  service  on  the 
£th  of  March  last  was  7,600.  The  number 
now  is  not  less  than  22,000." 

It  was  supposed  by  the  unionists,  at 
the  commencement  of  the  conflict,  that 
the  secessionists  would  soon  fail  in  their 
resistance  from  want  of  food.  However 
inferior  the  seceded  States  may  be  to 
the  loyal  States  in  the  supply  cf  edible 
products,  the  quantity  produced  by  the 
former  is  not  so  much  less  as  has  been 
supposed,  and  is  amply  sufficient  to  sus 
tain  their  population. 


The  value  of  the  live-stock  in  all  the 
slave  States  amounts  to  $240,000,000, 
while  that  of  the  free  States  is  esti 
mated  at  $300,000,000.  If  we  deduct 
from  the  former  the  value  of  the  live 
stock  of  the  States  of  Delaware,  Mary 
land,  Kentucky,  and  Missouri,  the  large 
amount  of  $180,000,000  is  left  as  the 
product  of  the  seceded  States  alone. 
The  quantity  of  cereals,  wheat,  rye,  In 
dian  corn,  and  oats  annually  produced 
by  all  the  slave  States  is  computed  at 
400,000,000  bushels,  while  that  of  the 
free  States  amounts  to  350,000,000  only. 
If,  again,  we  deduct  from  the  former  the 
production  of  the  four  slave  States  still 
loyal,  the  result  leaves  for  the  seceded 
States  333,628,204  bushels.  In  addition 
to  this  large  supply  of  edible  products, 
there  must  be  added  rice,  of  which 
250,000,000  bushels  are  produced  in  the 
slave  States,  and  none  in  the  free.  If 
we  again  deduct  the  small  amount  of 
6,400  bushels  produced  in  Kentucky  and 
Missouri,  there  is  left  the  large  number 
of  214,993,600  bushels  of  rice  as  the 
product  of  the  seceded  States. 

Of  cane-sugar  247,294  pounds,  and 
of  molasses  12,108,305  gallons,  are  pro 
duced  in  the  seceded  States,  a  trifling 
quantity  of  both  in  the  other  slave 
States,  and  only  a  few  gallons  of  the 
latter  and  none  of  the  former  in  the 
free. 

In  the  annual  production  of  barley 
and  buckwheat,  however,  the  free  States 
greatly  surpass  the  slave,  that  of  the 
former  being  13,750,000  bushels,  and 
that  of  the  latter  only  560,200,  of  which 
310,000  bushels  are  produced  by  the  se- 


CAN  THE  ENEMY  BE  STARVED  OUT? 


369 


ceded  States.  Of  butter,  the  free  States 
produce  also  the  large  quantity  of  246,- 
000,000  Ibs.,  while  the  seceded  States 
produce  only  44,770,000  Ibs.,  and  the 
other  slave  States — Delaware,  1,058,- 
308  Ibs.;  Maryland,  3,806,161  Ibs.; 
Kentucky,  9,847,523  Ibs.  ;  and  Missouri, 
7,834,359  Ibs.  Of  cheese,  the  product 
of  the  free  States  amounts  to  104,000,- 
000  Ibs.,  that  of  the  seceded  States  963,- 
000  Ibs.  only,  and  of  the  other  slave 
States  424,488  Ibs.  Of  potatoes,  the 
product  in  the  free  States  gives  the  an 
nual  amount  of  54,000,000  bushels  ;  that 
of  the  four  slave  States,  Delaware,  Mary 
land,  Kentucky,  and  Missouri,  gives 
3,393,974,  and  that  of  the  other  slave 
States  40,500,000.  It  must  be  under 
stood  that  the  potatoes  of  the  Northern 
States  are  mostly  those  known  as  the 
Irish,  and  those  of  the  slave  States  the 
sweet.  Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  there 
is  little  probability  of  the  insurrection 
ists  being  starved  out.* 


0  We  give  here  some  other  valuable  statistics  which 
will  assist  in  forming  a  comparative  estimate  of  the  re 
sources  of  the  two  belligerents. 

TOBAOOO. 

States.  Pounds. 

Delaware None. 

Maryland 21,407,497 

Kentucky 55,501,196 

Missouri 17,1 13,784 

In  the  other  slave  States 86,000,000 

In  all  the  free  States 20,000,000 

COTTON. 
States.  Bales. 

Delaware None. 

Maryland None. 

Missouri None. 

Kentucky 758 

In  all  the  slave  States 2,500,000 

400  Ibs.  in  each  bale. 

In  all  the  free  States None. 

47 


In  estimating  the  resources  of  the 
Southern  Confederacy,  it  must  be  borne 
in  mind  that  it  has  hitherto  reaped  some 
benefit,  though  partial,  directly  from  its 
communications  with  Maryland,  Missouri 
and  Kentucky,  and  indirectly  through 
those  States  from  the  abounding  North. 
The  larger  portion  of  the  wealth,  how 
ever,  of  the  slave  States  is  dependent 
upon  their  cotton,  estimated  at  an  an 
nual  value  of  $200,000,000,  and  their 
slaves,  computed  to  be  worth  from 
$700,000,000  to  $1,000,000,000.  The 


VALUE  OF   HOME-MADE   MANUFAOTUKEB. 

States.  Dollars. 

Delaware 38,121 

Maryland 111,828 

Kentucky 2,459,128 

Missouri „...  1,674,706 

In  the  other  slave  States « 14,349,347 

In  all  the  free  States 9,260,000 

WOOL. 
States.  Pounds. 

Delaware 58,000 

Maryland 477,000 

Kentucky 2,300,000 

Missouri 1,627,000 

In  the  other  slave  States 9,000.000 

In  all  the  free  States 40,000,000 

HAT. 

States.  Tons. 

Delaware 30, 159 

Maryland 157,956 

Kentucky 113,747 

Missouri 1 16,925 

In  the  other  slave  States 721 ,676 

In  all  the  free  States 12,700,000 

IKAX. 

States.  Pounds. 

Delaware 11,174 

Maryland 35,686 

Kentucky 2,100,116 

Missouri 557, 160 

In  the  other  slave  States 2,000,000 

In  all  the  free  States 3,000,000 

POPULATION. 

INCREASE  IN  THE  PAST  TEN  YEAK*. — In  Delaware,  Mary 
land,  Kentucky,  Missouri  34  per  cent    In  the  other  slave 

States  25  per  cent. 


370 


THE   WAR   WITH  THE   SOUTH. 


cotton,  as  long  as  the  present  blockade 
exists,  and  is  respected  by  foreign  pow 
ers,  is  nearly  valueless,  for  with  but  few 
unimportant  uses  for  it  at  home,  it  is 
raised  almost  entirely  for  foreign  export. 
As  for  the  slaves,  if  they  remain  faith 
ful,  their  labor  can  be  transferred,  though 
with  a  loss  of  profit,  to  the  production 
of  what  is  needed  during  the  war,  or 
even  to  operations  essential  to  it. 

To  form  an  idea  of  the  magnitude  of 
the  work  which  the  North  has  before  it, 
it  is  necessary  to  consider  the  geograph 
ical  difficulties  to  be  overcome.  With 
the  greatly  superior  resources  of  our 
Government,  the  war  will  probably  be 
for  the  most  part  an  offensive  one,  in  the 
sense  that  it  will  be  carried  on  in  the 
enemy's  territory.  The  extent  of  that 
territory,  therefore,  becomes  a  question 
of  the  utmost  importance  in  estimating 
the  probable  magnitude  of  our  opera 


tions.  The  total  area  of  the  slave 
States,  exclusive  of  Delaware,  is  no  less 
than  886,199  square  miles.  To  this  im 
mense  territory  there  is  a  coast  line  of 
3,523  miles,  a  shore  line  of  25,414,  and 
an  interior  boundary  line  of  7,031  miles 
in  length.  Maryland,  Missouri,  and 
Kentucky,  although  loyal,  are  included 
in  this  estimate,  for  they  form  a  part  of 
the  present  field  of  military  operations. 
The  free  State  of  Kansas,  embracing 
125,283  square  miles,  and  the  Western 
Territories  with  an  aggregate  area  of 
1,163,066  square  miles,  might  be  added 
perhaps,  as  they  have  already  become, 
to  some  extent,  and  will  continue  to  be, 
scenes  of  conflict. 

There  is  no  record  in  history  of  so 
gigantic  a  war,  and  never  have  lived  a 
people  with  such  resources  to  carry  it 
on.  May  the  end  be  as  beneficent  as 
the  means  are  profuse  ! 


KING  COTTON. 


371 


CHAPTER    XXXIV. 

The  Effect  of  Cotton  upon  Secession. — Southern  opinion. — King  Cotton  and  his  Foreign  Subjects. — The  influence  of 
Cotton  in  England  and  France. — The  force  of  necessity  operating  in  two  ways. — Will  the  hopes  of  the  South  be 
disappointed? — New  sources  of  a  Cotton  Supply. — Southern  Agents  in  Europe. — Foreign  Ministers  appointed  by  the 
Federal  Government. — Their  Character. — Adams. — Dayton. — Instructions  of  Mr.  Seward,  Secretary  of  State. — 
Intelligence  from  England  anxiously  awaited. — Lord  John  Russell's  Speech  in  Parliament. — The  Southern  Confed 
eracy  acknowledged  a  Belligerent. — Speech  of  Lord  Palmerston. — Effect  in  the  United  States. — England  denounced. 
— Cotton  in  the  Ears. — Ungenerous  expression  of  the  British  Press. — Order  of  the  British  Government  in  regard  to 
Armed  Vessels  and  Privateers  of  the  Belligerents. — Declaration  of  the  Emperor  of  France. — Other  Powers  of  Europe. — 
Queen  Victoria's  Proclamation. — Debate  in  the  House  of  Lords. — Lord  Ellenborough's  Speech. — Blockade  Denned. 
— Contraband  of  War. — Speech  of  Earl  Granville. — His  Definition  of  Blockade  and  Contraband. — Speech  of  the  Earl 
of  Derby. — Declares  Privateering  not  Piracy. — British  Subjects  must  be  Protected. — Speech  of  Lord  Brougham. — De 
clares  Privateering  not  Piracy. — Warning  to  British  Subjects. — Speech  of  the  Lord  Chancellor. — The  Interests  of  Eng 
land. — How  affected  by  the  War. — English  soreness. — How  viewed  by  North  and  South. — Difficulties. — Correspond 
ence  between  Lord  Lyons  and  Seward. — Seizure  of  Slidell  and  Mason. — Feeling  toward  the  United  States  in  France. 
— Courtesy  and  Disinterestedness  of  French  Writers. — Visit  of  Prince  Napoleon. — The  Comte  de  Paris  and  the  Due 
de  Chartres. — The  Letter  of  the  Emperor  of  Russia. — Se ward's  Circular  on  Sea  and  Lake  Fortifications. — Its  effect. 
— Its  true  purport. 


1861. 


THE  presumption  that  their  chief  pro 
duct  was  of  vital  importance  to 
Europe,  and  especially  to  Great 
Britain  and  France,  had  undoubtedly 
a  great  influence  in  encouraging  the 
cotton-producing  States  to  take  the  bold 
step  of  seceding  from  the  Union.  Firmly 
persuaded  that  the  millions  of  operatives 
of  the  British  and  French  manufacturing 
towns  were  bound  in  compulsory  subjec 
tion  to  cotton,  which  the  Southern  plant 
ers,  in  boastful  pride  of  its  power,  had 
crowned  "  king,"  they  believed  that  all 
national  obligations  must  necessarily 
yield  to  the  peremptory  allegiance  de 
manded  by  their  proclaimed  monarch. 
Without  cotton,  they  supposed  that  the 
looms  of  Manchester  and  Mulhause  would 
be  stopped,  their  operatives  deprived  of 
work  and  necessarily  of  bread,  and  that 
the  cry  of  the  famished  millions  of 


England  and  France  would  so  ring  in 
imperial  and  queenly  ears,  that  the  voice 
of  international  justice  and  law  could 
not  be  heard.  They  contended  that  self- 
preservation,  the  first  law  of  nations  as 
of  individuals,  would  force  the  govern 
ments  of  England  and  France  to  break 
through  all  restrictions  of  convention 
and  right,  to  obtain  what  was  supposed 
to  be  necessary  to  their  vitality.  It 
may  be  supererogatory  now,  while  the 
march  of  events  is  so  rapidly  crushing 
out  the  most  elaborate  preconceived 
theories,  to  remind  the  sanguine  calcula 
tors  of  the  South  that  the  very  necessity 
upon  which  they  presumed,  has  a  modi 
fying  power.  Suddenly  deprived  of  a 
product  necessary  to  the  support,  if 
not  to  the  existence,  of  a  large  portion 
of  their  people,  the  governments  of 
Europe  invoked  new  sources  of  produc- 


372 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE   SOUTH. 


tion,  and  India,  Africa,  South  America, 
and  the  West  Indies  at  once  responded 
with  a  generous  promise  of  a  cotton  sup 
ply.  That  great  suffering  among  Euro 
pean  operatives  was  a  consequence  of  the 
sudden  arrest  of  the  commercial  rela 
tions  of  Great  Britain  and  France  with 
the  Southern  States  of  America,  cannot 
be  denied,  but  that  it  did  act  as  a  stim 
ulus  to  the  production  of  cotton  else 
where,  will  hardly  be  doubted. 

The  Southern  Confederacy,  confidently 
calculating  upon  its  controlling  influence 
upon  the  policy  of  Europe,  arising  from 
its  monopoly  of  the  cotton  supply,  sent, 
at  an  early  period,  three  commissioners, 
Messrs.  Yancey  and  Mann  to  Great 
Britain,  and  Host  to  France,  with  the 
view  of  pressing,  and  giving  a  timely 
direction  to,  the  interposition  of  these 
governments  in  the  present  struggle. 

The  Federal  Government,  under  the 
administration  of  its  Republican  chief, 
Mr.  Lincoln,  hastened  to  counteract  the 
influence  of  the  agents  of  the  Confed 
eracy,  by  sending  to  the  various  courts 
of  Europe  ambassadors  of  unquestioned 
loyalty,  to  take  the  place  of  those  who 
had  been  appointed  by  Mr.  Buchanan 
while  under  the  guidance  of  his  Southern 
advisers.  While  the  patriotism  of  some 
of  these  was  unquestioned,  the  dis 
loyalty  of  others  was  either  suspect  or 
manifest. 

To  the  court  of  St.  James  was  sent 
Mr.  Adams,  of  Massachusetts,  the  son 
of  John  Quincy  Adams  and  the  grand 
son  of  John  Adams,  a  man  who  with 
large  and  refined  culture,  much  social 
importance  from  wealth  and  family,  and 


considerable  political  experience,  is  an 
able  and  dignified  representative  of  the 
country,  capable  not  only  faithfully 
to  guard  its  interests,  but  honorably  to 
uphold  its  character.  Mr.  Dayton,  of 
New  Jersey,  was  sent  to  the  court  of  the 
Tuileries,  and  though  lacking  the  qual 
ification  of  speaking  the  French  lan 
guage — seldom  possessed  by  our  repre 
sentatives  sent  there  —  was  admitted 
to  be  a  judicious  statesman.  A  senator 
of  the  United  States,  and  the  candidate 
for  Vice-President  with  Fremont  for 
President,  he  had  been  elevated  to  such 
high  political  position  at  home,  that  it 
was  reasonable  to  hope  he  would  prove 
an  able  and  dignified  representative  of 
the  country  abroad.  The  spirit  of  the 
instructions  given  to  these  ministers  may 
be  learned  from  the  somewhat  defiant 
message  to  the  French  secretary  of  state 
from  Secretary  Seward  through  Mr. 
Dayton:  "Tell  Mr.  Thouvenel,  then, 
with  the  highest  consideration  and  good 
feeling,  that  the  thought  of  a  dissolution 
of  this  Union,  peaceably  or  by  force, 
has  never  entered  into  the  mind  of  any 
candid  statesman  here,  and  it  is  high 
time  that  it  be  dismissed  by  statesmen 
of  Europe." 

While  at  the  South  the  secessionists 
were  confidently  anticipating  sympathy 
and  an  alliance  in  Europe,  the  North  was 
not  without  anxiety  lest  they  might  be 
conceded.  The  intelligence  from  Eng 
land  especially  was  anxiously  awaited. 
The  first  authoritative  assertion  of  jjjay 
the  position  of  the  English  Govern-  *• 
ment  came  from  Lord  John  Russell,  the 
foreign  secretary,  in  the  British  Parlia- 


THE   SOUTH   ACKNOWLEDGED  A   BELLIGERENT. 


373 


ment,  in  answer  to  a  question  from  Mr. 
Gregory,  who  had  already  exhibited  his 
sympathy  with  the  seceded  States,  by 
giving  notice  of  a  motion  to  recognize 
them. 

Tn  the  House  of  Commons  Mr.  Greg 
ory  said  : 

' '  Mr.  Lincoln  had  proclaimed  a  blockade  of  the  ports 
of  the  seven  Confederate  States,  and,  therefore,  it  was 
necessary  to  ask  a  qtiestion  with  regard  to  two  other  States 
which  were  in  an  attitude  of  hostility  to  the  United  States, 
although  they  did  not  belong  to  the  South.  He  had  to 
ask  the  noble  lord,  the  Foreign  Secretary — 1st.  Whether 
any  attempt  of  the  Government  of  the  United  States  to 
levy  Federal  dues  off  foreign  vessels  outside  the  ports  of 
North  Carolina  and  Virginia,  before  such  vessels  break  bulk, 
would  not  be  an  infringement  of  international  la.w,  and, 
if  so,  whether  our  Minister  at  Washington  had  received 
instructions  to  that  effect  ?  2d.  Whether  the  Government 
of  the  United  States  had  been  informed  that  a  blockade  of 
any  port  of  the  Southern  confederated  States,  unless  effec 
tive,  will  not  be  recognized  ?  3d.  The  Government  of  the 
United  States  having  refused  to  relinquish  the  belligerent 
right  of  issuing  letters-of-marque,  the  seven  Southern  con 
federated  and  sovereign  States  having  become  to  the 
United  States  a  separate  and  independent  foreign  power, 
whether  Her  Majesty's  Government  recognizes  the  right  of 
the  President  of  the  Southern  Confederacy  to  issue  letters- 
of-marque,  and,  if  so,  whether  our  Minister  at  Washing 
ton  had  been  notified  to  that  effect  ?"  (Hear,  hear.) 

Lord  J.  Russell  said  : 

"In  regard  to  the  honorable  gentleman's  first  ques 
tion,  I  have  to  say  that,  having  consulted  the  Queen's 
Advocate  with  respect  to  Federal  dues  to  be  levied  out 
side  the  ports  of  North  Carolina  and  Virginia,  he  stated 
to  me  that  the  answer  to  such  a  question  must  depend 
entirely  upon  the  circumstances  of  the  case,  and  that  it 
could  not  at  all  be  declared  beforehand  whether  such  an 
attempt  to  levy  dues  would  be  according  or  contrary  to 
international  law.  Of  course,  no  instructions  on  that  sub 
ject  have  been  sent  to  Her  Majesty's  Minister  at  Wash 
ington  ;  but  Lord  Lyons  is  of  opinion  that  such  an  in 
tention  would  be  found  impracticable,  and  would  not  be 
likely  to  be  effective.  [Hear,  hear.]  With  respect  to  the 
honorable  gentlemen's  second  question,  whether  the  Gov 
ernment  of  the  United  States  have  been  informed  that  a 
blockade  of  any  port  of  the  Southern  Confederacy,  unless 
it  were  effective,  would  not  be  recognized,  I  certainly  have 
not  felt  it  necessary  to  give  any  instructions  to  our  Minister 
on  that  subject.  It  is  well  known  to  Lord  Lyons,  and  it 
certainly  has  been  declared  law  by  the  United  States,  that 
no  blockade  could  be  recognized  or  deemed  valid  unless  it 
were  an  effective  blockade  [hear,  hear],  and  I  have  no  doubt 


that  there  would  be  no  difference  between  Her  Majesty's 
Government  and  the  Government  of  the  United  States  on 
that  point.  With  regard  to  the  honorable  member's  next 
question,  as  to  the  belligerent  right  of  issuing  letters-of- 
marque,  I  must,  in  the  first  place,  wait  for  more  explana 
tion,  and,  in  the  second  place,  reserve  part  of  the  answer 
which  I  have  to  give.  With  respect  to  belligerent  rights 
in  the  case  of  certain  portions  of  a  state  being  in  insurrec 
tion,  there  was  a  precedent  which  seems  applicable  to  this 
purpose  in  the  year  1825.  The  British  Government  at  that 
time  allowed  the  belligerent  rights  of  the  Provisional 
Government  of  Greece,  and  in  consequence  of  that  allow 
ance,  the  Turkish  Government  made  a  remonstrance.  I 
may  state  the  nature  of  that  remonstrance,  and  the  reply 
of  Mr.  Canning.  '  The  Turkish  Government  complained 
that  the  British  Government  allowed  to  the  Greek  a  bel 
ligerent  character,  and  observed  that  it  appeared  to  forget 
that  to  subjects  in  rebellion  no  national  character  could 
properly  belong.'  But  the  British  Government  informed 
Mr.  Stratford  Canning,  that  '  the  character  of  belligerency 
was  not  so  much  a  principle  as  a  fact ;  that  a  certain  degree 
of  force  and  consistency,  acquired  by  any  mass  of  popula 
tion  engaged  in  war,  entitled  that  population  to  be  treated 
as  a  belligerent,  and,  even  if  their  title  were  questionable, 
rendered  it  the  interest  well  understood  of  all  civilized 
nations  so  to  treat  them  ;  for  what  was  the  alternative  ? 
A  power  or  a  community  (call  it  which  you  will)  which 
was  at  war  with  another,  and  which  covered  the  sea  with 
its  cruisers,  must  either  be  acknowledged  as  a  belligerent 
or  dealt  with  as  a  pirate  ;'  which  latter  character,  as  ap 
plied  to  the  Greeks,  was  loudly  disclaimed.  In  a  separate 
dispatch  of  the  same  date  (12th  of  October,  1825),  Mr.  S. 
Canning  was  reminded  that  when  the  British  Government 
acknowledged  the  right  of  either  belligerent  to  visit  and 
detain  British  merchant  vessels  having  enemy's  property 
on  board,  and  to  confiscate  such  property,  it  was  necessarily 
implied  as  a  condition  of  such  acknowledgment  that  the 
detention  was  for  the  purpose  of  bringing  the  vessels  de 
tained  before  an  established  court  of  prize,  and  that  con 
fiscation  did  not  take  place  until  after  condemnation  by 
such  competent  tribunal.  The  question  has  been  under 
the  consideration  of  the  Government.  They  have  con 
sulted  the  law  officers  of  the  Crown.  The  Attorney  and 
Solicitor-General,  and  the  Queen's  Advocate,  and  the  Gov 
ernment  have  come  to  the  opinion  that  the  Southern  Confederacy 
of  America,  according  to  those  principles  which  seem  to  them  to  b« 
just  principles,  must  be  treated  as  a  belligerent.  [Hear,  hear.] 
But  further  questions  arise  out  of  that  question,  with  re 
spect  to  which  we  are  still  in  doubt  as  what  are  the  altera 
tions  which  are  to  be  made  in  the  law  of  nations  in  consequence  of 
the  declaration  of  Paris ;  and  those  questions  being  of  a  difficult 
and  intricate  nature,  have  not  yet  been  determined  upon.  They  are 
still  under  the  consideration  of  the  Government,  and  will 
be  still  further  considered,  before  any  declaration  is  made 
to  other  powers."  (Hear,  hear.) 

At  a  later  hour  the  same  evening,  Mr.  Bentinck  asked 
Lord  Palmerston,  the  Prime  Minister,  whether,  after  the 


374 


THE   WAR  WITH  THE   SOUTH. 


news  recently  received  from  America,  he  still  adhered  to 
the  financial  policy  of  Mr.  Gladstone. 

Lord  Palmerston  said  : 

"No  one  can  regret  more  than  I  do  the  intelligence 
which  has  been  received  within  the  last  few  days  from 
America  ;  but,  at  the  same  time,  any  one  must  have  been 
short-sighted  and  little  capable  of  anticipating  the  prob 
able  course  of  human  events  who  had  not  for  a  long  time 
foreseen  events  of  a  similar  character  to  those  which  we 
now  deplore.  [Hear,  hear.]  From  the  commencement 
of  this  unforturate  quarrel  between  the  two  sections  of 
the  United  States,  it  was  evident  that  the  causes  of  disunion 
were  too  deeply  seated  to  make  it  possible  that  separation  would 
not  take  place,  and  it  was  also  obvious  that  passions  were 
so  roused  on  both  sides  as  to  make  it  highly  improbable 
that  such  separation  could  take  place  without  a  contest. 
In  answer  to  the  question  of  the  honorable  member,  I 
would  say  that,  however  much  I  regret  the  intelligence 
which  we  have  received  within  the  last  few  days,  yet  that  in 
telligence  ought  not,  in  my  opinion,  to  make  any  difference  in  the 
arrangements  which,  after  the  fullest  consideration,  we  considered 
were  calculated  to  meet  att  tlie  requirements  of  the  public  service 
during  the  present  year."  (Hear,  hear.) 

The  declaration  in  behalf  of  the 
British  Government  by  Lord  John  Rus 
sell  in  his  speech,  that  "  the  Southern 
Confederacy  of  America,  according  to 
those  principles  which  seem  to  them  to 
be  just  principles,  must  be  treated  as  a 
belligerent,"  momentarily  aroused  great 
indignation  at  the  North.  England  was 
charged  with  being  recusant  to  her  pro 
fessed  love  of  liberty  and  respect  for 
law,  in  thus  sanctioning  the  insurrection 
of  a  people  who  had  exhibited  a  disre 
gard  for  both,  by  proclaiming  rebellion 
and  slavery  just  and  proper.  Her  states 
men  were  denounced  as  being  influenced 
merely  by  commercial  interests,  as  if 
their  ears  were  so  stuffed  with  cotton 
that  they  could  not  listen  to  the  voices 
of  justice  and  humanity. 

If  it  had  not  been,  however,  for  the 
ungenerous  expression  of  opinion  of  the 
public  press  of  Great  Britain,  to  which, 
however,  there  wore  some  honorable 


exceptions,  there  would  probably  have 
been  less  disposition  in  the  United  States 
to  except  to  the  action  of  the  British 
Government.  Many  of  the  English 
journals,  by  precipitately  predicting  the 
dismemberment  of  the  country  as  the 
result  of  the  civil  contest,  and  studiously 
perverting  the  motive  of  the  struggle, 
greatly  offended  Northern  sentiment. 
While  they  brought  in  strong  relief  the 
resolution  of  the  Federal  Government, 
in  accordance  with  constitutional  obliga 
tions,  not  to  interfere  with  slavery,  they 
at  the  same  time  studiously  covered  the 
desire  of  the  seceded  States  to  extend 
and  perpetuate  it,  with  the  pretext  that 
they  were  fighting  for  commercial  liberty. 

The  original  declaration  of  the  British 
Government  was  modified  by  a  subse 
quent  order  in  council,  by  which  the 
belligerent  character  conceded  to  the 
Southern  Confederacy  was  deprived  of 
its  chief  advantage,  that  of  the  power  of 
disposing  in  English  ports  of  prizes  cap 
tured  at  sea.  It  is  true  that  this  was 
to  be  applied  equally  to  both  parties. 
It  was,  however,  a  curtailment  of  bellig 
erent  rights  more  injurious  to  the  South 
ern  Confederacy  than  to  the  United 
States,  as  the  latter,  alone  possessed  of 
a  commercial  marine,  was  liable  -to  suffer 
from  captures. 

The  order  of  the  British  Government 
was  conveyed  in  the  following  letter  : 

"  FOREIGN  OFFICE,  June  1,  1861. 

To  THE  LORDS  COMMISSIONERS  OF  THE  ADMIRALTY — 3fy 
Lords:  Her  Majesty's  Government,  as  you  are  aware,  de 
sirous  of  observing  the  strictest  neutrality  in  the  contest 
which  appears  to  be  imminent  between  the  United  States 
and  the  so-styled  Confederate  States  of  North  America ; 
and  with  the  view  more  effectually  to  carry  out  this  prin- 
iple,  they  propose  to  interdict  the  armed  vessels,  and  also 


ENGLISH  DECLARATION   OF  NEUTRALITY. 


375 


the  privateers  of  both  parties,  from  carrying  prizes  made 
by  them  into  ports,  harbors,  roadsteads,  or  waters  of  the 
United  Kingdom,  or  any  of  Her  Majesty's  colonies  or  pos 
sessions  abroad. 

"  I  have  accordingly  to  acquaint  your  lordships  that  the 
Queen  has  been  pleased  to  direct  that  orders,  in  conform 
ity  with  the  principles  above  stated,  should  forthwith  be 
addressed  to  all  proper  authorities  in  the  United  King 
dom,  and  to  Her  Majesty's  naval  and  other  authorities  in 
all  quarters  beyond  the  United  Kingdom,  for  their  guid 
ance  in  the  circumstances.  I  have,  etc.  J.  RUSSELL." 

A  decree  of  the  Emperor  of  France, 

June  coinciding    in    principle    with    the 

*'•    action  of  the  British  Government, 

soon    followed.     It   was   thus    officially 

pronounced : 

"His  Majesty  the  Emperor  of  the  French,  taking  into 
consideration  the  state  of  peace  which  now  exists  between 
France  and  the  United  States  of  America,  has  resolved  to 
maintain  a  strict  neutrality  in  the  struggle  between  the 
Government  of  the  Union  and  the  States  which  propose  to 
form  a  separate  confederation.  In  consequence,  His 
Majesty,  considering  article  14  of  the  naval  law  of  August, 
1861,  the  third  article  of  the  law  of  the  10th  of  April, 
1825,  articles  84  and  85  of  the  Penal  Code,  65  and  follow 
ing  of  the  decree  of  the  24th  of  March,  1852,  313  and 
following  of  the  Code  Penal  Maritime,  and  article  21  of  the 
Code  Napoleon,  declares — 

"  1.  No  vessel  of  war  or  privateer  of  either  of  the  bel 
ligerent  parties  will  be  allowed  to  enter  or  stay  with  prizes 
in  our  ports  or  roadsteads  longer  than  twenty-four  hours, 
excepting  in  case  of  compulsory  delay  (relacheforcee). 

"  2.  No  sale  of  goods  belonging  to  prizes  is  allowed  in 
our  ports  and  roadsteads. 

"3.  Every  Frenchman  is  prohibited  from  taking  a  com 
mission  under  either  of  the  two  parties  to  arm  vessels  of 
war,  or  to  accept  letters-of-marque  for  privateering  pur 
poses,  or  to  assist  in  any  manner  whatsoever  the  equipment 
or  armament  of  a  vessel  of  war  or  privateering  of  either 
party. 

"4.  Every  Frenchman,  whether  residing  in  France  or 
abroad,  is  likewise  prohibited  from  enlisting  or  taking  ser 
vice  either  in  the  land  army  or  on  board  vessels  of  war  or 
privateers  of  either  of  the  two  belligerent  parties. 

"5.  Frenchmen  residing  in  France  or  abroad  must  like 
wise  abstain  from  auy  act  which,  committed  in  violation 
of  the  laws  of  the  empire  or  of  international  law,  might 
be  considered  as  an  act  hostile  to  one  of  the  two  parties 
and  contrary  to  the  neutrality  which  we  have  resolved  to 
observe.  All  persons  acting  contrary  to  the  prohibitions 
and  recommendations  contained  in  the  present  declaration 
will  be  prosecuted,  if  required,  conformably  to  the  enact 
ments  of  the  law  of  the  10th  of  April,  1825,  and  of  articles 
84  and  85  of  the  Penal  Code,  without  prejudice  to  the  ap- 
tlication  that  might  be  made  against  such  offenders  of  the 


enactments  of  the  21st  article  of  the  Code  Napoleon,  and 
of  articles  65  and  following  of  the  decree  of  the  24th  of 
March,  1852,  on  the  merchant  service,  313  and  following 
of  the  Penal  Code  for  the  navy. 

"  His  Majesty  declares,  moreover,  that  every  Frenchman 
contravening  the  present  enactments  will  have  no  claim  to 
any  protection  from  his  government  against  any  acts  or 
measures,  whatever  they  may  be,  which  the  belligerents 
might  exercise  or  decree.  NAPOLEON. 

"THOUVENEL,  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs." 

Most  of  the  other  powers  of  Europe 
issued  similar  decrees,  recognizing  the 
Southern  Confederacy  as  a  belligerent, 
but  placing  the  same  restrictions  upon 
its  armed  cruisers,  as  well  as  those  of 
the  United  States,  as  had  been  done  by 
Great  Britain  and  France. 

The  Queen  of  England,  moreover, 
issued  a  proclamation,  in  which  the 
"royal  determination  to  maintain  a 
strict  and  impartial  neutrality, "  was  re 
iterated,  offences  against  such  neutrality 
specified,  and  their  penalties  awarded.* 


°BT   THE   QUEEN — A   PROCLAMATION. 

"  VICTORIA  R. 

' '  Whereas,  We  are  happily  at  peace  with  all  sovereigns, 
powers,  and  states ; 

"And  whereas  hostilities  have  unhappily  commenced 
between  the  Government  of  the  United  States  of  America 
and  certain  States  styling  themselves  '  the  Confederate 
States  of  America  ;' 

"And  whereas  we,  being  at  peace  with  the  Government 
of  the  United  States,  have  declared  our  Royal  determina 
tion  to  maintain  a  strict  and  impartial  neutrality  in  the 
contest  between  the  said  contending  parties ; 

"  We,  therefore,  have  thought  fit,  by  and  with  the  ad 
vice  of  our  Privy  Council,  to  issue  this  our  Royal  Procla 
mation  : 

"And  we  do  hereby  strictly  charge  and  command  all 
our  loving  subjects  to  observe  a  strict  neutrality  in  and 
during  the  aforesaid  hostilities,  and  to  abstain  from  violat 
ing  or  contravening  either  the  laws  and  statutes  of  the 
realm  in  this  behalf,  or  the  law  of  nations  in  relation 
thereto,  as  they  will  answer  to  the  contrary  at  their 
peril. 

"And  whereas,  in  and  by  a  certain  statute  made  and 
passed  in  the  fifty-ninth  year  of  His  Majesty  King  George 
IH.,  entitled  'an  act  to  prevent  the  enlisting  or  engage 
ment  of  His  Majesty's  subjects  to  serve  in  a  foreign  service, 
and  the  fitting  out  or  equipping,  in  His  Majesty's  domin- 


376 


THE  WAR   WITH  THE   SOUTH. 


The  proclamation  of  the  Queen  was 
followed  by  a  discussion  in  the  House 

ions,  vessels  for  warlike  purposes,  wit.hout  His  Majesty's 
license,'  it  is,  among  other  things,  declared  and  enacted 
as  follows  : 

"  'That  if  any  natural  born  subject  of  His  Majesty,  his 
heirs  and  successors,  without  the  leave  or  license  of  His 
Majesty,  his  heirs  or  successors,  for  that  purpose  first  had 
and  obtained,  under  the  sign  manual  of  His  Majesty,  his 
heirs  or  successors,  or  signified  by  order  in  council,  or  by 
proclamation  of  His  Majesty,  his  heirs  or  successors,  shall 
take  or  accept,  or  shall  agree  to  take  or  accept,  any  mili 
tary  commission,  or  shall  otherwise  enter  into  the  military 
service  as  a  commissioned  or  non-commissioned  officer,  or 
shall  enlist  or  enter  himself  to  enlist,  or  shall  agree  to  en 
list  or  to  enter  himself  to  serve  as  a  soldier,  or  to  be  em 
ployed,  or  shall  serve  in  any  warlike  or  military  operation 
in  the  service  of,  or  for,  or  under,  or  in  aid  of  any  foreign 
prince,  state,  potentate,  colony,  province,  or  part  of  any 
province  or  people,  or  of  any  person  or  persons,  exercising 
or  assuming  to  exercise  the  powers  of  government  in  or 
over  any  foreign  country,  colony,  province,  or  part  of  any 
province  or  people,  either  as  an  officer  or  a  soldier,  or  in 
any  other  military  capacity ;  or  if  any  natural  born  sub 
ject  of  His  Majesty  shall,  without  such  leave  or  license  as 
aforesaid,  accept,  or  agree  to  take  or  accept,  any  cornmis- 
gion,  warrant,  or  appointment,  as  an  officer,  or  shall  enlist 
or  enter  himself,  or  shall  agree  to  enlist  or  enter  himself, 
to  serve  as  a  sailor  or  marine,  or  to  be  employed  or  en 
gaged,  or  shall  serve  in  and  on  board  any  ship  or  vessel  of 
war,  or  in  and  on  board  any  ship  or  vessel  used  or  fitted 
out,  or  equipped,  or  intended  to  be  used  for  any  warlike 
purpose,  in  the  service  of,  or  for,  or  under,  or  in  aid  of  any 
foreign  power,  prince,  state,  potentate,  colony,  province, 
or  part  of  any  province  or  people,  or  of  any  person  or 
persons  exercising  or  assuming  to  exercise  the  powers  of 
government  in  or  over  any  foreign  country,  colony,  prov 
ince,  or  part  of  any  province  or  people  ;  or,  if  any  natural 
born  subject  of  His  Majesty  shall,  without  such  leave  and 
license  as  aforesaid,  engage,  contract,  or  agree  to  go,  or 
shall  go,  to  any  foreign  state,  country,  colony,  province, 
or  part  of  any  province,  or  to  any  place  beyond  the  seas, 
with  an  intent  or  in  order  to  enlist  or  enter  himself  to 
serve,  or  with  intent  to  serve,  in  any  warlike  or  military 
operation  whatever,  whether  by  land  or  by  sea,  in  the 
service  of,  or  for,  or  under,  or  in  aid  of  any  foreign  prince, 
state,  potentate,  colony,  province,  or  part  of  any  province 
or  people,  or  in  the  service  of,  or  for,  or  under,  or  in  aid 
of  any  person  or  persons  exercising  or  assuming  to  exercise 
the  powers  of  government  in  or  over  any  foreign  country, 
colony,  province,  or  part  of  any  province,  or  people, 
either  as  an  officer  or  a  soldier,  or  in  any  other  military 
capacity,  or  an  officer  or  sailor,  or  marine  in  any  such  ship 
or  vessel  as  aforesaid,  although  no  enlisting  money,  or  pay, 
or  reward  shall  have  been  or  shall  be  in  any  or  either  of 
the  cases  aforesaid  actually  paid  to  or  received  by  him,  or 


of  Lords,   in  the  course   of  which  the 
questions  of  what  constitutes  a  blockade 

by  any  person  to  or  for  his  use  or  benefit ;  or  if  any  person 
whatever,  within  the  United  Kingdom  of  Great  Britain 
and  Ireland,  or  any  part  of  His  Majesty's  dominions  else 
where,  or  in  any  country,  colony,  settlement,  island,  or 
place  belonging  to  or  subject  to  His  Majesty,  shall  hire, 
retain,  engage,  or  procure,  or  shall  attempt  or  endeavor 
to  hire,  retain,  engage,  or  procure  any  person  or  persons 
whatever  to  enlist,  or  enter,  or  engage  to  enlist,  or  to 
serve  or  to  be  employed  in  any  such  service  or  employment 
as  aforesaid,  as  an  officer,  soldier,  Bailor,  or  marine,  either 
in  land  or  sea  service,  for,  or  under,  or  in  aid  of  any  foreign 
prince,  state,  potentate,  colony,  province,  or  part  of  any 
province  or  people,  or  for,  or  under,  or  in  aid  of  any  per 
son  or  persons  exercising  or  assuming  to  exercise  any 
powers  of  government  as  aforesaid,  or  to  go  or  to  agree 
to  go  or  embark  from  any  part  of  His  Majesty's  dominions, 
for  the  purpose  or  with  intent  to  be  enlisted,  entered,  en 
gaged,  or  employed  as  aforesaid,  whether  any  enlisting 
money,  pay,  or  reward  shall  have  been  or  shall  be  actually 
given  or  received,  or  not ;  in  any  or  either  of  such  cases 
every  person  so  offending  shall  be  deemed  guilty  of  a  mis 
demeanor,  and  upon  being  convicted  thereof,  upon  any 
information  or  indictment,  shall  be  punishable  by  fine  and 
imprisonment,  or  either  of  them,  at  the  discretion  of  the 
Court  before  which  such  offender  shall  be  convicted.' 
"  And  it  is  in  and  by  the  said  act  further  enacted  : 
"  'That  if  any  person,  within  any  part  of  the  United 
Kingdom  or  in  any  part  of  His  Majesty's  dominions  be 
yond  the  seas,  shall  without  the  leave  and  license  of  His 
Majesty,  for  that  purpose  first  had  and  obtained  as  afore 
said,  equip,  furnish,  fit  out,  or  arm,  or  attempt  or  endeavor 
to  equip,  furnish,  fit  out,  or  arm,  or  proctire  to  be  equipped, 
furnished,  fitted  out,  or  armed,  or  shall  knowingly  aid, 
assist,  or  be  concerned  in  the  equipping,  furnishing,  fitting 
out,  or  arming  of  any  ship  or  vessel,  with  intent  or  iu 
order  that  such  ship  or  vessel  shall  be  employed  in  the 
service  of  any  foreign  prince,  state,  or  potentate,  or  of  any 
foreign  colony,  province,  or  part  of  any  province  or  people, 
or  of  any  person  or  persons,  exercising  or  assuming  to  ex 
ercise  any  powers  of  government  in  or  over  any  foreign 
state,  colony,  province,  or  part  of  any  province  or  people, 
as  a  transport  or  store  ship,  or  with  intent  to  cruise  or 
commit  hostilities  against  any  prince,  state,  or  potentate, 
or  against  the  subjects  or  citizens  of  any  prince,  state,  or 
potentate,  or  against  the  persons  exercising  or  assuming 
to  exercise  the  powers  of  government  in  any  colony,  prov 
ince,  or  part  of  any  province  or  country,  or  against  the 
inhabitants  of  any  foreign  colony,  province,  or  part  of  any 
province  or  country,  with  whom  His  Majesty  shall  not 
then  be  at  war  ;  or  shall,  within  the  United  Kingdom,  or 
any  of  His  Majesty's  dominions,  or  in  any  settlement, 
colony,  territory,  island,  or  place  belonging  or  subject  to 
His  Majesty,  issue  or  deliver  any  commission  for  any  sliip 
or  vessel  to  the  intent  that  such  ship  or  vessel  shall  be 


BLOCKADE  AND  CONTRABAND  DEFINED. 


377 


and  how  contraband  of  war  should  be 
defined,  were   solved  variously  by  the 


employed  as  aforesaid,  every  such  person  so  offending  shall 
be  deemed  guilty  of  a  misdemeanor,  and  shall  upon  con 
viction  thereof,  upon  any  information  or  indictment,  be 
punished  hy  fine  and  imprisonment,  or  either  of  them,  at 
the  discretion  of  the  Court  in  which  such  offender  shall 
be  convicted ;  and  every  such  ship  or  vessel,  with  the 
tackle,  apparel,  and  furniture,  together  with  all  the  mate- 
••ials,  arms,  ammunition,  and  stores  which  may  belong  to 
or  be  on  board  of  any  such  ship  or  vessel,  shall  be  for 
feited  ;  and  it  shall  be  lawful  for  any  officer  of  His  Maj 
esty's  customs  or  excise,  or  any  officer  of  His  Majesty's 
navy,  who  is  by  law  empowered  to  make  seizures,  for  any 
forfeiture  incurred  under  any  of  the  laws  of  customs  or 
excise,  or  the  laws  of  trade  and  navigation,  to  seize  such 
ships  and  vessels  aforesaid,  and  in  such  places  and  in  such 
manner  in  which  the  officers  of  His  Majesty's  customs  or 
excise  and  the  officers  of  His  Majesty's  navy  are  empowered 
respectively  to  make  seizures  under  the  laws  of  customs 
and  excise,  or  under  the  laws  of  trade  and  navigation  ; 
and  that  every  ship  and  vessel,  with  the  tackle,  apparel, 
and  furniture,  together  with  all  the  materials,  arms,  am 
munition,  and  stores  which  may  belong  to  or  be  on  board 
of  such  ship  or  vessel,  may  be  prosecuted  and  condemned 
in  the  like  manner,  and  in  such  courts  as  ships  or  vessels 
may  be  prosecuted  and  condemned  for  any  breach  of  the 
laws  made  for  the  protection  of  the  revenues  of  customs 
and  excise,  or  of  the  laws  of  trade  and  navigation.' 
' '  And  it  is  in  and  by  the  said  act  further  enacted  : 
"  '  That  if  any  person  in  any  part  of  the  United  King 
dom  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  or  in  any  part  of  His 
Majesty's  dominions  beyond  the  seas,  without  leave  and 
license  of  His  Majesty,  for  that  purpose  first  had  and  ob 
tained  as  aforesaid,  shall,  by  adding  to  the  number  of  the 
guns  of  such  vessel,  or  by  changing  those  on  board  for 
other  guns,  or  by  the  addition  of  any  equipment  for  war, 
increase  or  augment,  or  procure  to  be  increased  or  aug 
mented,  or  shall  be  knowingly  concerned  in  increasing  or 
augmenting  the  warlike  force  of  any  ship  or  vessel  of  war 
or  cruiser,  or  other  armed  vessel,  which  at  the  time  of  her 
arrival  in  any  part  of  the  United  Kingdom,  or  any  of  His 
Majesty's  dominions,  was  a  ship  of  war,  cruiser,  or  armed 
vessel  in  the  service  of  any  foreign  prince,  state,  or  poten 
tate,  or  of  any  person  or  persons  exercising  or  assuming  to 
exercise  any  powers  of  government  in  or  over  any  colony, 
province,  or  part  of  any  province  or  people  belonging  to 
the  subjects  of  any  such  prince,  state,  or  potentate,  or  to 
the  inhabitants  of  any  colony,  province,  or  part  of  any 
province  or  country  under  the  control  of  any  person  or 
persons  so  exercising  or  assuming  to  exercise  the  powers 
of  government,  every  such  person  so  offending  shall  be 
deemed  guilty  of  a  misdemeanor,  and  shall,  upon  being 
convicted  thereof,  upon  any  information  or  indictment,  be 
punished  by  fine  and  imprisonment,  or  either  of  them,  at 
4P 


different  speakers.     Lord  Ellenborough, 
opposed  to  the  present  Government,  de- 

the  discretion  of  the  Court  before  which  such  offender 
shall  be  convicted.' 

"  Now,  in  order  that  none  of  our  subjects  may  unwarily 
render  themselves  liable  to  the  penalties  imposed  by  the 
said  statute,  we  do  hereby  strictly  command,  that  no  person 
or  persons  whatsoever  do  commit  any  act,  matter,  or  thing 
whatsoever,  contrary  to  the  provisions  of  the  said  statute, 
upon  pain  of  the  several  penalties  by  the  said  statute  im 
posed,  and  of  our  high  displeasure. 

"  And  we  do  hereby  further  warn  all  our  loving  sub 
jects,  and  all  persons  whatsoever  entitled  to  our  protec 
tion,  that  if  any  of  them  shall  presume,  in  contempt  of 
this  Royal  Proclamation,  and  of  our  high  displeasure,  to 
do  any  acts  in  derogation  of  their  duty  as  subjects  of  a 
neutral  sovereign,  in  the  said  contest,  or  in  violation  or 
contravention  of  the  law  of  nations  in  that  behalf — as,  for 
example  and  more  especially,  by  entering  into  the  military 
service  of  either  of  the  said  contending  parties  as  commis 
sioned  or  non-commissioned  officers  or  soldiers  ;  or  by 
serving  as  officers,  sailors,  or  marines  on  board  any  ship  or 
vessel  of  war  or  transport  of  or  in  the  service  of  either  of 
the  said  contending  parties;  or  by  serving  as  officers, 
sailors,  or  marines  on  board  any  privateer  bearing  letters- 
of-marque  of  or  from  either  of  the  said  contending  parties ; 
or  by  engaging  to  go  or  going  to  any  place  beyond  the 
seas  with  intent  to  enlist  or  engage  in  any  such  service,  or 
by  procuring  or  attempting  to  procure  within  Her  Majesty's 
dominions,  at  home  or  abroad,  others  to  do  so  ;  or  by  fit 
ting  out,  arming,  or  equipping  any  ship  or  vessel  to  be  em 
ployed  as  a  ship-of-war,  or  privateer,  or  transport,  by 
either  of  the  said  contending  parties  ;  or  by  breaking,  or 
endeavoring  to  break,  any  blockade  lawfully  and  actually 
established  by  or  on  behalf  of  either  of  the  said  contending 
parties  ;  or  by  carrying  officers,  soldiers,  despatches,  arms, 
military  stores,  or  materials,  or  any  article  or  articles  con 
sidered  and  deemed  to  be  contraband  of  war  according  to 
the  law  of  modern  usage  of  nations,  for  the  use  or  service 
of  either  of  the  said  contending  parties,  all  persons  so 
offending  will  incur  and  be  liable  to  the  several  penalties 
and  penal  consequences  by  the  said  statute,  or  by  the  law 
of  nations,  in  that  behalf  imposed  or  denounced. 

"  And  we  do  hereby  declare  that  all  our  subjects  and  per 
sons  entitled  to  our  protection  who  may  misconduct  tl  em- 
selves  in  the  premises  will  do  so  at  their  peril  and  of  their 
own  wrong,  and  that  they  will  in  nowise  obtain  any  pro 
tection  from  us  against  any  liability  or  penal  consequences, 
but  will,  on  the  contrary,  incur  our  high  displeasure  by 
such  misconduct. 
"  Given  at  our  Court  at  the  White  Lodge,  Richmond  Park, 

this  13th  day  of  May,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  1861, 

and  in  the  24th  year  of  our  reign. 

"  GOD  save  the  QUEEN." 

— London  Gazette,  May  14 


378 


THE   WAR   WITH  THE   SOUTH. 


clared  if  they  adhered  to  the  maritime 
law  agreed  to  by  the  Plenipotentiaries 
of  Paris,  which  declared  that,  "  in  order 
to  be  binding,  a  blockade  must  be  an 
effectual  blockade" — that  was  to  say, 
that  it  should  be  maintained  by  a  force 
sufficient  to  prevent  access  to  the  ene 
my's  coasts,  and  these  words  were  to  be 
literally  understood — that  "a  blockade 
was  a  thing  almost  physically  impossible, 
because  no  nation  in  the  world  possessed 
a  fleet  large  enough  for  this  purpose." 
His  lordship,  moreover,  expressed  his 
regret  that  the  Queen,  in  her  proclama 
tion,  had  not  clearly  asserted  the  well- 
recognized  principle,  that  "contraband 
of  war  was  that  which,  in  possession  of 
an  enemy,  would  enable  him  better  to 
carry  on  the  war." 

Earl  Granville,  as  Lord  President, 
spoke  authoritatively  for  the  Govern 
ment,  and  declared,  "There  was  no 
doubt  that  blockade  was  lawfully  and 
actually  established,  if  maintained  in  a 
proper  form  and  manner,  and  by  such  a 
force  as  to  make  it,  not  impossible,  but 
difficult  for  vessels  to  enter  or  come  out." 
In  regard  to  contraband  of  war,  his 
lordship  said:  "Certain  articles  were 
clearly  contraband  of  war,  and  the 
character  of  others  could  only  be  deter 
mined  by  the  decision  of  the  prize 
courts.  Her  Majesty's  Government, 
therefore,  had  pursued  a  wise  course,  in 
his  opinion,  in  not  specifying  what  was 
contraband  of  war." 

The  Earl  of  Derby,  though  the  leader 
of  the  opposition,  was  not  disposed,  he 
said,  "to  complain  of  the  terms  of  the 
proclamation  as  being  vague  and  un 


certain."  He,  however,  insisted  that 
Her  Majesty's  Government  should  make 
it  clearly  understood  that  "a  mere 
paper  blockade,  alleged  to  extend 
over  a  wide  extent  of  coast  which 
it  was  impossible  to  blockade,  would 
not  be  recognized  as  valid  by  the  Brit 
ish  Government."  In  regard  to  the 
declaration  of  the  United  States,  that 
the  privateers  of  the  States  in  rebellion 
are  pirates,  his  lordship  said  :  "He  ap 
prehended  that  if  anything  was  clearer 
than  another,  it  was  that  privateering 
was  not  piracy,  and  that  no  law  could 
make  that  piracy,  as  regarded  the  sub 
jects  of  one  nation,  which  was  not 
piracy  by  the  law  of  nations.  Conse 
quently  the  United  States  must  not  be 
allowed  to  entertain  this  doctrine,  and 
to  call  upon  Her  Majesty's  Government 
not  to  interfere.  They  must  not  strain 
the  law  so  as  to  visit  with  penalty  of 
death,  as  for  piracy,  persons  entitled  to 
Her  Majesty's  protection.  That  was  a, 
question  which  could  not  be  viewed 
with  indifference,  but  must  be  seriously 
considered  by  the  Government." 

Lord  Brougham  said:  "It  was  clear 
that  privateering  was  not  piracy,  by  the 
law  of  nations,  however  much  it  might 
be  lamented  that  it  was  not  so.  But  if 
any  person  or  subject  of  this  country 
(Great  Britain)  entered  into  an  expedi 
tion  against  another  country,  with  which 
we  (Great  Britain)  were  at  peace,  that 
was  of  itself  a  piratical  act,  and  they 
had  themselves  to  blame  who,  after  full 
warning,  chose  to  take  that  course, 
and  could  not  expect  their  govern 
ment  to  interpose  to  save  them  from 


A  PRIVATEER  NOT  A  PIRATE. 


379 


the  extreme  penalties  attached  to  that 
course." 

The  Lord  Chancellor  declared,  "There 
was  no  doubt  that  if  an  Englishman  en 
gaged  in  the  service  of  the  Southern 
States,  he  violated  the  laws  of  the  coun 
try  and  rendered  himself  liable  to  pun 
ishment,  and  that  he  had  no  right  to 
trust  to  the  protection  of  his  native 
country  to  shield  him  from  the  conse 
quences  of  his  act.  But  though  that 
individual  would  be  guilty  of  a  breach  of 
the  law  of  his  own  country,  he  could  not 
be  treated  as  a  pirate,  and  those  who 
treated  him  as  a  pirate  would  be  guilty  of 
murder." 

Lord  Kingsdown  said  :  "  As  to  the  state 
of  the  law,  there  could  be  no  doubt  a  pri 
vateer  acting  under  a  government  was  not 
a  pirate.  No  doubt  the  United  States 
did  not  put  the  extravagant  proclama 
tion  they  had  issued  upon  the  ground 
that  privateers  were  pirates,  because 
they  themselves  insisted  upon  the  right 
of  privateering.  But  they  put  it  upon 
this  ground,  that  they  were  dealing  with 
rebels,  and  that  they  would  hang  them, 
not,  properly  speaking,  as  pirates,  but 
as  persons  who  were  guilty  of  high 
treason  against  the  State  to  which  they 
were  subject.  Of  course  it  was  a  matter 
for  their  own  consideration  what  was  to 
be  the  operation  of  that  proclamation. 
He  believed  that  the  enforcement  of  that 
do  {trine  would  be  an  act  of  barbarity 
which  would  produce  an  outcry  through 
out  the  civilized  world,  but  he  hoped  that 
it  was  a  mere  brutum  fulmen,  and  not  in 
tended  to  be  carried  out.  But  that  being 
the  case  with  regard  to  their  own  coun 


try,  the  case  with  regard  to  England  was 
quite  different.  We  had  recognized  the 
Southern  Confederacy,  not  as  an  inde 
pendent  State,  but  as  a  belligerent 
Power ;  and  therefore,  if  the  Federal 
Government  should  act  upon  the  principle 
they  had  laid  down  as  against  British 
subjects,  he  apprehended  that  this  Govern 
ment  might  with  perfect  justice  interfere, 
and  under  some  circumstances  they  might, 
by  the  influence  of  public  opinion,  be  com 
pelled  to  interfere.  Yet,  at  the  same 
time,  the  offender  could  not  as  a  right, 
having  acted  in  violation  of  the  feeling 
of  his  own  country,  and  therefore  of  his 
own  government,  call  upon  his  govern 
ment  to  interfere." 

Lord  Brougham,  at  the  close  of  the 
debate,  made  a  pertinent  allusion  to  the 
case  of  Ambrister  and  Arbuthnot,  exe 
cuted  by  General  Jackson,  to  remind 
British  subjects  of  the  risk  they  run  in 
serving  on  either  side:  "A  case  had 
occurred,"  his  lordship  said,  "about 
thirty  years  ago,  where  two  British 
subjects  were  tried  and  hanged  for 
piratical  interference  on  land,  and  no 
step  was  taken  to  save  their  lives  or 
avenge  their  death." 

Such  are  the  intimate  and  extensive 
commercial  relations  between  Great 
Britain  and  the  United  States,  that  any 
war  waged  by  the  one  must  necessarily 
affect  the  interests  of  the  other.  The 
late  rebellion  has  inflicted  an  enormous 
injury  upon  the  manufacturing  and 
commercial  resources  of  England,  and 
produced  a  corresponding  degree  of 
national  soreness,  and  was  watched  with 
equal  interest  by  both  belligerents 


380 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


in  this  country,  though  with  different 
feelings.  The  United  States  looks  on 
with  defiant  vigilance,  while  the  South 
ern  Confederacy,  in  the  hope  of  an 
English  alliance,  industriously  strives  to 
inflame  British  irritability  to  active  hos 
tility. 

Difficulties  soon  arose  in  regard  to  the 
seizure  of  British  vessels  and  the  im 
prisonment  of  British  subjects,  followed 
by  a  disputatious  correspondence  be 
tween  the  British  ambassador  at  Wash 
ington,  Lord  Lyons,  and  William  H. 
Seward,  the  secretary  of  state  of  the 
United  States ;  but  nothing  occurred 
beyond  the  power  of  diplomacy  to  solve 
till  the  seizure  of  Messrs.  Slidell  and 
Mason,  the  ambassadors  of  the  Southern 
Confederacy,  under  the  British  flag,  and 
in  transitu  between  neutral  ports — the 
history  of  which  belongs  to  a  more  ad 
vanced  part  of  this  narrative — an  event 
which  threatened  for  a  short  time  to 
bring  about  an  open  rupture. 

France,  though  its  emperor  was  repu 
ted  to  be  disposed  to  interfere  in  our  civil 
quarrel,  by  a  recognition  of  the  South 
ern  Confederacy,  excited  less  inquietude 
in  the  United  States  than  Great  Britain. 

Under  the  French  imperial  dynasty, 
with  its  restrictions  upon  the  press  and 
legislature,  there  is  necessarily  less  free 
dom  of  expression  of  opinion  than  in 
the  constitutional  monarchy  of  England, 
where  all  are  free  to  write  and  speak 
what  they  think.  There  was  accord 
ingly  in  the  former  a  more  decorous  re 
serve  in  regard  to  the  merits  of  the 
question  at  issue,  and  consequently 
France,  by  apparently  preserving  a  more 


dignified  neutrality,  did  less  than  Great 
Britain  to  arouse  unkindly  feeling  in 
the  United  States.  French  writers,  as 
their  country's  material  interests  were 
not  so  much  endangered,  were  able  to 
discuss  the  question  according  to  the 
abstract  principles  of  liberty  and  right, 
while  the  English,  less  disinterested, 
treated  it  in  reference  to  its  practical 
bearings  upon  a  suffering  trade  and 
commerce. 

The  visit  of  the  cousin  of  the  Em 
peror  of  France,  Prince  Jerome  Napo- 
leon,  and  his  advocacy  of  the  Northern 
cause,  served  to  beget  a  friendly  feeling 
at  the  North  towards  France,  which  was 
strengthened  by  the  accession  of  the  two 
young  French  princes  to  the  ranks  of 
our  army — the  Comte  de  Paris  and  the 
Due  de  Chartres — who,  though  of  the 
Orleans  dynasty,  and  exiles,  were  yet 
welcomed  in  America  as  counti^men  of 
the  gallant  Lafayette. 

The  Emperor  of  Russia  manifested 
his  regard  for  the  United  States  by 
counselling  reconciliation.  His  prime 
minister  expressed  the  opinion  of  his 
imperial  master  in  a  letter*  addressed 
to  M.  Ed.  de  Stoeckl,  Russian  minister 
at  Washington,  with  instructions  to  read 
it  to  the  President. 

°  "Si.  PETERSBURG  H,  July  10. 

"M.  DE  STOKCKL,  ETC.,  ETC. — Sir:  From  the  beginning 
of  the  conflict  which  divides  the  United  States  of  Amer 
ica,  you  have  been  desired  to  make  known  to  the  Federal 
Government  the  deep  interest  with  which  our  august  mas 
ter  was  observing  the  development  of  a  crisis  which  puts 
in  question  the  prosperity  and  even  the  existence  of  tho 
Union.  The  Emperor  profoundly  regrets  to  see  that  the 
hope  of  a  peaceful  solution  is  not  realized,  and  that  Amei- 
ican  citizens  already  in  arms  are  ready  to  let  loose  upon 
the  country  the  most  formidable  of  the  scourges  of  polit- 


SEWARD'S  CIRCULAR. 


381 


A  circular  by  the  Secretary  of  State, 
Mr.  Seward,  requesting  the  Governors 
of  the  several  States  to  draw  the  atten 
tion  of  the  legislative  authorities  to  the 
necessity  of  providing  sea  and  lake  coast 
fortifications,  created  some  inquietude, 

ical  society — a  civil  war.  For  the  more  than  eighty  years 
that  it  has  existed,  the  American  Union  owes  its  inde 
pendence,  its  towering  rise,  and  its  progress  to  the  concord 
of  its  members,  consecrated,  under  the  auspices  of  its 
illustrious  founder,  by  institutions  which  have  been  able 
to  reconcile  the  Union  with  liberty.  This  Union  has  been 
feithful.  It  has  exhibited  to  the  world  the  spectacle  of  a 
prosperity  without  example  hi  the  annals  of  history.  It 
would  be  deplorable  that,  after  so  conclusive  an  experi 
ence,  the  United  States  should  be  hurried  into  a  breach 
of  the  solemn  compact  which,  up  to  this  time,  has  made 
their  power.  In  spite  of  the  diversity  of  their  constitu 
tions  and  of  their  interests,  and  perhaps  even  because  of 
this  diversity,  Providence  seems  to  urge  them  to  draw 
closer  the  traditional  cord  which  is  the  basis  of  the  very 
condition  of  their  political  existence.  In  any  event,  the 
sacrifices  which  they  might  impose  upon  themselves  to 
maintain  it  are  beyond  comparison  with  those  which  dis 
solution  would  bring  after  it.  United  they  perfect  them 
selves,  isolated  they  are  paralyzed. 

"The  struggle  which  unhappily  has  just  arisen  can 
neither  be  indefinitely  prolonged,  nor  lead  to  the  total 
destruction  of  one  of  the  parties.  Sooner  or  later  it  will 
be  necessary  to  come  to  some  settlement,  whatsoever  it 
may  be,  which  may  cause  the  divergent  interests  now 
actually  in  conflict  to  co-exist.  The  American  nation 
would  then  give  a  proof  of  high  political  wisdom  in  seek 
ing  in  common  such  a  settlement  before  a  useless  effusion 
of  blood,  a  barren  squandering  of  strength  and  public 
riches,  and  acts  of  violence  and  reciprocal  reprisals  shall 
have  come  to  deepen  an  abyss  between  the  two  parties  of 
the  confederation,  to  end,  definitely,  in  their  mutual  ex 
haustion,  and  in  the  ruin,  perhaps  irreparable,  of  their 
commercial  and  political  power.  Our  august  master  can 
not  rcsijrn  himself  to  admit  such  deplorable  anticipations. 

"  His  Imperial  Majesty  still  places  his  confidence  in  that 
practical  good  sense  of  the  citizens  of  the  Union  who  ap 
preciate  so  judicioiisly  their  true  interests.  His  Majesty 
is  happy  to  believe  that  the  members  of  the  Federal  Gov 
ernment  and  the  influential  men  of  the  two  parties  will 


as  if  indicating  the  danger  of  Europe  in 
terfering  in  behalf  of  the  seceded  States. 
This  circular,  however,  having  been  care 
fully  bruited  abroad,  was  believed  to  be 
intended  rather  as  a  warning  to  foreign 
nations  than  as  advice  for  ourselves. 

seize  all  occasions,  and  will  unite  all  their  efforts  to  calm 
the  effervescence  of  the  passions.  There  are  no  interests 
so  divergent  that  it  may  not  be  possible  to  reconcile  them 
by  laboring  to  that  end  with  zeal  and  perseverance,  in  a 
spirft  of  justice  and  moderation. 

' '  If,  within  the  limits  of  your  friendly  relations,  your 
language  and  your  counsels  may  contribute  to  this  result, 
you  will  respond,  sir,  to  the  intentions  of  His  Majesty, 
the  Emperor,  in  devoting  to  this  the  personal  influence 
which  you  may  have  been  able  to  acquire  during  your 
long  residence  at  Washington,  and  the  consideration 
which  belongs  to  your  character  as  the  representative  of 
a  sovereign  animated  by  the  most  friendly  sentiments 
towards  the  American  Union.  This  Union  is  not  simply, 
in  our  eyes,  an  element  essential  to  the  universal  political 
equilibrium  ;  it  constitutes  besides  a  nation  to  which  our 
august  master  and  all  Russia  have  pledged  the  most 
friendly  interest ;  for  the  two  countries,  placed  at  the 
extremities  of  the  two  worlds,  both  in  the  ascending  pe 
riod  of  their  development,  appear  called  to  a  natural 
community  of  interests  and  of  sympathies,  of  which  they 
have  already  given  mutual  proofs  to  each  other.  I  do 
not  wish  here  to  approach  any  of  the  questions  which 
divide  the  United  States.  We  are  not  called  upon  to 
express  ourselves  in  this  contest.  The  preceding  consid 
erations  have  no  other  object  than  to  attest  the  lively 
solicitude  of  the  Emperor  in  the  presence  of  the  dangers 
which  menace  the  American  Union,  and  the  sincere  wishes 
which  His  Majesty  entertains  for  the  maintenance  of  that 
great  work,  so  laboriously  raised,  and  which  appeared  so 
rich  in  its  future. 

"It  is  in  this  sense,  sir,  that  I  desire  you  to  express 
yourself,  as  well  to  the  members  of  the  general  Govern 
ment  as  to  the  influential  persons  whom  you  may  meet, 
giving  them  the  assurance  that  in  every  event  the  Ameri 
can  nation  may  count  upon  our  most  cordial  sympathy  on 
the  part  of  our  august  master  during  the  important  crisis 
which  it  is  passing  through  at  present. 

' '  Receive,  sir,  the  expression  of  my  very  deep  consid 
eration.  GORTSCHAKOIT." 


382 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


CHAPTER    XXXY. 

The  marshaling  of  the  Forces  on  the  Potomac — Strength  of  the  Federal  Army. — Uncertain  Estimates. — Neglect  or 
Officers. — Embarrassment  of  Officials. — The  Secretary  of  War  left  to  conjecture. — The  Commander-in-Chief  unac 
quainted  with  his  Army — An  undisciplined  mass. — Impatience  of  the  Nation. — "  On  to  Eichmond," — Origin  of  the 
cry. — Contempt  of  the  Enemy. — Effect  of  the  "  On  to  Richmond"  cry  upon  the  Cabinet  and  Commander-in-Chief. 
— The  Advance  against  the  Enemy  determined  upon.— General  Irvine  McDowell. — His  Life  and  Character.— The 
Federal  Army. — How  distributed. — The  Strength  of  the  Enemy. — Contradictory  Computations. — The  position  of 
Manassas  described. — A  Eulogy  of  Beauregard. — Remarkable  Reticence.— A  truculent  Proclamation  of  Beauregard. 
— "  Beauty  and  Booty." — A  reckless  Movement. — Advantages  of  the  Enemy. — Reluctance  of  Scott  and  McDowell. — 
Who  led  the  Federal  Troops  to  Bull  Run  ? — Press,  Politicians,  and  Cabinet. 


1861, 


SUCH  was  the  patriotic  alacrity  with 
which  the  North  had  already,  in 
the  months  of  May  and  June,  re 
sponded  to  the  call  of  the  President, 
that  over  200,000  militia  and  volunteers 
had  been  enrolled,  and  many  of  them 
engaged  in  active  service.  The  enemy 
had  been  no  less  energetic,  with  the  ad 
vantage  of  earlier  preparation.  By  the 
middle  of  July,  Washington  was  pro 
nounced  safe,  the  Virginian  shore  of  the 
Potomac  occupied,  Maryland  tranquil 
lized,  and  the  communications  through 
it  with  the  loyal  States  restored  ;  a  con 
siderable  force  was  marching  to  Harper's 
Ferry  to  operate  in  the  valley  of  the 
Shenandoah,  and  McClellan  had  com 
pleted  his  triumphant  campaign  in  West 
ern  Virginia. 

The  force  in  and  about  Washington 
was  variously  conjectured  to  amount  to 
from  40,000  to  60,000  men,  but  it  was 
difficult  to  form  a  precise  estimate.  So 
precipitately  had  the  troops,  inspirited 
by  the  eager  patriotism  of  the  country, 
poured  in,  and  so  hastily  had  they  been 
enrolled,  that  many  of  the  inexperienced 


officers,  perplexed  by  duties  of  which 
they  were  ignorant,  had  either  not  as 
certained  or  failed  to  make  returns  of 
the  number  of  their  men.  The  Secretary 
of  War,  in  common  with  other  officials, 
overwhelmed  by  the  suddenly  increased 
magnitude  of  his  labors,  was  inca 
pable  for  the  moment  of  evolving  order 
out  of  the  general  confusion.  He  was 
therefore  left  to  conjecture,  in  regard 
to  the  armed  multitude  which  had 
rushed  to  the  rescue  of  the  endangered 
government.  The  Commander-in-chief, 
it  is  believed,  was  unable,  at  that  time, 
to  compute  with  any  degree  of  accuracy 
even  the  numerical  force  under  his  com 
mand,  and  with  much  less  certainty  its 
efficacy  as  a  military  power.  While 
none  could  witness  without  patriotic 
pride  the  spirit  and  the  excellence  of 
material  of  the  immense  throng  of  citi 
zens  mustered  to  defend  with  their  lives 
the  national  existence,  no  careful  observ 
er  could  behold  the  undisciplined  mass 
without  anxious  inquietude. 

The  country,   however,   indignant   at 
those  who,  after  having  destroyed  the 


'BMC 

k".,.^^,-,  _^.  ______  TO  ILLUSTRATE  "THE  "WAR.  "WITH  TEE  SCUTS". 


"ON   TO  RICHMOND." 


383 


unity  of  the  nation,  now  threatened  to 
attack  the  Government  in  the  very  seat 
of  its  capital,  was  impatient  to  avenge 
both  the  injury  and  insult.  Not  com 
prehending  the  necessity  of  military  or 
ganization  arid  discipline,  or  too  impul 
sive  to  await  their  slow  operation,  and 
at  the  same  time  proud  of  and  confident 
in  their  citizen  soldiers,  the  people  of 
the  North  became  impatient  of  inaction. 
This  feeling  found  expression  in  the 
public  press,  oftener  a  servile  flatterer 
than  an  independent  guide  of  popular 
opinion.  Most  of  the  Northern  news 
papers  were  filled  with  systematic  at 
tacks  upon  the  administration  at  Wash 
ington  and  the  Commander-in-chief  for 
their  inertness,  and  with  vehement  ap 
peals  to  action.  Thus  was  raised  the 
cry  of  "  On  to  Richmond."  The  enemy, 
it  was  declared,  were  a  mere  handful  of 
bravadoes,  who  were  presuming  upon  the 
cowardice  of  the  North,  which  they  had 
always  proclaimed  and  the  inactivity  of 
the  Federal  forces  seemed  to  confirm. 
With  one  swoop  of  the  "grand  army" 
of  the  North,  it  was  again  and  again 
declared  the  Southern  braggarts  would 
be  swept  away,  not  only  from  Washing 
ton,  which  they  impudently  confronted, 
but  from  their  own  capital,  which  they 
had  audaciously  established  at  Rich 
mond. 

The  newspaper  cry  of  "  On  to  Rich 
mond,"  re-echoed  by  the  people  and  by 
their  representatives  at  Washington  in 
Congress  assembled,  was  taken  up  even, 
if  is  said,  by  the  President  and  the  Cab 
inet,  and  borne  with  official  emphasis  to 
the  ears  of  the  veteran  Commander-in- 


chief.  General  Scott  is  believed  long  to 
have  turned  a  deaf  ear  to  the  suggestion, 
however  loud  and  peiemptory,  with 
which,  with  his  military  experience,  he 
considered  it  dangerous,  if  not  fatal,  to 
comply.  He,  however,  finally  yielded, 
and  it  was  determined  to  move  from  the 
line  of  the  Potomac  against  the  enemy. 

It  was  resolved  by  the  Comrnander-in- 
chief,  General  Scott,  to  advance  with  an 
army  variously  estimated  at  from  30,000 
to  45,000  men,  to  be  placed  under  the 
immediate  command  of  General  Mc 
Dowell,  than  whom  there  was  not  at 
that  time  an  officer  in  the  United  States 
of  higher  consideration. 

Irvine  McDowell  was  born  in  Ohio, 
and  having  received  the  appointment  to 
a  cadetship,  entered  West  Point  in  1834. 
After  the  usual  course  of  study,  of  four 
years,  he  graduated,  and  in  1838  was 
promoted  to  the  rank  of  brevet  second 
lieutenant.  For  a  short  time,  until 
November,  1841,  he  was  instructor  of 
tactics  at  the  academy  of  West  Point, 
and  subsequently  appointed  adjutant, 
which  office  he  held  until  October,  1845. 
In  the  mean  time  he  had  been  pro 
moted  to  a  first  lieutenancy,  his  rank 
taking  date  from  October,  1842.  From 
October,  1845,  to  May,  1847,  he  was  aide- 
de-camp  to  General  Wool,  arid  served 
in  that  capacity  during  the  Mexican 
war.  For  his  gallant  conduct  at  the 
battle  of  Buena  Vista,  he  \vas  honored 
with  the  brevet  rank  of  captain.  On  the 
23d  of  February,  1847,  he  was  again 
promoted  to  the  post  of  assistant  adju 
tant-general,  with  the  rank  of  captain 
in  May,  1847.  In  February,  1851,  he 


384 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


relinquished  rank  in  the  line.  On  March 
31st,  1856,  he  was  still  adjutant-general, 
with  promotion,  however,  to  the  rank  of 
major.  In  May,  1861,  he  was  elevated 
to  the  high  rank  of  brigadier-general, 
and  appointed  to  the  command  of  the 
Federal  line  on  the  Potomac. 

All  who  are  brought  in  contact  with 
General  McDowell  are  greatly  impressed 
with  his  soldierly  bearing,  his  frank  and 
courteous  manners,  and  his  apparent 
force  of  character,  though  softened  in  ex 
pression  by  his  gentle  and  modest  mien. 
"  He  is  a  man,"  said  the  London  Times 
correspondent,  "  in  the  prime  of  life, 
some  forty  and  odd  years  of  age,  very 
powerfully  built,  with  a  kindly,  honest, 
soldierly  expression  in  face  and  man 
ners." 

A  French  writer  in  the  Opinion  Na- 
tionale,  of  Paris,  reported  to  be  no  less  a 
personage  than  Prince  Napoleon  himself, 
though  probably  one  of  his  suite,  who 
accompanied  him  on  his  visit  to  the 
United  States,  says  : 

"  General  McDowell  commands  all  the 
troops  on  the  right  bank  of  the  Potomac. 
He  is  a  man  of  forty-two  years,  tall  and 
large.  His  face  is  not  particularly  fine, 
but  it  is  remarkably  open  and  sympa 
thetic,  through  its  air  of  frankness  and 
kindness. 

"If  McClellan  resembles  one  of  our 
engineer  officers,  McDowell  resembles 
one  of  our  infantry  officers.  Did  I  not 
dread  reducing  to  puerile  shades  the 
search  for  resemblances  and  assimila 
tions,  I  should  say  that  McDowell  has 
the  type  of  a  chief  of  battalion  of  foot 
chasseurs.  His  conversation,  his  char 


acter,  and  his  principles  are  still  superior 
to  his  appearance,  favorable  as  that  is. 
He  is  one  of  the  honestest,  truest,  sim 
plest  men  that  you  can  meet.  He  sus 
tained  a  terrible  check  at  Bull  Run,  and 
he  speaks  of  it  without  bitterness,  with 
out  recrimination,  with  an  accent  of  sin 
cerity  and  an  elevation  of  sentiment  that 
do  him  the  greatest  honor.  Deprived 
of  the  supreme  command  in  consequence 
of  that  reverse,  he  has  seen  McClellan, 
his  fellow-student  at  West  Point,  young 
er  than  himself  by  several  years,  inherit 
his  honors,  his  position,  and  his  growing 
popularity.  He  has  taken,  without 
complaint  and  without  murmur,  an  in 
ferior  place  under  him  whose  mission  it 
is  to  repair  the  misfortune  attached  to 
his  name.  Well,  no  one  doubts  that 
McDowell  will  be  the  most  submissive, 
most  devoted  of  McClellan's,  lieutenants. 
McDowell  has,  besides,  a  reputation  in 
the  army  of  being  a  sort  of  stoic  philos 
opher,  a  reputation  sought  after  and 
more  or  less  deserved  by  a  certain  num 
ber  of  West  Point  pupils.  He  drinks 
neither  wine,  tea,  nor  coffee,  does  not 
smoke,  and  has  habits  of  sobriety  and 
self-denial  quite  in  keeping  with  his 
Puritan  principles." 

In  addition  to  the  army  under  the  im 
mediate  command  of  General  McDowell, 
soon  to  advance  against  the  enemy  in 
Virginia,  there  was  a  considerable  force 
under  General  Patterson,  who,  as  has 
already  been  seen,  was  in  pursuit  of 
the  enemy  under  General  Johnston, 
in  the  northeastern  part  of  Virginia, 
near  Winchester.  General  Scott  relied 
upon  Patterson  to  beat,  or  so  keep 


STRENGTH  OF  MANASSAS. 


385 


Johnston  in  check  as  to  prevent  his 
forming  .a  junction  with  Beauregard, 
the  Confederate  commander,  against 
whom  McDowell's  attack  was  to  be 
directed. 

Manassas  Junction  was  the  main  posi 
tion  and  headquarters  of  Beauregard. 
Here  and  in  its  environs  he  held  an 
army  which  was  variously  estimated  at 
from  50,000  to  75,000,  although  he  him 
self  has  declared  that  at  that  time  his 
whole  effective  force  amounted  to  only 
17,000  men. 

"The  position  of  Manassas,"  accord 
ing  to  a  Louisianian,  writing  from  its 
encampments,  "is  by  nature  one  of  the 
strongest  that  could  be  found  in  the 
whole  State.  About  half  way  between 
the  eastern  spur  of  the  Blue  Ridge  and 
the  Potomac,  below  Alexandria,  it  com 
mands  the  whole  country  between,  so 
perfectly  that  there  is  scarce  a  possibil 
ity  of  its  being  turned.  The  right  wing 
stretches  off  towards  the  head  waters 
of  the  Occoquan,  through  a  wooded 
country,  which  is  easily  made  impassable 
by  the  felling  of  trees.  The  left  is  a 
rolling  table-land,  easily  commanded 
from  the  successive  elevations,  till  you 
reach  a  country  so  rough  and  so  rugged 
that  it  is  a  defence  to  itself.  The  key 
to  the  whole  position,  in  fact,  is  pre 
cisely  that  point  which  General  Beaure 
gard  chose  for  his  centre,  and  which  he 
has  fortified  so  strongly  that,  in  the 
opinion  of  military  men,  5,000  men 
could  there  hold  20,000  at  bay. 

"  The  position,  in  fact,  is  fortified  in 
part  by  nature  herself.  It  is  a  succes 
sion  of  hills,  nearly  equidistant  from 

49 


each  other,  in  front  of  which  is  a  ravine, 
so  deep  and  so  thickly  wooded  that  it  is 
passable  only  at  two  points,  and  those 
through  gorges  which  fifty  men  can  de 
fend  against  a  whole  army."  The  same 
authority  bears  personal  witness  to  the 
strength  of  this  position  in  the 'declara 
tion,  "  that  it  was  at  one  of  these  points 
that  the  Washington  Artillery  were  at 
first  encamped,  and  though  only  half  the 
battalion  was  then  there,  and  we  had 
only  one  company  of  infantry  to  sup 
port  us,  we  slept  as  soundly  under  the 
protection  of  our  guns  as  if  we  had 
been  in  a  fort  of  the  amplest  dimen 
sions. 

"  Of  the  fortifications  superadded  here 
by  General  Beauregard  to  those  of  na 
ture,  it  is  of  course,"  says  the  cautious 
enemy,  "not  proper  for  me  to  speak." 
He,  however,  tells  the  general  reader 
that  "he  will  have  a  sufficiently  pre 
cise  idea  of  them  by  conceiving  a  line 
of  forts  some  two  miles  in  extent,  zig 
zag  in  form,  with  angles,  salients,  bas 
tions,  casemates,  and  everything  that 
properly  belongs  to  works  of  this  kind. 
The  strength  and  advantages  of  this 
position  at  Manassas  are  very  much  in 
creased  by  the  fact,  that  fourteen  miles 
farther  on  is  a  position  of  similar  forma 
tion,  while  the  country  between  is  ad 
mirably  adapted  to  the  subsistence  and 
entrenchment  of  troops,  in  numbers  as 
large  as  they  can  easily  be  manoeuvred 
on  the  real  battle-field.  Water  is  good 
and  abundant ;  forage,  such  as  is  every 
where  found  in  the  rich  farming  districts 
of  Virginia,  and  the  communication 
with  all  parts  of  the  country  easy. 


386 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


"  Here,  overlooking  an  extensive  plain, 
watered  by  mountain  streams,  which 
ultimately  find  their  way  to  the  Poto 
mac,  and  divided  into  verdant  fields  of 
wheat  and  oats  and  corn,  pasture  and 
meadow,  are  the  headquarters  of  the 
advanced  forces  of  the  army  of  the 
Potomac.  They  are  South  Carolinians, 
Louisianians,  Alabamians,  Mississippi- 
ans,  and  Virginians  for  the  most  part ; 
the  first  two,  singularly  enough,  being  in 
front — and  they  will  keep  it,  their  friends 
at  home  may  rest  assured.  Never," 
exclaims  the  partial  chronicler,  "have 
I  seen  a  finer  body  of  men — men  who 
were  more  obedient  to  discipline,  or  who 
breathed  a  more  self-sacrificing  patriot 
ism." 

The  same  enthusiastic  eulogist  of  all 
that  pertains  to  the  cause  of  his  fellow- 
secessionists,  pays  this  tribute  to  Gen 
eral  Beauregard:  "As  might  be  ex 
pected  from  the  skill  with  which  he  has 
chosen  his  position,  and  the  system  with 
which  he  encamps  and  moves  his  men, 
General  Beauregard  is  very  popular  here. 
I  doubt  if  Napoleon  himself  had  more 
the  undivided  confidence  of  his  army. 
By  nature,  as  also  from  a  wise  policy, 
he  is  very  reticent.  Not  an  individual 
here  knows  his  plans  or  a  single  move 
of  a  regiment  before  it  is  made,  and 
then  only  the  colonel  and  his  men  know 
where  it  goes  to.  There  is  not  a  man 
here  who  can  give  anything  like  a  satis 
factory  answer  how  many  men  he  has 
or  where  his  exact  lines  are.  For  the 
distance  of  fourteen  miles  around,  you 
see  tents  everywhere,  and  from  them  you 
make  a  rough  estimate  of  his  men  ; 


but  how  many  more  are  encamped  on 
the  by-roads  and  in  the  forests  none  can 
tell.  The  new-comer,  from  what  he  sees 
at  first  glance,  puts  down  the  number  at 
about  30,000  men  ;  those  who  have  been 
here  longest,  estimate  his  force  at  45,000, 
50,000,  and  some  even  at  60,000  strong. 
And  there  is  the  same  discrepancy  as  to 
the  quantity  of  his  artillery.  So  close 
does  the  General  keep  his  affairs  to  him 
self,  that  his  left  hand  hardly  knows  what 
his  right  hand  doeth,  and  so  jealous  is  he 
of  this  prerogative  of  a  commanding  offi 
cer,  that  I  verily  believe  if  he  suspected 
his  coat  of  any  acquaintance  with  the 
plans  revolving  within  him,  he  would 
cast  it  from  him."* 


°  Of  the  truculent  spirit  which  animated  this  distin 
guished  leader,  there  is  evidence  in  this  proclamation  : 

"HEADQUARTERS,  DEFT.  OF  ALEXANDRIA,  i 
CAMP  PICKEXS,  June  5,  1861.  f 

"To  THE  PEOPLE  OF  THE  COUNTIES  OF  LOUDON,  FAIRFAX. 
AND  PRINCE  WILLIAM — A  reckless  and  unprincipled  tyrant 
has  invaded  your  soil.  Abraham  Lincoln,  regardless  of  al< 
moral,  legal,  and  constitutional  restraints,  has  thrown  his 
Abolition  hosts  among  you,  who  are  murdering  and  im 
prisoning  your  citizens,  confiscating  and  destroying  your 
property,  and  committing  other  acts  of  violence  and  out 
rage  too  shocking  and  revolting  to  humanity  to  be  enu 
merated. 

"All  rules  of  civilized  warfare  are  abandoned,  and  they 
proclaim  by  their  acts,  if  not  on  their  banners,  that  their 
war-cry  is  '  BEAUTY  AND  BOOTY.  '  All  that  is  dear  to  man — 
your  honor  and  that  of  your  wives  and  daughters — your 
fortunes  and  your  lives,  are  involved  in  this  momentous 
contest. 

"  In  the  name,  therefore,  of  the  constituted  authorities 
of  the  Confederate  States — in  the  sacred  cause  of  constitu 
tional  liberty  and  self-government,  for  which  we  are  con 
tending — in  behalf  of  civilization  itself,  I,  G.  T.  Beaure 
gard,  Brigadier-General  of  the  Confederate  States,  com 
manding  at  Camp  Pickens.  Manassas  Junction,  do  make 
this  my  proclamation,  and  invite  and  enjoin  you  by  every 
consideration  dear  to  the  hearts  of  freemen  and  patriots, 
by  the  name  and  memory  of  your  Revolutionary  fathers, 
and  by  the  purity  and  sanctity  of  your  domestic  firesides, 
to  lally  to  the  standard  of  your  State  and  country,  and 
by  every  means  in  your  power  compatible  with  honorable 


WHO   LED   THE  ARMY. 


387 


It  was  against  a  force  that  none  of  the 
Federal  officers  could  compute  with  ac 
curacy,  entrenched  in  a  position  strong 
by  nature  and  fortified  by  art,  and  com 
manded  by  the  ablest  of  the  Confederate 
commanders,  that  General  Scott,  yield 
ing  to  the  passionate  impulse  of  popular 
feeling,  reluctantly  determined  to  throw 
his  undisciplined  masses.  It  is  true  it 
was  reasonable  to  suppose  that  the  force 
of  the  enemy  was  no  more  disciplined 
than  our  own,  but  it  could  not  fail  to  be 

warfare,  to  drive  back  and  expel  the  invaders  from  your 
land. 

"  I  conjure  you  to  be  true  and  loyal  to  your  country  and 
her  legal  and  constitutional  authorities,  and  especially  to 
be  vigilant  of  the  movements  and  acts  of  the  enemy,  so 
as  to  enable  you  to  give  the  earliest  authentic  information 
at  these  headquarters,  or  to  the  officers  under  my  com 
mand. 

"  I  desire  to  assure  you  that  the  utmost  protection  in  my 
power  will  be  given  to  you  all. 

"  G.  T.  BEAUBEQAKD, 
"Brigadier-General  Commanding. 
"  Official — THOMAS  JORDAN, 
"  Acting  Assistant  Adjutant-General." 


recognized  by  every  one  of  military  ex 
perience,  as  an  unquestionable  fact,  that 
raw  troops  always  act  at  a  disadvantage 
as  assailants,  and  with  most  effect  when 
on  the  defensive  and  under  the  cover  of 
fortifications  or  breastworks.  In  the 
offensive  movement,  therefore,  of  the 
Federal  troops  against  the  Confederate 
army,  entrenched  at  Manassas,  the  ad 
vantage  was  clearly  on  the  side  of  the 
enemy.  Conscious  of  this,  the  Com 
mander-in-chief,  Scott,  reluctantly  gave 
his  orders  to  advance,  and  his  experi 
enced  general,  McDowell,  reluctantly 
obeyed  him.  The  leadership,  however, 
of  the  army  had  been  practically  as 
sumed  by  an  excited  people,  an  obse 
quious  press,  the  artful  politicians,  and 
an  inexperienced  cabinet,  and  with  the 
cry  of  "On  to  Richmond,"  they  led  a 
brave  but  undisciplined  force  to  the 
defeat  at  Bull  Run. 


S88 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


CHAPTER    XXXVI. 

March  of  Federal  Troops  from  Washington. — The  Guard  of  the  Fortifications. — The  Guard  of  the  Capital. — General 
Mansfield. — His  Military  Career  and  Character. — Premature  old  age. — No  power  of  organization. — Advance  of  the 
"  Grand  Army."— The  Four  Divisions. — Roads  and  Direction  of  March.— Burnside's  Brigade. — Advance  of  Hunter's 
Division. — Tyler's  Division. — Miles'  Division. — Encampment. — Advance  of  the  17th  of  July. — A  Ruse  of  the  Enemy 
mistaken. — Beauregard's  Statement. — Spirited  Advance  on  Fairfax  Court  House. — Retirement  of  the  Enemy. —A 
graphic  account  of  the  Federal  Success. — The  raising  of  the  "Star  Spangled  Banner." — Appearance  of  Fairfax 
Court  House. — Behavior  of  the  Federal  Troops. — A  stringent  Proclamation  of  McDowell. — Encampment  at  Fairfax 
Court  House  and  Neighborhood  — The  Advance  of  Tyler's  Division  to  Centreville. — Retirement  of  the  Enemy. — 
Their  object. — Description  of  Bull  Run. — Topography  of  the  Country. — A  Reconnoissance. — Colonel  Richardson's 
Advance. — The  Enemy  in  Force  at  Blackburn's  Ford. — Movement  of  the  Enemy. — Retreat  or  Advance  ?— Major 
Barnard's  Opinion. — Fire  opened, — Tyler's  persistency. — A  serious  Engagement. — Reinforcements. — An  unequal 
Struggle. — Retirement  of  the  Federal  Forces. — Beauregard's  Report  of  the  Battle  of  the  18th  of  July. 


1861, 


ON  the  15th  of  July,  the  Federal 
forces,  consisting  of  fifty-five  regi 
ments,  but  numbering  in  all,  in 
consequence  of  the  numerical  incom 
pleteness  of  most  of  them,  but  45,000 
men,  and  accompanied  by  six  batteries 
of  artillery,  began  their  march  toward 
Manassas  from  their  various  encamp 
ments  on  the  west  side  of  the  Potomac 
and  in  the  neighborhood  of  Washing 
ton. 

Some  16,000  thousand  men  remained 
on  the  left  bank  of  the  Potomac  as  a 
reserve  to  watch  the  capital,  and  a 
strong  guard  on  the  right  to  hold  the 
forts  and  intrenchments  on  that  side,  to 
guard  the  bridges  and  crossings  of  the 
river,  and  to  cover  the  roads  to  Alex 
andria,  Fairfax,  and  Falls  Church.  Gen 
eral  Mansfield  was  in  command  at  Wash 
ington. 

J.  K.  Mansfield  was  born  in  Connec 
ticut,  and  entered  West  Point  Academy 
in  1817.  In  July,  1822,  he  graduated, 
and  was  at  once  promoted  to  the  rank 


of  brevet  second  lieutenant  in  the  corps 
of  Engineers.     In  March,  1832,  he  be 
came  a  first  lieutenant ;  in  July,  1838, 
a   captain,    and    in    1846-7    served    as 
chief  engineer  of  the  army  under  Gen 
eral   Taylor    throughout    his    Mexican 
campaign.     He   was    honored  with   the 
rank  of  brevet  major  for  his  gallant  con 
duct  in  the  defence  of  Fort  Brown,  on 
the  Rio  Grande,  on  May  9th,  1846,  and 
was  severely  wounded  at  the  battle  of 
Monterey.    He  was  promoted  to  the  rank 
of  brevet  lieutenant-colonel,  in  Septem 
ber,  1846,  and  subsequently  to  that  of 
brevet  colonel,  for  his  spirit  and  good 
service   at   the  battle  of  Buena  Vista. 
On  the  28th  of  May,  1853,  he  was  ap 
pointed  inspector-general  of  the  army, 
with  the  rank  of  colonel,  when  he  re 
linquished  his  position  in  the  corps  of 
Engineers.     On  the  accession  of  Presi 
dent   Lincoln,    Mansfield   was    made    a 
brigadier -general,     with    command    at 
Washington,  and  was  thus  sketched  : 
"  About   fifty-five   years   of  age,   but 


ADVANCE  OF  THE   "GRAND  ARMY." 


389 


with  his  long  white  beard  and  hair,  his 
subdued  bearing,  his  amiable  manners, 
his  fondness  for  social  talk,  and  his 
yielding  disposition,  would  seem  to  have 
the  characteristics,  if  not  the  infirmities, 
of  a  much  older  man.  With  too  much 
forbearance  toward  individual  assump 
tion,  and  too  little  assertion  of  his  own 
dignity,  General  Mansfield  has  the  qual 
ities  rather  of  the  good-natured  patriarch 
of  a  rustic  community  than  of  the  rigid 
military  commander.  Much  of  the  ir 
regularity  of  the  troops  under  his  com 
mand  may  be  attributed  to  his  want  of 
firmness.  Of  unquestioned  skill  in  his 
profession,  and  of  distinguished  bravery 
in  the  field,  he  is  yet  deficient  in  those 
stern  qualities  of  the  commander  requisite 
in  the  organization  of  a  volunteer  force." 

General  McDowell  having  left  his  rear 
thus  guarded,  began  his  march.  His 
"  grand  army,"  as  it  was  exultingly 
termed,  moved  in  four  divisions,  each 
numbering  nearly  12,000  men.  Three 
different  roads  were  taken,  and  the 
whole  force  directed  toward  the  line 
formed  by  portions  of  the  Manassas  Gap 
and  Orange  and  Alexandria  railroads. 
The  divergence  of  the  different  lines  of 
march  was  thus  arranged,  that  if  circum 
stances  admitted,  a  flank  movement  might 
be  made  on  the  enemy's  intrenched 
position.  At  the  same  time  a  wider  ex 
tent  of  country  could  thus  be  swept, 
while  there  would  be  less  chance  of  the 
various  columns  clogging  each  other's 
movement. 

The  brigade  under  the  command  of 
Colonel  Burnside,  consisting  of  the  First 
and  Second  Rhode  Island  regiments, 


the  New  York  Seventy-first,  and  the 
Second  New  Hampshire  Volunteers,  to 
gether  with  two  batteries,  broke  up  its 
encampment  near  Washington  and  cross 
ed  over  the  long  bridge  into  Virginia 
on  the  afternoon  of  the  15th  of  July. 
Joining  the  central  column  on  the  left 
bank  of  the  Potomac,  under  the  com 
mand  of  Acting  Major-General  Hunter, 
this  combined  force  on  the  next  day 
(the  16th)  took  the  direct  turnpike  road 
to  Fairfax  Court  House. 

The  division  forming  the  extreme 
right,  under  the  command  of  General 
Tyler,  and  composed  of  his  brigade  of 
Connecticut  regiments,  the  New  York 
Sixty-ninth  and  Seventy-ninth  and  oth 
ers,  at  the  same  time  took  the  Leesburg 
road,  passing  through  Vienna.  The 
division  under  the  command  of  Acting 
Major-General  Miles  marched  by  the 
old  Braddock  road  to  the  extreme  left, 
south  of  the  turnpike  taken  by  Hunter's 
division. 

On  the  first  day  the  several  divisions, 
having    proceeded    by    these    different 
routes,  had  marched  about  eight  or  nine 
miles,  when  the  whole  army  encamped. 
Early  next  morning  a  general  advance 
was  ordered.     The  whole  force  con-  ju|y 
sequently  resumed  its  march.     The  H* 
enemy  apparently  strove,  by  felling  trees 
across    the   roads    and   by  sending  out 
their  skirmishers,  to  embarrass  the  ad 
vance  of  our  troops.     It  was  supposed 
by  the  Federal  commanders,  that  their 
opponents  having  been  taken  by  surprise, 
were  thus   making  a  serious   effort   at 
resistance. 

General  Beauregard,  however,  in  hia 


390 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


report,  declared,  that  being  "oppor 
tunely  informed  of  the  determination  of 
the  enemy  to  advance  on  Manassas,"  his 
advanced  brigades  on  the  night  of  the 
16th  of  July  were  made  aware  of  the 
impending  movement,  and  in  exact  ac 
cordance  with  his  instructions  "their 
withdrawal  within  the  lines  of  Bull  Run 
was  effected  with  complete  success  dur 
ing  the  day  and  night  of  the  17th  of 
July." 

Accordingly  the  felled  trees  across  the 
roads,  the  incomplete  batteries,  the  oc 
casional  encampments,  and  the  skirmish 
ing  fire  our  troops  met  on  their  advance 
and  swept  before  them,  were  probably 
only  so  many  feints  of  resistance,  while 
the  enemy  were  falling  back  to  their 
strong  positions  at  Bull  Run  and  Ma 
nassas,  whither  they  were  desirous  of 
enticing  the  Federal  army. 

Our  men  expecting  resistance  at  Fair 
fax  Court  House,  advanced  against  the 
place  with  great  spirit.  "The  whole 
division,"  says  one  who  was  with  Hunt 
er's  column,  "with  a  growing  eagerness 
for  battle,  kept  insensibly  accelerating 
its  pace,  till  of  its  own  accord  it  almost 
reached  a  '  double  quick.'  They  were 
the  first,  of  course,  to  reach  the  Court 
House,  and  the  first  consequently  to  be 
eeeri  by  the  Confederates,  who,  surprised* 
at  finding  the  enemy  crossing  along  the 
turnpike  road,  when  they  expected  him 
only  by  the  Braddock  road,  seized  hold 
of  their  cannon  in  that  quarter  and  ran 
with  them  to  the  centre.  At  the  same  time 

0  Mr.  George  Wilkes,  from  whose  graphic  account  this 
extract  is  made,  wrote  on  the  common  presumption  of  the 
Federalists,  that  the  enemy  were  taken  by  surprise. 


reports  were  brought  that  the  Federal 
troops  were  approaching  on  the  right 
and  appearing  also  in  strong  force  in  the 
direction  of  the  left.  They  did  not  wait, 
therefore,  to  hear  the  shouts  of  the 
Rhode  Islanders  and  the  Seventy-first 
as  they  prepared  to  charge,  but  dropping 
whatever  they  were  about,  incontinently 
fled  with  wild  huzzas ;  the  Burnside 
brigade  in  a  few  minutes  afterward  tore 
their  way  into  the  village,  looking  ea 
gerly  to  the  right  and  left  for  foes,  and 
in  their  disappointment  penetrating  often 
the  abandoned  dwellings,  in  the  hopes 
of  finding  some  secreted  squads  of  the 
Confederates  there.  But  though  entirely 
gone  they  had  barely  escaped  ;  and  had 
the  fifth  division  been  a  little  farther 
forward,  they  must  have  been  intercepted 
and  cut  off.  As  it  was,  they  left  their 
tents,  camp  equipage,  forage,  a  quantity 
of  arms  and  flour,  and,  in  some  instances, 
their  uniforms  and  swords.  *  *  * 
So  precipitate  was  their  flight,  that  the 
camp  kettles  were  seething  with  their 
intended  meals,  and  it  was  necessary 
that  a  corporal  of  the  Rhode  Islanders 
should  take  down  their  rebel  flag  from 
the  Court  House,  and  put  the  star-span 
gled  banner  in  its  place.  *  *  * 

"The  village  presented  an  extraordi 
nary  spectacle  on  the  afternoon  of  the 
capture.  The  soldiers,  unrestrained  by 
duty,  entered  every  dwelling  that  had 
been  abandoned,  and  taking  its  desertion 
as  a  confession  of  judgment  on  the 
part  of  its  proprietor,  sacked  it  as  mer 
cilessly  as  if  it  had  been  condemned  to 
plunder  by  a  lawful  process. 

"  In  some  instances  they  set  houses 


FEDERAL  TROOPS   AT  FAIRFAX   COURT  HOUSE. 


391 


on  fire,  in  some  insulted  women,  and 
terror  took  possession  of  the  town. 
Toward  the  close  of  the  day,  when  the 
rage  of  acquisition  had  subsided,  the 
place  wore  the  softened  aspect  of  a  car 
nival  ;  and  soldiers,  apparelled  in  crino 
line  and  female  sheen,  walked  with  their 
bearded  gallants  up  and  down,  replying 
with  affected  gab  to  the  rather  racy 
compliments  tendered  them  from  every 
side.  This,  to  the  superficial  looker-on, 
gave  the  scene  a  merry  show  ;  but  I 
noticed  that  the  shuddering  inhabitants 
regarded  it  with  fear  and  undisguised  ab 
horrence.  One  female,  hearing  me  con 
demn  the  conduct  of  the  soldiers,  as  a 
fellow  passed  by  with  a  pair  of  ladies' 
ruffled  drawers  hauled  up  over  his  pan 
taloons,  said  she  '  thought  it  was  really 
too  bad  that  the  clothes  of  Mr.  Smith's 
poor  dead  mother,  which  had  been 
packed  away  for  several  years  untouched, 
should  be  desecrated  in  that  coarse, 
vulgar  way.'  I  myself  half  shuddered 
as  she  made  this  remark  on  the  fellow's 
conduct,  and  I  made  up  my  mind  thence 
forth  to  contribute  my  share  of  effort  to 
put  a  check  upon  such  shocking  license. 
I  have  been  desirous  all  along  to  conceal 
whatever  was  discreditable  to  our  sol 
diers  ;  but  I  now  perceive  that  this  is 
the  worst  way  to  treat  the  evil.  Public 
condemnation  must  be  turned  upon  their 
outrages  in  its  fullest  tide,  and  if  that 
ceases  to  nerve  the  officers  sufficiently  to 
enable  them  to  make  the  men  behave, 
we  had  better  give  up  this  war."  To 
this  humane  reflection,  which  honors  the 
writer,  may  be  added,  in  confirmation 
of  his  statement  of  the  conduct  of  our 


undisciplined  troops,  the  order  of  Gen 
eral  McDowell,  in  which  he  illustrates 
not  only  his  characteristic  goodness  of 
heart,  but  his  firmness  of  rule  as  a  com 
mander. 

"  HEADQUARTERS,  DEPARTMENT  OF  VA.  j 
FAIRFAX  COURT  HOUSE,  July  18.  \ 
"It  is  with  deepest  mortification  that 
the  General  commanding  finds  it  neces 
sary  to  reiterate  his  orders  for  the  pres 
ervation  of  the  property  of  the  inhabit 
ants  of  the  district  occupied  by  the  troops 
under  his  command.  Hardly  had  we 
arrived  at  this  place  when,  to  the  horror 
of  every  right-minded  person,  several 
houses  were  broken  open,  and  others 
were  in  flames,  by  the  act  of  some  of 
those  who,  it  has  been  the  boast  of  the 
loyal,  came  here  to  protect  the  oppressed 
and  free  the  country  from  the  domination 
of  a  hated  party.  The  property  of  this 
people  is  at  the  mercy  of  troops  who,  we 
rightly  say,  are  the  most  intelligent,  best 
educated,  and  most  law-abiding  of  any 
that  were  ever  under  arms.  But  do  not, 
therefore,  the  acts  of  yesterday  cast  the 
deepest  stain  upon  them  ?  It  was  claim 
ed  by  some  that  their  particular  corps 
were  not  engaged  in  these  acts.  This  is  of 
but  little  moment :  since  the  individuals 
are  not  found  out,  we  are  all  alike  dis 
graced.  Commanders  of  regiments  will 
select  a  commissioned  officer  as  a  provost 
marshal,  and  ten  men  as  a  police  force 
under  him,  whose  special  and  sole  duty 
it  shall  be  to  preserve  the  property  from 
depredations,  and  to  arrest  all  wrong 
doers  of  whatever  regiment  or  corps 
they  may  be.  Any  one  found  commit 
ting  the  slightest  depredation,  killing 


392 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


pigs  or  poultry,  or  trespassing  on  th< 
property  of  the  inhabitants,  will  be  re 
ported  to  headquarters,  and  the  leas 
that  will  be  done  to  them  will  be  to  senc 
them  to  Alexandria  jail.  It  is  agaii 
ordered  that  no  one  shall  arrest  or  at 
tempt  to  arrest  any  citizen  not  in  arms  a 
the  time,  or  search  or  attempt  to  search 
any  house,  or  even  to  enter  the  same  with 
out  permission.  The  troops  must  be 
have  themselves  with  as  much  forbear 
ance  and  propriety  as  if  they  were  at 
their  own  homes.  They  are  here  to 
fight  the  enemies  of  the  country,  not  to 
judge  -and  punish  the  unarmed  and  de 
fenceless,  however  guilty  they  may  be. 
When  necessary,  that  will  be  done  by  the 
proper  person.  By  command  of 

"  GENERAL  MCDOWELL. 
11  JAMES  B.  FRY, 
"Assistant  Adjutant-General." 
Most  of  the  army  had  encamped  for 
the  night  at  Fairfax  Court  House,  and  in 
its  neighborhood  beyond.  The  more 
advanced  troops,  composing  the  first 
division,  commanded  by  General  Tyler, 
had  pushed  on  to  Centreville,  whence  the 
enemy  had  retired,  with  the  view,  as 
it  appears  by  Beauregard's  report,  of 
drawing  on  our  army.  "This  move 
ment,77  says  that  General,  "had  the  in 
tended  effect  of  deceiving  the  enemv  as 
to  my  ulterior  purposes,  and  led  him  to 
anticipate  an  unresisted  passage  of  Bull 
Run.7' 

Bull  Run  is  a  small  stream  running 
nearly  from  west  to  east  to  its  junction 
with  the  Occoquan  River,  which  emp 
ties  into  the  Potomac.  Nearly  midway 
between  Centreville  and  Manassas,  its 


distance  from  both  is  about  three  miles. 
From  Washington  it  is  twenty-nine  miles 
distant.  The  stream  being  ordinarily 
shallow  and  sluggish,  is  easily  fordable, 
but  it  is  occasionally  swollen  suddenly  by 
the  summer  rains  so  as  to  become  impass 
able.  The  banks  for  the  most  part  are 
rocky  and  steep,  but  there  are  passage 
ways  over  them  leading  to  and  from  the 
numerous  fords.  The  country  immedi 
ately  bordering  Bull  Run  is  broken  and 
thickly  wooded,  but  as  it  leaves  the 
stream  it  becomes  rolling  and  open. 
The  northern  bank  is  higher,  and  com 
mands  the  other  and  lower  side. 

General  Tyler's  division  having  ad 
vanced  to  Centreville,  it  was  determined 
to  make  a  reconnoissance  in  the  neigh 
borhood  of  Bull  Run.  Colonel  Richard 
son,  accordingly,  was  directed  to  ju|y 
push  forward  with  his  brigade,  con-  18. 
sisting  of  the  First  Massachusetts  Regi 
ment,  the  Second  Michigan,  and  the 
Twelfth  New  York,  accompanied  by  a 
portion  of  Sherman7s  battery,  under  the 
command  of  Captain  Ayres. 

On  proceeding  along  the  road  that 
leads  to  that  part  of  Bull  Run  which  is 
crossed  by  what  is  termed  Blackburn 
Ford,  it  became  evident  from  occasional 
glimpses  that  the  enemy  were  there  in 
force,  although,  owing  to  the  thickness 
of  the  wood  on  the  banks  of  the  stream, 
10  distinct  view  could  be  obtained.  "I 
represented  to  General  Tyler,'7  says 
Major  Barnard,  of  the  Engineers,  "that 
his  point  was  the  enenry's  strong  posi- 
ion  on  the  direct  road  to  Manassas 
T unction  ;  that  it  was  no  part  of  the 
)lan  to  assail  it.  I  did  not,  however, 


RETREAT   OF   GENERAL   TYLER. 


393 


object  to  a  'demonstration,'  believing 
that  it  woulcf  favor  what  I  supposed  still 
to  be  the  commanding  general's  plan  of 
campaign."  In  the  mean  time,  from  a 
neighboring  height  the  enemy  could  be 
seen  moving  his  troops  on  the  road  lead 
ing  from  Manassas  to  Blackburn's  Ford. 
To  most  of  the  Federal  officers  it  ap 
peared  that  this  was  a  movement  of  re 
treat.  "I  was  perfectly  sure,"  declares 
Major  Barnard,  "  that  they  were  columns 
moving  up  to  meet  us  from  Manassas." 

It  was  determined,  however,  in  spite 
of  the  Major's  opinion,  that  an  attack 
upon  the  enemy  should  be  risked.  ' '  Two 
twenty-pounder  Parrott  guns  were  ac 
cordingly  ordered  up,  and  fire  opened 
in  various  directions,  without,"  says  Bar 
nard,  "  our  being  able  to  perceive  the 
degree  of  effect  they  produced."  A 
dozen  rounds  had  been  thus  fired,  when 
the  enemy  responded  by  a  rapid  dis 
charge  from  a  battery  apparently  close 
to  the  stream  and  near  the  ford.  Our 
twenty-pounders  were  now  aimed  di 
rectly  at  this  point,  and  another  battery, 
that  of  Ayrcs,  was  brought  up  and  sta 
tioned  on  our  left  to  strengthen  the  fire. 
The  enemy's  guns  soon  after  ceased  to 
respond.  Ours,  however,  continued 
playing  for  about  half  an  hour,  when 
Major  Barnard  thinking  it  a  useless  ex 
penditure  of  ammunition,  said  so  to  the 
Assistant  Adjutant-General  at  his  side. 
General  Tyler  seemed  to  be  of  the  same 
opinion,  for  he  soon  ceased  his  fire  alto 
gether. 

But  General  Tyler  was  not  disposed 
thus  to  give  up  the  fight,  and  having 
ordered  his  troops  to  advance,  renewed 


the  unequal  struggle  with  his  conceal 
ed  foe,  notwithstanding  Major  Barnard 
strove  to  impress  upon  him  that  "  it  was 
no  part  of  the  commanding  general's 
plan  to  bring  on  a  serious  engagement." 

Reinforcements  were  now  brought 
up,  and  the  demonstration  became  a 
battle,  which,  after  lasting  for  three 
hours  and  a  half,  resulted  in  the  retire 
ment,  by  the  order  of  General  McDowell, 
of  our  brave  men,  who  so  long  had  en 
dured  an  unequal  struggle  with  a  con 
cealed  and  powerful  foe.  The  loss  of 
the  Federalists  was  about  sixty  killed, 
and  the  effect  was  dispiriting  upon  our 
troops,  as  they  had  been  forced  to  re 
tire  from  a  contest  with  an  enemy  whose 
strength  they  had  so  undervalued  as  to 
suppose  he  would  yield  almost  at  the  first 
blow. 

The  enemy  were  much  elated  at  their 
success,  which  they  not  unnaturally  ex 
aggerated  into  an  important  victory. 
Their  commander,  General  Beauregard, 
made  the  engagement  the  subject  of  a 
most  elaborate  report,  which,  though 
unquestionably  partial,  is  of  such  interest 
as  to  justify  the  following  extracts. 

"  On  the  morning  of  the  18th,  finding 
that  the  enemy  was  assuming  a  threaten 
ing  attitude,  in  addition  to  the  regiments 
whose  positions  have  been  already 
stated,  I  ordered  up  from  Camp  Pickens, 
as  a  reserve,  in  rear  of  Bonham's  brig 
ade,  the  effective  men  of  six  companies  of 
Kelly's  Eighth  Regiment  Louisiana  Vol 
unteers  and  Kirkland's  Eleventh  Regi 
ment  North  Carolina  Volunteers,  which, 
having  arrived  the  night  before  en  route 
for  Winchester,  I  had  halted,  in  view  of 


50 


394 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


the  existing  necessities  of  the  service. 
Subsequently  the  latter  was  placed  in 
position  on  the  left  of  Bonham's  brigade. 

"  Appearing  in  heavy  force  in  front 
of  Bonham's  position,  the  enemy  about 
meridian  opened  fire  with  several  twenty- 
pounder  rifled  guns,  from  a  hill  over  one 
and  a  half  miles  from  Bull  Run.  At 
the  same  time  Kemper,  supported  by 
two  companies  of  light  infantry,  occupied 
a  ridge  on  the  left  of  the  Centreville  road, 
about  600  yards  in  advance  of  the  ford, 
with  two  six-pounder  (smooth)  guns.  At 
first  the  firing  of  the  enemy  was  at  ran 
dom  ;  but  by  half-past  twelve  P.M.  he  had 
obtained  the  range  of  our  position,  and 
poured  into  the  brigade  a  shower  of 
shot,  but  without  injury  to  us  in  men, 
horses,  or  guns.  From  the  distance, 
however,  our  guns  could  not  reply  with 
effect,  and  we  did  not  attempt  it,  pa 
tiently  awaiting  a  more  opportune  mo 
ment. 

"  Meanwhile  a  light  battery  was  push 
ed  forward  by  the  enemy,  whereupon 
Kemper  threw  only  six  solid  shot,  with 
the  effect  of  driving  back  both  the  bat 
tery  and  its  supporting  force.  This  is 
understood  to  have  been  Ayres'  battery, 
and  the  damage  must  have  been  consid 
erable  to  have  obliged  such  a  retrograde 
movement  on  the  part  of  that  officer. 

'  The  purposes  of  Kemper's  position 
having  now  been  fully  served,  his  pieces 
and  support  were  withdrawn  across 
Mitchell's  Ford  to  a  point  previously 
designated,  and  which  commanded  the 
direct  approaches  to  the  ford. 

"  About  half-past  eleven  A.M.  the 
enemy  was  also  discovered  by  the  pickets 


of  Longstreet's  brigade  advancing  in 
strong  columns  of  infantry  with  artillery 
and  cavalry  on  Blackburn's  Ford. 

"  At  meridian  the  pickets  fell  back 
silently  before  the  advancing  foe  across 
the  ford,  which,  as  well  as  the  entire 
southern  bank  of  the  stream  for  the 
whole  front  of  Longstreet's  brigade,  was 
covered  at  the  water's  edge  by  an  ex 
tended  line  of  skirmishers,  while  two 
six-pounders  of  Walton's  battery,  under 
Lieutenant  Garnett,  were  advantageously 
placed  to  command  the  direct  approach 
to  the  ford,  but  with  orders  to  retire  to 
the  rear  as  soon  as  commanded  by  the 
enemy. 

1  The  northern  bank  of  the  stream,  m 
front  of  Longstreet's  position,  rises  with 
a  steep  slope  at  least  fifty  feet  above  the 
level  of  the  water,  leaving  a  narrow 
berme  in  front  of  the  ford  of  some 
•twenty  yards.  This  ridge  formed  for 
them  an  admirable  natural  parapet,  be 
hind  which  they  could,  and  did,  approach 
under  shelter,  in  heavy  force,  within  less 
than  one  hundred  yards  of  our  skirmish 
ers.  The  southern  shore  was  almost  a 
plain,  raised  but  a  few  feet  above  the 
water  for  several  hundred  yards,  then 
rising  with  a  very  gradual,  gentle  slope, 
and  undulating  back  to  Manassas.  On 
the  immediate  bank  there  was  a  fringe 
of  trees,  but  with  little,  if  any,  under 
growth  or  shelter,  while  on  the  other 
shore  there  were  timber  and  much  thick 
brush  and  covering.  The  ground  in  rear 
of  our  skirmishers,  and  occupied  by  our 
artillery,  was  an  old  field  extending 
along  the  stream  about  one  mile,  and 
immediately  back  for  about  half  a  mile, 


BEAUREGARD'S  REPORT. 


395 


to  a  border  or  skirting  of  dense  second 
growth  pines.  The  whole  of  this  ground 
was  commanded  at  all  points  by  the 
ridge  occupied  by  the  enemy's  musketry, 
as  was  also  the  country  to  the  rear  for  a 
distance  much  beyond  the  range  of 
twenty-pounder  rifled  guns,  by  the  range 
of  hills  on  which  their  batteries  were 
planted,  and  which,  it  may  be  further 
noted,  commanded  also  all  our  ap 
proaches  from  this  direction  to  the  three 
threatened  fords. 

"Before  advancing  his  infantry,  the 
enemy  maintained  a  fire  of  rifled  artil 
lery  from  the  batteries  just  mentioned 
for  half  an  hour,  then  he  pushed  for 
ward  a  column  of  over  three  thousand 
infantry  to  the  assault,  with  such  a 
weight  of  numbers  as  to  be  repelled 
with  difficulty  by  the  comparatively 
small  force  of  not  more  than  1,200 
bayonets,  with  which  Brigadier-General 
Longstreet  met  him  with  characteristic 
vigor  and  intrepidity.  Our  troops  en 
gaged  at  this  time  were  the  First  and 
Seventeenth,  and  four  companies  of  the 
Eleventh  Regiment  Virginia  Volunteers. 
Their  resistance  was  resolute  and  main 
tained  with  a  steadiness  worthy  of  all 
praise.  It  was  successful,  and  the  en 
emy  was  repulsed.  In  a  short  time, 
however,  he  returned  to  the  contest 
with  increased  force  and  determination, 
but  was  again  foiled  and  driven  back  by 
our  skirmishers  and  Longstreet's  reserve 
companies,  which  were  brought  up  and 
employed  at  the  most  vigorously  assailed 
points  at  the  critical  moment. 

"It  was  now  that  Brigadier-General 
Longstreet  sent  for  reinforcements  from 


Early's  brigade,  which  I  had  anticipated 
by  directing  the  advance  of  General 
Early,  with  two  regiments  of  infantry 
and  two  pieces  of  artillery.  As  these 
came  upon  the  field,  the  enemy  had 
advanced  a  third  time,  with  heavy  num 
bers,  to  force  Longstreet's  position. 
Hays'  regiment,  Seventh  Louisiana  Vol 
unteers,  which  was  in  advance,  was 
placed  on  the  bank  of  the  stream,  un 
der  some  cover,  to  the  immediate  right 
and  left  of  the  ford,  relieving  Corse's 
regiment,  Seventeenth  Virginia  Volun 
teers.  This  was  done  under  a  heavy 
fire  of  musketry,  with  promising  steadi 
ness.  The  Seventh  Virginia,  under 
Lieutenant-Colonel  Williams,  was  then 
formed  to  the  right,  also  under  heavy 
fire,  and  pushed  forward  to  the  stream, 
relieving  the  First  Regiment  Virginia 
Volunteers.  At  the  same  time  two 
rifled  guns,  brought  up  with  Early's 
brigade,  were  moved  down  in  the  field 
to  the  right  of  the  road,  so  as  to  be 
concealed  from  the  enemy's  artillery  by 
the  girth  of  timber  on  the  immediate 
bank  of  the  stream,  and  there  opened 
fire,  directed  only  by  the  sound  of  the 
enemy's  musketry.  Unable  to  effect  a 
passage,  the  enemy  kept  up  a  scattering 
fire  for  some  time.  Some  of  our  troops 
had  pushed  across  the  stream,  and  sev 
eral  small  parties  of  Corse's  regiment, 
under  command  of  Captain  Mayre,  met 
and  drove  the  enemy  with  the  bayonet ; 
but  as  the  roadway  from  the  ford  was 
too  narrow  for  a  combined  movement  in 
force,  General  Longstreet  recalled  them 
to  the  south  bank.  Meanwhile  the  re 
mainder  of  Early's  infantry  and  artillery 


396 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


had  been  called  up — that  is,  six  compa 
nies  of  the  Twenty-fourth  Regiment 
Virginia  Volunteers,  under  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  Hairston,  and  five  pieces  of 
artillery,  one  rifled  gun,  and  four  six- 
pounder  brass  guns,  including  two  six- 
pounder  guns  under  Lieutenant  Garnett, 
which  had  been  previously  sent  to  the 
rear  by  General  Longstreet.  This  in 
fantry  was  at  once  placed  in  position  to 
the  left  of  the  ford,  in  a  space  unoccu 
pied  by  Hays,  and  the  artillery  was 
unlirnbered  in  battery  to  the  right  of 
the  road,  in  a  line  with  the  two  guns 
already  in  action.  A  scattering  fire  of 
musketry  was  still  kept  up  by  the  ene 
my  for  a  short  time,  but  that  was  soon 
silenced. 

' '  It  was  at  this  stage  of  the  affair 
that  a  remarkable  artillery  duel  was 
commenced  and  maintained  on  our  side 
with  a  long  trained  professional  oppo 
nent,  superior  in  the  character  as  well 
as  the  number  of  his  weapons,  provided 
with  improved  munitions  and  every  ar 
tillery  appliance,  and  at  the  same  time 
occupying  the  commanding  position. 
The  results  were  marvellous  and  fitting 
precursors  to  the  artillery  achievements 
of  the  2 1st  of  July.  In  the  outset  our 
fire  was  directed  against  the  enemy's 
infantry,  whose  bayonets,  gleaming 
above  the  tree-tops,  alone  indicated 
their  presence  and  force.  This  drew 
the  attention  of  a  battery  placed  on  a 
high  commanding  ridge,  and  the  duel 
began  in  earnest.  For  a  time  the  aim 
of  the  adversary  was  inaccurate,  but 
this  was  quickly  corrected,  and  shot  fell 
and  shell  burst  thick  and  fast  in  the 


very  midst  of  our  battery,  wounding,  iu 
the  course  of  the  combat,  Captain  Es- 
chelman,  five  privates,  and  the  horse 
of  Lieutenant  Richardson.  From  the 
position  of  our  pieces  and  the  nature  of 
the  ground,  their  aim  could  only  be  di 
rected  at  the  smoke  of  the  enemy's 
artillery.  How  skilfully  and  with  what 
execution  this  was  done  can  only  be 
realized  by  an  eye-witness.  For  a  few 
moments  their  guns  were  silenced,  but 
were  soon  reopened.  By  direction  of 
General  Longstreet,  his  battery  was 
then  advanced  by  hand  out  of  the  ranges 
now  ascertained  by  the  enemy,  and  a 
shower  of  spherical-case,  shell,  and 
round  shot  flew  over  the  heads  of  our 
gunners  ;  but  one  of  our  pieces  had  be 
come  hors  du  combat  from  an  enlarged 
vent.  From  the  new  position  our  guns 
—fired  as  before,  with  no  other  aim 
than  the  smoke  and  flash  of  their  adver 
saries'  pieces — renewed  and  urged  the 
conflict  with  such  signal  vigor  and  effect 
that  gradually  the  fire  of  the  enemy  slack 
ened,  the  intervals  between  their  dis 
charges  grew  longer,  and  finally  ceased, 
and  we  fired  a  last  gun  at  a  baffled, 
flying  foe,  whose  heavy  masses  in  the 
distance  were  plainly  seen  to  break  and 
scatter  in  wild  confusion  and  utter  rout, 
strewing  the  ground  with  cast-away 
guns,  hats,  blankets,  and  knapsacks,  as 
our  parting  shell  was  thrown  amongst 
them.  In  their  retreat  one  of  their 
pieces  was  abandoned,  but  from  the 
nature  of  the  ground  it  was  not  sent 
for  that  night,  and,  under  cover  of  dark 
ness,  the  enemy  recovered  it. 

'  The  guns  engaged  in  this  singular 


BEAUREGARD'S  REPORT. 


397 


conflict,  on  our  side,  were  three  six- 
pounder  rifled  pieces  and  four  ordinary 
six-pounders,  all  of  Walton's  battery, 
the  Washington  Artillery,  of  New  Or 
leans.  The  officers  immediately  attach 
ed  were  Captain  Eschelman,  lieutenants 
C.  W.  Squires,  Richardson,  Garnett,  and 
Whittington.  At  the  same  time  our 
infantry  held  the  bank  of  the  stream  in 
advance  of  our  guns,  and  the  missiles 
of  the  combatants  flew  to  and  fro  above 
them,  as,  cool  and  veteran-like,  for  more 
than  an  hour  they  steadily  awaited  the 
moment  and  signal  for  the  advance. 

"  While  the  conflict  was  at  its  height, 
before  Blackburn's  Ford,  about  four  p.  M., 
the  enemy  again  displayed  himself  in 
force  before  Bonham's  position.  At 
this  Colonel  Kershaw,  with  four  com 
panies  of  his  regiment,  Second  South 
Carolina,  and  one  piece  of  Kemper's 
artillery,  were  thrown  across  Mitchell's 
Ford  to  the  ridge  which  Kemper  had 
occupied  that  morning.  Two  solid  shot 
and  three  spherical  case,  thrown  among 


them  with  a  precision  inaugurated  by 
that  artillerist  at  Vienna,  effected  their 
discomfiture  and  disappearance,  and  our 
troops  in  that  quarter  were  again  drawn 
within  our  lines,  having  discharged  the 
duty  assigned. 

"  At  the  close  of  the  engagement  be 
fore  Blackburn's  Ford,  I  directed  Gen 
eral  Longstreet  to  withdraw  the  First 
and  Seventeenth  regiments,  which  had 
borne  the  brunt  of  the  action,  to  a  po 
sition  in  reserve,  leaving  Colonel  Early 
to  occupy  the  field  with  his  brigade  and 
Garland's  regiment. 

"  As  a  part  of  the  history  of  this  en 
gagement,  I  desire  to  place  on  record, 
that  on  the  18th  of  July  not  one  yard 
of  intrenchments  nor  one  rifle-pit  shel 
tered  the  men  at  Blackburn's  Ford,  who, 
officers  and  men,  with  rare  exceptions, 
were  on  that  day  for  the  first  time  under 
fire,  and  who,  taking  and  maintaining 
every  position  ordered,  can  not  be  too 
much  commended  for  their  soldierly 
behavior."  *  *  *  * 


303 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


CHAPTER    XXXVII. 

The  Repulse  at  Blackburn's  Ford. — How  it  happened. — A  Demonstration  turned  into  a  Battle  —Defeat  inevitable.— 
Fortunate  interposition  of  McDowell.— Plan  of  Battle  changed — The  original  plan.— Why  it  was  altered.— The  new 
plan.— The  Lines  at  Centreville. — Arrivals  from  Washington. — Spectators  of  the  expected  Battle. — Throngs  of  Civil 
ians,  Officials,  Newspaper  Reporters,  Members  of  Congress,  etc.— The  delay  at  Centreville.— Order  of  Battle. — Order 
in  regard  to  Provisions. — Uncertainty  of  Supplies. — Want  of  Organization  and  System. — The  Day  chosen  for  the 
Advance. — Frank  admission  of  McDowell. — Original  intention  of  McDowell. — Not  carried  out,  unfortunately. — 
Evil  effect  upon  the  Troops  —A  cause  of  the  Panic  at  Bull  Run. — A  hurried  March.  —The  effects  of  ' '  Double  Quick. ' ' 
—Description  of  Centreville.— Roads  to  and  from.— Disposition  of  the  Federal  Army.— The  various  Divisions.— 
Where  posted. — McDowell's  account  of  his  plan.— Delay  in  starting.— Advance  of  Tyler's  Division. — Before  the 
Enemy. — Position  of  Tyler's  Troops. — Biding  their  time. — Advance  of  Hunter's  Division. — Circuitous  Route. — 
Arrival  at  Sudley's  Springs. — Burnside's  Brigade. — Delay  at  the  Stream.— Confronting  the  Enemy. — The  Attack 
begins. — The  Second  Rhode  Islanders  hard  pressed. — The  First  Rhode  Islanders  to  the  Rescue. — Death  of  Colonel 
Slocum. — The  New  Yorkers  advance. — The  Regulars  follow. — Colonel  Porter's  Brigade. — Its  advance.— In  the  Bat 
tle. — Hunter  wounded. — Porter  in  command  of  the  Division. — Advance  of  Heintzelman's  Division. — No  Road. — 
McDowell  on  the  Right. — His  account  of  the  progress  of  the  Battle. — The  Rout.— The  Panic. — Efforts  of  McDowell. 
— Partial  success. — The  Reserve  brought  up. — Blenker's  Brigade. — Its  conduct. — The  Demonstration  at  Blackburn's 
Ford. — Success. — Panic. 


1861. 


THE  repulse  of  our  troops  at  Black 
burn's  Ford  was  evidently  in  con 
sequence  of  what  was  intended 
merely  as  a  demonstration,  having  been, 
by  a  false  judgment  of  General  Tyler, 
turned  into  a  serious  struggle.  A  com 
paratively  small  force  of  Federal  troops 
had  thus  been  suddenly  confronted  with 
the  main  body  of  the  enemy,  posted  at 
the  strongest  part  of  their  line  of  defence. 
Defeat  was  inevitable,  when  a  mere  rec- 
onnoitering  force  was  brought  into  col 
lision  with  the  might  of  a  whole  army. 
General  McDowell  fortunately  rode  up 
in  time  to  arrest  the  useless  sacrifice,  and 
was  so  persuaded  of  the  strength  of  that 
part  of  the  enemy's  position  against 
which  our  small  advanced  force  had 
been,  with  fatal  recklessness,  vainly 
striving,  that  he  determined  to  change 
his  whole  plan  of  battle.  His  original 


determination  had  been  to  turn  the  po 
sition  of  Manassas  by  his  left,  in  the 
direction  in  which  Tyler's  unfortunate 
"  demonstration"  had  been  made.  This 
plan,  if  it  had  been  carried  out,  would 
have  brought  our  force,  by  a  flank  move 
ment,  probably  as  far  to  the  west  as  the 
little  stream  of  Wolf  Run,  which  empties 
into  the  Occoquan  River  still  nearer  to 
the  Potomac  than  Bull  Run,  and  of 
course  further  to  our  left  and  the  ene 
my's  right  than  even  Blackburn's  Ford. 
McDowell,  however,  having  ascertained 
that  the  nature  of  the  country  to  the 
left  or  southward  of  Manassas  was  unfit 
for  the  operations  of  a  large  army,  and 
that  the  enemy  were  best  prepared  to 
defend  themselves  in  that  direction,  as 
was  evident  from  the  result  of  the  ' '  de 
monstration"  at  Blackburn's  Ford,  sud 
denly  changed  his  original  plan.  He 


McDOWELL'S   ORDER   OF  BATTLE. 


399 


now  determined  to  move  by  the  right, 
turning  the  enemy's  left. 

In  the  mean  time,  McDowell  drew 
back  his  whole  army  within  the  line  of 
Centreville,  about  three  miles  in  front 
of  Bull  Run  and  twenty-six  in  advance 
of  Washington.  Great  preparations 
were  now  made  for  an  advance.  Rein 
forcements  of  artillery,  trains  after  trains 
of  wagons  loaded  with  stores  for  a  long 
march,  ambulances  supplied  with  all  the 
requirements  for  the  sick  and  the 
wounded,  and  vehicles  of  every  kind 
were  coming  in  hourly  from  Washing 
ton.  Great  crowds  of  visitors,  the  Secre 
tary  of  War  and  other  officials,  members 
of  Congress,  newspaper  reporters,  foreign 
travellers,  and  curious  citizens,  some  in 
carriages  crowded  with  jovial  compan 
ions  and  heaped  up  with  hampers  of 
eatables  and  wine,  some  on  horseback, 
and  many  even  on  foot,  thronged  forward 
from  the  capital  to  the  scene  of  the  ex 
pected  battle. 

For  two  days  and  nights  the  army  had 
remained  at  Centreville  in  excited  ex 
pectation,  when,  finally  on  the  third, 
July  General  McDowell  issued  his  order 
20,  of  battle. 


"  HEADQUARTERS  DEPT.  ARMY  EASTERN 
VA.,  CENTREVILLE,  July  20,  1861 


SRN  ) 


"  The  enemy  has  planted  a  battery  on 
the  Warrenton  turnpike  to  defend  the 
passage  of  Bull  Run  ;  has  seized  the 
stone  bridge,  and  made  a  heavy  abattis 
on  the  right  bank,  to  oppose  our  advance 
in  that  direction.  The  ford  above  the 
bridge  is  also  guarded,  whether  with 
artillery  or  not  is  not  positively  known, 
but  every  indication  favors  the  belief 


that  he  purposes  to  defend  the  passage 
of  the  stream. 

"It  is  intended  to  turn  the  position, 
force  the  enemy  from  the  road  that  it 
may  be  reopened,  and,  if  possible,  de 
stroy  the  railroad  leading  from  Manassas 
to  the  valley  of  Virginia,  where  the 
enemy  has  a  large  force.  As  this  may 
be  resisted  by  all  the  force  of  the  enemy, 
the  troops  will  be  disposed  of  as  follows  : 

"  The  first  division,  General  Tyler's 
with  the  exception  of  Richardson's  brig 
ade,  will,  at  half-past  two  o'clock  in  the 
morning  precisely,  be  on  the  Warrenton 
turnpike  to  threaten  the  passage  of  the 
bridge,  but  will  not  open  fire  until  full 
daybreak. 

"The  second  division  (Hunter's)  will 
move  from  its  camp  at  two  o'clock  in  the 
morning,  precisely,  and  led  by  Captain 
Woodbury,  of  the  Engineers,  will,  after 
passing  Cub  Run,  turn  to  the  right  and 
pass  the  Bull  Run  stream  above  the 
ford  at  Sudley's  Spring,  and  then  turn 
ing  down  to  the  left,  descend  the  stream 
and  clear  away  the  enemy  who  may  be 
guarding  the  lower  ford  and  bridge. 
It  will  then  bear  off  to  the  right,  and 
make  room  for  the  succeeding  division. 

"The  third  division  (Heintzelman's) 
will  march  at  half-past  two  o'clock  in  the 
morning,  and  follow  the  road  taken  by 
the  second  division,  but  will  cross  at  the 
lower  ford  after  it  has  been  turned  as 
above,  and  then,  going  to  the  left,  take 
place  between  the  stream  and  the  second 
division. 

"  The  fifth  division  (Miles')  will  take 
position  on  the  Centreville  Heights 
(Richardson's  brigade  will,  for  the  time, 


400 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


form  part  of  the  fifth  division,  and  will 
continue  in  its  present  position).  One 
brigade  will  be  in  the  village,  and  one 
near  the  present  station  of  Richardson's 
brigade.  This  division  will  threaten  the 
Blackburn  Ford,  and  remain  in  reserve 
at  Centre ville.  The  commander  will 
open  fire  with  artillery  only,  and  will 
bear  in  mind  that  it  is  a  demonstration 
only  he  is  to  make.  He  will  cause  such 
defensive  works,  abattis,  earth-works, 
etc.,  to  be  thrown  up  as  will  strengthen 
his  position.  Lieutenant  Prime,  of  the 
Engineers,  will  be  charged  with  this 
duty. 

"These  movements  may  lead  to  the 
gravest  results,  and  commanders  of  divi 
sions  and  brigades  should  bear  in  mind 
the  immense  consequences  involved. 
There  must  be  no  failure,  and  every 
effort  must  be  made  to  prevent  strag 
gling. 

"  No  one  must  be  allowed  to  leave  the 
ranks  without  special  authority.  After 
completing  the  movements  ordered,  the 
troops  must  be  held  in  order  of  battle, 
as  they  may  be  attacked  at  any  moment. 

"  By  order  of 

11  BRIGADIER-GENERAL  MCDOWELL. 

"JAMES  B.  FRY,  Adjutant-General." 

To  this  was  added  an  order  for  each 
man  to  be  supplied  with  provisions  to 
the  extent  of  the  abilit}?1  of  the  subsist 
ence  department.  The  fact  that  in  this 
document  there  is  an  apparent  uncer 
tainty  in  regard  to  that  ability,  while 
the  necessity  of  the  soldiers'  having 
three  days'  rations  is  declared,  is  an  in 
dication  of  the  want  of  organization  and 
system  with  which  it  is  suspected  this 


important  military  enterprise  was  under 
taken. 

"  HEADQUARTERS  DEPT.  NORTHEASTERN  ) 
VA.,  CENTREVILLE,  July  20,  1861.       i 

"  To  THE  COMMANDERS  OF  DIVISIONS  AND  BRIG 
ADES  : 

"  The  commanders  of  the  divisions 
will  give  the  necessary  orders  that  an 
equal  distribution  of  the  subsistence 
stores  on  hand  may  be  made  immedi 
ately  to  the  different  companies  in  their 
respective  commands,  so  that  they  shall 
be  provided  for  the  same  number  of 
days,  and  that  the  same  may  be  cooked 
and  put  into  the  haversacks  of  the  men. 
The  subsistence  stores  now  in  the  pos 
session  of  each  division,  with  the  fresh 
beef  that  can  be  drawn  from  the  chief 
commissary,  must  last  to  include  the 
23d  inst.  By  command  of 

"BRIGADIER-GENERAL  MCDOWELL. 

"JAMES  B.  FRY,  Adjutant-General." 

General  McDowell  had  chosen  the 
next  day,  Sunday,  the  21st  of  July,  for 
his  advance  to  attack  the  enemy  in  their 
position  at  Bull  Run.  He  had  been  thus 
delayed  by  "the  inability  of  the  subor 
dinate  commanders  to  get  earlier  a  true 
account  of  the  state  of  their  commands." 
Such  is  the  frank  admission  that  the 
commanding  general  makes  of  the  loose 
hold  he  possessed  of  his  "grand  army." 
There  could  be  no  more  striking  proof 
of  the  incomplete  organization  of  the 
armed  mass  with  which  he  was  about  to 
take  the  risks  of  battle. 

It  was  originally  the  intention  of 
General  McDowell  to  move  the  several 
columns  out  on  the  road  a  few  mile? 
in  advance  of  Centre  ville  during  the 


THE  MARCH  TO  BULL  RUN. 


401 


evening  of  the  20th  of  July,  so  that 
they  might  have  a  shorter  march  in  the 
morning  when  the  attack  was  to  be 
made.  He,  however,  unfortunately  "  de 
ferred  to  those  who  had  the  greatest 
distance  to  go,  and  who  preferred  start 
ing  early  in  the  morning  and  making 
but  one  move."  We  say  unfortunately, 
believing  that  the  undisciplined  ardor 
with  which  the  men,  under  their  incom 
petent  regimental  commanders,  pushed 
forward  on  the  next  day,  was  an  influ 
ential  cause  of  the  panic  at  Bull  Run. 
With  a  hurried  march,  mostly  at  "double 
quick,"  the  raw  soldiers  became  exhaust 
ed,  and  thus  prostrated  by  fatigue  were 
less  proof  against  depressing  emotions. 
If  a  part  of  the  march  had  been  per 
formed,  as  was  prudently  intended  by 
McDowell,  on  the  night  before,  there 
would  have  been  less  distance  to  accom 
plish  on  the  day  of  the  attack,  and  con 
sequently  less  fatigue  of  our  men,  urged 
lorward  by  their  own  intemperate  ardor 
and  the  unskilled  leadership  of  their  in 
experienced  officers. 

Centreville,  which  had  been  selected 
as  General  McDowell's  headquarters, 
and  in  which  and  its  neighborhood  his 
army  was  encamped,  is  a  village  of  small 
houses  built  upon  the  western  acclivity 
of  a  ridge  running  nearly  north  and 
south.  It  is  about  twenty-six  miles 
from  Washington  and  twenty  from  Alex 
andria.  Through  it  passes  the  War- 
renton  turnpike.  This  road  takes  a 
westerly  direction  from  Alexandria,  on 
the  Potomac  ;  at  the  east  traverses  Fair 
fax  Court  House  and  Centreville,  and 
crossing  Bull  Run  about  four  miles  from 

61 


the  latter  village,  proceeds  to  Warrenton 
beyond.  The  road  from  Centreville  to 
Manassas  Junction  starts  from  the  former 
place  at  a  right  angle  with  the  Warren- 
ton  turnpike,  and  passing  in  a  southerly 
direction  crosses  Bull  Run  at  Blackburn's 
Ford.  There  is  another  road,  known  as 
the  "old  Braddock  road,"  which  enters^ 
Centreville  from  a  southeasterly  direc 
tion.  The  various  divisions  of  the  army, 
previous  to  the  advance  on  Bull  Run, 
were  stationed  on  and  near  these  roads, 
ready  to  take  up  their  march  and  assume 
their  positions  in  the  contemplated 
battle. 

The  first  division,  that  of  General 
Tyler,  was  on  the  Warrenton  turnpike 
about  a  mile  and  a  half  in  advance  of 
Centreville,  with  the  exception  of  that 
brigade  commanded  by  Richardson  which 
had  opened  the  attack  on  the  18th. 
Having  fallen  back  after  that  unsuccess 
ful  attempt,  Richardson  still  occupied 
the  road,  the  Centreville  and  Manassas, 
which  led  to  Blackburn's  Ford.  The 
second  division,  that  of  General  Hun 
ter,  was  also  on  the  Warrenton  turn 
pike,  though  two  or  three  miles  to  the 
rear  of  Tyler's  division,  and  to  the  east 
of  Centreville,  while  the  latter  was  in 
advance  to  the  west.  The  third  division, 
commanded  by  General  Heintzelman, 
was  on  the  old  Braddock  road,  about  a 
mile  and  a  half  in  the  rear  of  Centre 
ville  ;  and  the  fifth  division,  commanded 
by  General  Miles,  was  on  the  same  road, 
but  nearer  to  the  village.  The  fourth 
division,  commanded  by  General  Runyon, 
had  been  left  seven  miles  in  the  rear  of 
Centreville,  to  guard  the  communications 


402 


THE   WAR  WITH   THE   SOUTH. 


by  the  way  of  Vienna  and  the  Orange 
and  Alexandria  Railroad,  with  the  en 
trenchments  on  the  Potomac  and  the 
base  of  operations  at  Washington. 

His  force  thus  skilfully  disposed,  Gen 
eral  McDowell  proceeded  to  execute  his 
plan  of  battle,  which  is  best  described 
in  his  own  words  : 

"My  personal  reconnoissance,"  he 
says,  "  of  the  roads  to  the  south  had 
shown  that  it  was  not  practicable  to 
carry  out  the  original  plan  of  turning 
the  enemy's  position  on  their  right.  The 
affair  of  the  18th,  at  Blackburn's  Ford, 
showed  that  he  was  too  strong  at  that 
point  for  us  to  force  a  passage  there 
without  great  loss  ;  and  if  we  did,  that 
it  would  bring  us  in  front  of  his  strong 
position  at  Manassas,  which  was  not  de 
sired.  Our  information  was  that  the 
stone  bridge,  over  which  the  Warrenton 
road  crossed  Bull  Run,  to  the  west  of 
Centreville,  was  defended  by  a  battery 
in  position,  and  the  road  on  his  side  of 
the  stream  impeded  by  a  heavy  abattis. 
The  alternative  was,  therefore,  to  turn 
the  extreme  left  of  his  position.  Reli 
able  information  was  obtained  of  an  un 
defended  ford  about  three  miles  above 
the  bridge,  there  being  another  ford 
between  it  and  the  bridge,  which  was 
defended.  It  was  therefore  determined 
to  take  the  road  to  the  upper  ford,  and 
after  crossing,  to  get  behind  the  forces 
guarding  the  lower  ford  and  the  bridge, 
and  after  occupying  the  Warrenton  road 
east  of  the  bridge,  to  send  out  a  force 
to  destroy  the  railroad  at  or  near  Gaines 
ville,  and  thus  break  up  the  communi 
cation  between  the  enemy's  forces  at 


Manassas  and  those  in  the  valley  of 
Virginia,  before  Winchester,  which  had 
been  held  in  check  by  Major-General 
Patterson. 

"  Brigadier-General  Tyler  was  direct 
ed  to  move  with  three  of  his  brigades 
on  the  Warrenton  road,  and  commence 
cannonading  the  enemy's  batteries,  while 
Hunter's  division,  moving  after  him, 
should,  after  passing  a  little  stream  called 
Cub  Run,  turn  to  the  right  and  north 
and  move  around  to  the  upper  ford,  and 
there  turn  south  and  get  behind  the 
enemy  ;  Colonel  Heintzelman's  division 
was  to  follow  Hunter's  as  far  as  the  turn 
ing- off  place  to  the  lower  ford,  where 
he  was  to  cross  after  the  enemy  should 
have  been  driven  out  by  Hunter's  divi 
sion  ;  the  fifth  division  (Miles')  to  be  in 
reserve  on  the  Centreville  ridge. 

"I  had  felt  anxious  about  the  road 
from  Manassas,  by  Blackburn's  Ford,  to 
Centreville,  along  this  ridge,  fearing  that 
while  we  should  be  in  force  to  the  front, 
and  endeavoring  to  turn  the  enemy's 
position,  we  ourselves  should  be  turned 
by  him  by  this  road  ;  for  if  he  should 
once  obtain  possession  of  this  ridge, 
which  overlooks  all  the  country  to  the 
west  to  the  foot  of  the  spurs  of  the  Blue 
Ridge,  we  should  have  been  irretrievably 
cut  off  and  destroyed.  I  had,  therefore, 
directed  this  point  to  be  held  in  force, 
and  sent  an  engineer  to  extemporize 
some  field-works  to  strengthen  the  posi 
tion." 

The  divisions  were  ordered  to  march 
at  two  o'clock  in  the  morning,  that  they 
might  avoid  the  sweltering  heat  of  a 
July  sun.  There  was,  however,  con- 


THE  MARCH  TO   BULL  RUN. 


433 


siderable  delay  in  breaking  up  the  en- 
july  campments  and  getting  into  march- 

2l»    ing  order.     The  movement  at  last 
began. 

The  division  of  Tyler  in  advance  on 
the  Warrenton  turnpike  was  the  first  to 
move.  This  was  composed  only  of 
Sherman's,  Schenck's,  and  Keyes'  brig 
ades  ;  the  fourth,  that  of  Richardson, 
being  posted  on  the  road  leading  to 
Blackburn's  Ford,  in  order  to  act  in  con 
junction  with  Miles'  division,  held  in  re 
serve  in  case  the  enemy  should  attempt 
to  make  a  flank  movement  from  this  di 
rection. 

General  Tyler  did  not  succeed  in  get 
ting  his  troops  to  move  until  half-past 
two  o'clock,  half  an  hour  after  the  time 
ordered.  Schenck's  and  Sherman's  brig 
ades,  with  Ayres'  and  Carlisle's  batteries, 
were  pushed  on  in  advance,  and  arrived 
in  front  of  the  bridge  where  the  War 
renton  turnpike  crosses  Bull  Run,  at 
half-past  six  in  the  morning.  Keyes' 
brigade  had  been  halted  within  two 
miles  of  the  stream,  in  order  to  watch 
the  cross  road  which  communicates  at 
that  point  with  the  Warrenton  turnpike. 
Tyler,  having  been  ordered  to  threaten 
the  bridge,  posted  his  troops  accord 
ingly.  Schenck's  brigade  was  formed 
into  line,  with  its  left  resting  in  the 
direction  of  the  bridge  and  the  battery 
which  the  enemy  had  established  to  de 
fend  it,  with  the  view  of  threatening 
both.  Sherman's  brigade  was  posted 
to  the  right  of  the  turnpike,  so  as  to  be 
i  eady  to  sustain  Schenck  or  to  cross  the 
stream  of  Bull  Run  when  the  progress 
of  Hunter's  division  should  justify  the 


movement.  The  thirty-pounder  gun 
attached  to  Carlisle's  battery  was  posted 
in  advance  on  the  road,  arid  Ayres'  bat 
tery  also,  but  at  a  considerable  distance 
in  the  rear.  Carlisle's  battery  was 
placed  on  the  left  of  Sherman's  brigade. 
Having  thus  disposed  his  force  and  fired 
his  signal-gun,  Tyler  awaited  the  move 
ment  of  the  main  body  on  his  right  and 
the  enemy's  left,  which  we  now  proceed 
to  trace. 

Colonel  Hunter's  division,  the  second, 
had  followed  the  march  of  Tyler  along 
the  Warrenton  turnpike  until  it  crossed 
the  streamlet  termed  Cub  Run,  when  it 
turned  to  the  right  and  took  the  by 
road  through  the  woods,  which,  by  a  cir 
cuitous  course,  led  to  an  upper  ford  of 
Bull  Run,  called  Sudley's  Spring,  where 
the  enemy's  left  was  posted.  This  move 
ment  was  in  accordance  with  McDowell's 
plan  of  flanking  Beauregard  in  that  di 
rection  and  getting  in  his  rear,  with  the 
view  of  seizing  and  cutting  off  his  com 
munication  by  means  of  the  Manassas 
Gap  Railroad  with  Winchester,  where 
Johnston  was  known  to  be  with  a  consid 
erable  rebel  force. 

The  circuitous  road  through  the  wood 
was  found  to  be  longer  and  more  diffi 
cult  to  march  than  was  anticipated,  and 
accordingly  Hunter's  division  did  not 
reach  the  ford  of  Bull  Run  at  Sudley's 
Spring  until  half-past  nine  o'clock  in  the 
morning.  General  Burnside's  brigade 
was  foremost.  The  men  being  greatly 
prostrated  by  the  heat  of  the  day,  now 
considerably  advanced,  and  their  intem 
perate  ardor  in  marching,  could  not  be 
prevented  from  breaking  from  the  ranks 


404: 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


to  fill  their  canteens  and  slake  their 
thirst  in  the  stream.  This  caused  much 
delay  in  re-forming  and  crossing  the  ford. 
Finally,  however,  order  was  restored, 
and  the  brigade  crossed  Bull  Run  and 
advanced,  Colonel  Slocum,  of  the  Second 
Rhode  Island  Regiment,  having  thrown 
out  skirmishers  on  either  flank  and  in 
front. 

The  enemy  now  showed  themselves, 
and  soon  the  head  of  Burnside's  brigade 
was  confronting  them.  The  Second 
Regiment  of  Rhode  Islanders  was  im 
mediately  pushed  forward  with  its  bat 
tery  of  artillery,  and  the  rest  of  the  brig 
ade  was  formed  in  a  field  to  the  right 
of  the  road.  The  enemy  had  already 
begun  their  fire,  and  General  Hunter, 
who  commanded  the  division,  had  been 
wounded  and  obliged  to  retire  from  the 
field. 

The  Second  Rhode  Islanders  being 
closely  pressed,  Burnside  ordered  up  to 
their  support  the  Seventy-first  New  York 
Militia  and  the  Second  New  Hampshire 
Volunteers.  As,  however,  they  were 
slow  in  forming,  the  First  Rhode  Island 
ers  were  brought  up.  Their  commander, 
Major  Balch,  led  them  gallantly  to  the 
field  of  action,  where  they  "performed 
most  effective  service"  in  assisting  their 
"  comrades  to  repel  the  attack  of  the 
enemy's  forces.  The  Second  Rhode 
Island  Regiment  of  Volunteers,"  con 
tinues  General  Burnside  in  his  official 
report  from  which  we  quote,  "had 
steadily  borne  the  enemy's  attack,  and 
had  bravely  stood  its  ground,  even  com 
pelling  him  to  give  way.  At  this  time 
Colonel  Slocum  (of  the  Second  Rhode 


Island)  fell,  mortally  wounded,  and  soon 
after  Major  Ballou  was  very  severely 
injured  by  a  cannon-ball  that  killed  his 
horse  and  crushed  one  of  his  legs.  The 
regiment,  under  the  command  of  Lieu- 

o 

tenant-Colonel  Wheaton,  continued  gal 
lantly  to  hold  its  position.  Soon  after, 
Colonel  Martin,  of  the  Seventy-first  Reg 
iment  New  York  State  Militia,  led  his 
regiment  into  action,  and  planting  the 
two  howitzers  belonging  to  the  regiment 
upon  the  right  of  his  line,  worked  them 
most  effectively.  The  battery  of  the 
Second  Rhode  Island  Regiment,  on  the 
knoll  upon  the  extreme  right,  was 
used  in  silencing  the  heavy  masked 
battery  in  front,  occasionally  throwing 
in  shot  and  shell  upon  the  enemy's 
infantry,  six  regiments  of  which  were 
attempting  to  force  our  position.  Cap 
tain  Reynolds,  who  was  in  command  of 
this  battery,  served  it  with  great  coolness, 
precision,  and  skill.  The  Second  Regi 
ment  of  New  Hampshire  Volunteers, 
under  Colonel  Marston,  was  now  brought 
into  the  field,  and  rendered  great  service 
in  defending  the  position.  Colonel 
Marston  was  wounded  early  in  the  action, 
and  Lieutenant-Colonel  Fiske  ably  di 
rected  the  advance  of  the  regiment. 
Thus  my  whole  brigade,"  declares  Burn- 
side  with  just  exultation,  "was  brought 
into  the  engagement  at  the  earliest  pos 
sible  moment,  and  succeeded  in  .com 
pelling  the  enemy  to  retire.  We  were 
wholly  without  support,  bearing  the 
brunt  of  the  contest  until  relieved  by 
Major  Sykes,  of  the  Third  Infantry, 
United  States  Army,  who  formed  his 
battalion  most  admirably  in  front  of  thr 


BATTLE   OF  BULL  RUN. 


405 


enemy,  and  pouring  in  a  destructive  fire 
upon  his  lines  assisted  in  staggering 
him." 

Colonel  Andrew  Porter,  commanding 
a  brigade  in  the  same  division,  that  of 
Hunter  (the  second),  followed  closely 
upon  the  advance  of  Burnside.  Porter's 
brigade  was  composed  of  Griffin's  battery, 
with  a  detachment  of  marines  to  support 
it,  of  the  Twenty-seventh  New  York 
Volunteer  Regiment,  Colonel  Slocum  ; 
of  the  Fourteenth  New  York  State  Mi 
litia,  Colonel  Wood  ;  of  the  Eighth  New 
York  State  Militia,  Colonel  Lyons  ;  of  a 
battalion  of  regulars,  Major  Sykes  ;  of 
the  first  company  of  Second  Dragoons 
and  four  companies  of  cavalry,  Major 
Palmer — with  a  total  strength  of  3,700 
men. 

Porter  following  closely  upon  the  ad 
vance  of  Burnside's  brigade,  as  soon  as 
he  reached  the  scene  of  action  turned 
the  head  of  his  brigade  slightly  to  the 
right,  in  order  to  gain  time  and  room 
for  deployment  in  that  direction.  Grif 
fin's  battery  pushed  through  the  woods 
to  the  fields  beyond,  followed  promptly 
by  the  supporting  corps  of  marines  and 
the  Fourteenth  New  York  State  Militia, 
at  considerable  distance  behind,  while 
the  Twenty-seventh  advanced  at  the 
same  time,  but  more  to  the  left.  All 
went  spiritedly  forward  and  at  a  "  double 
quick." 

"  The  enemy,"  says  Porter  in  his 
report,  "  appeared  drawn  up  in  a  long 
line,  extending  along  the  Warrenton 
turnpike,  from  a  house  and  haystack 
upon  our  extreme  right  to  a  house 
beyond  the  left  of  the  division.  Behind 


that  house  there  was  a  heavy  masked 
battery,  which,  with  three  others  along 
his  line  on  the  heights  beyond,  covered 
the  ground  upon  which  we  were  ad 
vancing  with  all  sorts  of  projectiles.  A 
grove  in  Yront  of  his  right  wing  afforded 
it  shelter  and  protection,  while  the  shrub 
bery  along  the  road  in  the  fences  screened 
somewhat  his  left  wing. 

"  Griffin  advanced  to  within  one  thou 
sand  yards,  and  opened  a  deadly  and 
unerring  fire  upon  his  batteries,  which 
were  soon  silenced  or  driven  away. 

"  Our  right  was  rapidly  developed 
by  the  marines,  Twenty-seventh,  Four 
teenth,  and  Eighth,  with  the  cavalry  in 
rear  of  the  right ;  the  enemy  retreating 
in  more  precipitation  than  order  as  our 
line  advanced.  The  second  brigade 
(Burnside 's)  was  at  this  time  attacking 
the  enemy's  right  with  perhaps  too  hasty 
vigor. 

"  The  enemy  clung  to  the  protecting 
wood  with  great  tenacity,  and  the  Rhode 
Island  battery  became  so  much  endan 
gered  as  to  impel  the  commander  of  the 
second  brigade  to  call  for  the  assistance 
of  the  battalion  of  regulars." 

At  this  moment  Colonel  Porter  learned 
that  Hunter  had  been  wounded,  and 
that  the  command  of  the  division  de 
volved  upon  him.  He  therefore  de 
tached  at  once  the  battalion  of  regulars 
to  the  support  of  the  hard-pressed  brig 
ade  of  Burnside  in  advance. 

In  the  mean  time,  the  third  division, 
under  Heintzelman,  had  followed  the 
road  taken  by  the  second  (Hunter's), 
with  the  view,  however,  of  stopping  at 
an  intermediate  ford  before  reaching 


406 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


that  of  Sudley's  Spring,  covered  by  the 
latter.  "  Between  two  and  three  miles 
beyond  Centre ville,"  reports  General 
Heintzelman,  "we  left  the  Warrenton 
turnpike,  turning  into  a  country  road 
on  the  right.  Captain  Wright  accom 
panied  the  head  of  Colonel  Hunter's 
column,  with  directions  to  stop  at  a 
road  which  turned  in  to  the  left  to  a 
ford  across  Bull  Run,  about  half  way 
between  the  point  where  we  turned  off 
from  the  turnpike  and  Sudley's  Spring, 
at  which  latter  point  Colonel  Hunter's 
division  was  to  cross.  No  such  road* 
was  found  to  exist,  and  about  eleven 
o'clock  we  found  ourselves  at  Sudley's 
Spring,  about  ten  miles  from  Centre- 
ville,  with  one  brigade  of  Colonel  Hun 
ter's  division  still  on  our  side  of  the 
Run.  Before  reaching  this  point  the 
battle  had  commenced." 

General  McDowell  himself  had  hast 
ened  to  his  right  to  direct  the  move 
ment  in  person  at  that  point  where  the 
main  battle  was,  in  accordance  with  his 
plan,  being  fought.  His  own  statement 
of  the  progress  of  the  action,  therefore, 
based  upon  his  personal  experience,  is 
the  most  interesting,  while  its  frankness 
and  modesty  guarantee  its  truthfulness  : 

"  On  reaching  the  ford  at  Sudley's 
Spring,"  reports  the  General,  "I  found 
part  of  the  leading  brigade  of  Hunter's 
division  (Burnside's)  had  crossed,  but 
the  mer  were  slow  in  getting  over,  stop 
ping  to  drink.  As  at  this  time  the 
clouds  of  dust  from  the  direction  of 

•  Another  striking  proof  of  the  recklessness  with  which 
oar  army  was  being  led  to  battle  against  a  concealed  foe 
in  an  unknown  country. 


Manassas  indicated  the  immediate  ap 
proach  of  a  large  force,  and  fearing  it 
might  come  down  on  the  head  of  the 
column  before  the  division  could  all  get 
over  and  sustain  it,  orders  were  sent 
back  to  the  heads  of  regiments  to  break 
from  the  column  and  come  forward  sep 
arately  as  fast  as  possible.  Orders  were 
sent  by  an  officer  to  the  reserve  brigade 
of  Hemtzelman's  division  to  come  by  a 
nearer  road  across  the  fields,  and  an 
aide-de-camp  was  sent  to  Brigadier-Gen 
eral  Tyler  to  direct  him  to  press  for 
ward  his  attack,  as  large  bodies  of  the 
enemy  were  passing  in  front  of  him  to 
attack  the  division  which  had  crossed 
over.  The  ground  between  the  stream 
and  the  road  leading  from  Sudley's 
Spring  south,  and  over  which  Burnside's 
brigade  marched,  was  for  about  a  mile 
from  the  ford  thickly  wooded,  while  on 
the  right  of  the  road  for  about  the  same 
distance,  the  country  was  divided  be 
tween  fields  and  woods.  About  a  mile 
from  the  road  the  country  on  both  sides 
of  the  road  is  open,  and  for  nearly  a 
mile  farther  large  rolling  fields  extend 
down  to  the  Warrenton  turnpike,  which 
crosses  what  became  the  field  of  battle 
through  the  valley  of  a  small  water 
course,  a  tributary  of  Bull  Run. 

"  Shortly  after  the  leading  regiment 
of  the  first  brigade  reached  this  open 
space,  and  while  others  and  the  second 
brigade  were  crossing  to  the  front  and 
right,  the  enemy  opened  his  fire,  begin 
ning  with  artillery,  and  followed  it  up 
with  infantry.  The  leading  brigade 
(Burnside's)  had  to  sustain  this  shock 
for  a  short  time  without  support,  and 


BATTLE   OF   BULL   RUN. 


407 


did  it  well.  The  battalion  of  regular 
infantry  was  sent  to  sustain  it,  and 
shortly  afterward  the  other  corps  of 
Porter's  brigade — a  regiment  detached 
from  Heintzelman's  division  to  the  left — 
forced  the  enemy  back  far  enough  to 
allow  Sherman's  and  Keyes'  brigades  of 
Tyler's  division  to  cross  from  their  po 
sition  to  the  Warrenton  road.  These 
drove  the  right  of  the  enemy — under 
stood  to  have  been  commanded  by  Beau- 
regard — from  the  front  of  the  field,  and 
out  of  the  detached  woods,  and  down  to 
the  road,  and  across  it  up  the  slopes  on 
the  other  side.  While  this  was  going 
on,  Heintzelman's  division  was  moving 
down  the  field  to  the  stream  and  up  the 
road  beyond.  Beyond  the  Warrenton 
road,  and  to  the  left  of  the  road  down 
which  our  troops  had  marched  from 
Sudley's  Spring,  is  a  hill  with  a  farm 
house  on  it.  Behind  this  hill  the  enemy 
had,  early  in  the  day,  some  of  his  most 
annoying  batteries  planted.  Across  the 
roau  from  this  hill  was  another  hill, 
or,  rather,  elevated  ridge,  or  table-land. 
The  hottest  part  of  the  contest  was  for 
the  possession  of  the  hill  with  a  house 
on  it.  The  force  engaged  here  was 
Heintzelman's  division,  Wilcox's  and 
Howard's  brigades  on  the  right,  sup 
ported  by  part  of  Porter's  brigade  and 
the  cavalry  under  Palmer,  and  Frank 
lin's  brigade  of  Heintzelman's  division, 
Sherman's  brigade  of  Tyler's  division  in 
the  centre  and  up  the  road,  while  Keyes' 
brigade  of  Tyler's  division  was  on  the 
left,  attacking  the  batteries  near  the 
stone  bridge.  The  Rhode  Island  bat 
tery  of  Burnside's  brigade  also  partici 


pated  in  this  attack  by  its  fire  from  the 
north  of  the  turnpike.  The  enemy  was 
understood  to  have  been  commanded  by 
J.  E.  Johnston.  Ricketts'  battery,  which 
did  such  effective  service,  and  played  so 
brilliant  a  part  in  the  contest,  was,  to 
gether  with  Griffin's  battery,  on  the  side 
of  the  hill,  and  became  the  object  of  the 
special  attention  of  the  enemy,  who  sue- ' 
ceeded — our  officers  mistaking  one  of 
his  regiments  for  one  of  our  own,  and 
allowing  it  to  approach  without  firing 
upon  it — in  disabling  the  battery,  and 
then  attempted  to  take  it.  Three  times 
was  he  repulsed  by  different  corps  in 
succession  and  driven  back,  and  the 
guns  taken  by  hand,  the  horses  being 
killed  and  pulled  away.  The  third  time 
it  was  supposed  by  us  all  that  the  re 
pulse  was  final,  for  he  was  driven  en 
tirely  from  the  hill,  and  so  far  beyond  it 
as  not  to  be  in  sight,  and  all  were  cer 
tain  the  day  was  ours.  He  had  before 
this  been  driven  nearly  a  mile  and  a 
half,  and  was  beyond  the  Warrenton 
road,  which  was  entirely  in  our  pos 
session  from  the  stone  bridge  westward, 
and  our  engineers  were  just  completing 
the  removal  of  the  abattis  across  the  road, 
to  allow  our  reinforcement  (Schenck's 
brigade  and  Ayres'  battery)  to  join  us. 

"The  enemy  was  evidently  disheart 
ened  and  broken.  But  we  had  been 
fighting  since  half-past  ten  o'clock  in 
the  morning,  and  it  was  after  three 
o'clock  in  the  afternoon.  The  men  had 
been  up  since  two  o'clock  in  the  morn 
ing,  and  had  made  what,  to  those  un 
used  to  such  things,  seemed  a  long 
march  before  coming  into  action,  though 


408 


THE   WAR  WITH   THE   SOUTH. 


the  longest  distance  gone  over  was  not 
more  than  nine  and  a  half  miles  ;  and 
though  they  had  three  days'  provisions 
served  out  to  them  the  day  before, 
many  no  doubt  did  not  eat  them,  or 
threw  them  away  on  the  march  or 
during  the  battle,  and  were  therefore 
without  food.  They  had  done  much 
severe  fighting  ;  some  of  the  regiments 
which  had  been  driven  from  the  hill  in 
the  first  two  attempts  of  the  enemy  to 
keep  possession  of  it  had  become  shaken, 
were  unsteady,  and  had  many  men  out 
of  the  ranks. 

"  It  was  at  this  time  that  the  enemy's 
reinforcements  came  to  his  aid  from  the 
railway  train,  understood  to  have  just 
arrived  from  the  valley  with  the  residue 
of  Johnston's  army.  They  threw  them 
selves  into  the  woods  on  our  right,  and 
opened  a  fire  of  musketry  on  our  men, 
which  caused  them  to  break  and  retire 
down  the  hillside.  This  soon  degen 
erated  into  disorder,  for  which  there 
was  no  remedy.  Every  effort  was  made 
to  rally  them,  even  beyond  the  reach  of 
the  enemy's  fire,  but  in  vain.  The  bat 
talion  of  regular  infantry  alone  moved 
up  the  hill  opposite  to  the  one  with  the 
house  upon  it,  and  there  maintained  it 
self  until  our  men  could  get  down  to 
and  across  the  Warrenton  turnpike,  on 
the  way  back  to  the  position  we  occu 
pied  in  the  morning.  The  plain  was 
covered  with  retreating  troops,  and  they 
seemed  to  infect  those  with  whom  they 
came  in  contact.  The  retreat  soon  be 
came  a  rout,  and  this  soon  degenerated 
still  further  into  a  panic." 

McDowell,  now  seeing  that  all  was  lost, 


did  his  utmost  to  save  his  panic-stricken 
army  from  the  consequences  of  a  dis 
orderly  retreat.  He  gave  the  necessary 
orders  to  restrain  and  cover  the  flight  of 
his  defeated  troops.  He  begged  the 
men  to  form  in  line  and  offer  the  appear 
ance  at  least  of  organization.  He  so  far 
succeeded  for  the  moment  as  to  cover 
their  retreat  with  a  force  of  regulars, 
until  they  had  recrossed  Bull  Run.  On 
reaching  the  road,  however,  by  the  vari 
ous  fords,  in  detached  parties,  often  with 
out  their  officers,  or  with  such  as  were 
as  incapable  of  self-command  as  the  men, 
and,  therefore,  unfit  to  govern  others, 
the  panic  increased  by  mutual  infection. 
"  They  became  intermingled,"  says  Gen 
eral  McDowell,  "  and  all  organization 
was  lost." 

Orders  were  sent  to  Miles'  division 
for  a  force  to  move  forward  and  pro 
tect  the  retreat  of  the  main  body. 
Blenker's  brigade  was  accordingly  dis 
patched  for  this  purpose,  and  how  it 
acted,  and  what  it  effected  may  be 
learned  from  this  report  of  the  com 
mander.  "  It  was  about  four  o'clock, 
P.M.,"  says  Colonel  Blenker,  "when  I 
received  orders  to  advance  upon  the 
road  from  Centreville  to  Warrenton. 
This  order  was  executed  with  great 
difficulty,  as  the  road  was  nearly  choked 
up  by  retreating  baggage  wagons  of 
several  divisions,  and  by  the  vast  num 
ber  of  flying  soldiers  belonging  to  vari 
ous  regiments.  Nevertheless,  owing  to 
the  coolness  of  the  commanding  officers 
and  the  good  discipline  of  the  men,  the 
passage  through  the  village  was  success 
fully  executed,  and  the  further  advance 


THE  RETREAT  FROM  BULL  RUN. 


409 


made  with  the  utmost  precision  ;  and  I 
was  thus  enabled  to  take  a  position  which 
would  prevent  the  advance  of  the  enemy 
and  protect  the  retreat  of  the  army. 
The  Eighth  Regiment  took  position  a 
mile  and  a  half  south  of  Centreville,  on 
both  sides  of  the  road  leading  to  Bull 
Run.  The  Twenty-ninth  Regiment  stood 
half  a  mile  behind  the  Eighth,  enchiquier 
by  companies.  The  Garibaldi  Guard 
stood  in  reserve  in  line  behind  the 
Twenty-ninth  Regiment.  The  retreat 
of  great  numbers  of  flying  soldiers  con 
tinued  until  nine  o'clock  in  the  evening, 
the  great  majority  in  wild  confusion,  and 
but  few  in  collected  bodies.  Soon  after 
ward,  several  squadrons  of  the  enemy's 
cavalry  advanced  along  the  road,  and 
appeared  before  the  outposts.  They 
were  challenged,  '  Who  comes  here  ?' 
and,  remaining  without  any  answer,  I, 
being  just  present  at  the  outpost,  called 
'  Union  forever !'  whereupon  the  officer 
of  the  enemy's  cavalry  commanded,  '  En 
avantf  en  avantf  knock  him  down!' 
Now  the  skirmishers  fired,  when  the 
enemy  turned  around,  leaving  several 
killed  and  wounded  on  the  spot.  About 
nine  prisoners  who  were  already  in  their 
hands  were  liberated  by  this  action. 
Afterward,  we  were  several  times  mo 
lested  from  various  sides  by  the  enemy's 

52 


cavalry.  At  about  midnight  the  com 
mand  to  leave  the  position  and  march  to 
Washington  was  given  by  General  Mc 
Dowell.  The  brigade  retired  in  perfect 
order,  and  ready  to  repel  any  attack  or 
the  road  from  Centreville  to  Fairfax 
Court  House,  Annandale,  to  Washing 
ton.  Besides  the  six  guns  which  were 
mounted  by  our  men  and  thereby  pre 
served  to  our  army,  the  Eighth  Regi 
ment  brought  in  in  safety  two  Union 
colors  left  behind  by  soldiers  on  the 
field  of  battle.  The  officers  and  men 
did  their  duty  admirably,  and  the 
undersigned  commander  deems  it  hi,3 
duty  to  express  herewith  officially  hiti 
entire  satisfaction  with  the  conduct  of 
his  brigade." 

To  complete  the  account  of  the  action 
at  Bull  Run,  it  is  only  necessary  to  note 
that  the  demonstration  in  front  of  the 
enemy  at  Blackburn's  Ford  was  effect 
ively  carried  out  by  the  brigades  of 
Colonels  Richardson  and  Davies,  aided 
by  the  well-served  field  battery  of  Major 
Hunter  and  other  artillery,  consisting  of 
rifled  ten  and  twenty  pounders.  In  the 
course  of  the  morning  the  enemy  in  this 
direction  were  driven  back  several  times 
and  kept  in  effectual  check,  until  the 
panic  occurred  on  our  right,  and  the 
general  rout  began. 


410 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


CHAPTER     XXXVIII. 

Senseless  Panic  of  thi  Federal  Troops  at  Bull  Run. — The  shock  to  the  Enemy. — An  incomplete  Pursuit. — Confusion  in 
the  Federal  Ranks. — Havoc. — Loss  of  Artillery. — A  graphic  description. — General  McDowell's  efforts  to  Rally. — 
Covering  the  Retreat. — The  Federal  Force  at  Centreville. — Falling  back. — Reasons  for  it. — Increased  disorder. — The 
flight  to  Washington. — Intense  selfishness. — Scattered  Troops. — Desertions. — Demoralization. — Non-pursuit  by  the 
Enemy  a  tribute  to  the  spirit  of  the  Federal  Troops. — The  force  of  the  two  Antagonists  at  Bull  Run. — Losses. — • 
Contradictory  reports. — Synopsis  of  Beauregard's  report. — Discussion  therefrom.— An  apt  illustration  from  Plutarch. 
— A  letter  from  Beauregard. — The  causes  of  the  defeat  at  Bull  Run. — Failure  of  Patterson. — His  own  justification. 
— Superseded  in  command. — Dejay  in  the  advance  of  the  Federal  Army. — McDowell's  explanations  of  the  delay. — 
Why  the  advance  was  not  postponed. — The  penalty  of  ill-success. — McDowell  superseded  by  General  McClellan. — 
A  gracious  concession.— -A  patriotic  sacrifice. 


1861. 


THE  senseless  panic  which  seized  our 
army  after  it  had  driven  the  enemy 
from  the  ground  held  by  their  left, 
and  at  a  moment  when  a  Federal  victory 
seemed  assured,  became  entirely  uncon 
trollable.  The  secessionists  had  been, 
however,  so  paralyzed  by  the  spirited 
onset  of  our  troops,  that  they  were  un 
able  to  take  full  advantage  of  the  rout 
and  confusion  which  ensued.  They  fol 
lowed  in  the  first  instance  only  the  re 
treating  columns  of  our  right  across  the 
ford  and  along  the  Warrenton  turnpike 
to  Cub  Run,  about  a  mile  and  a  half 
from  Bull  Run  and  half  way  to  Centre 
ville.  Here  the  fugitives  were  arrested 
by  the  thronging  baggage  wagons,  artil 
lery,  ambulances,  carriages,  arid  horses 
which  blocked  up  the  road,  and  the 
confusion  became  greater  and  the  panic 
more  intense.  A  disorderly  mass  of 
soldiers,  horsemen,  and  pedestrians  ob 
structing  each  other,  and  maddened  by 
the  difficulty  of  escape,  was  thus  at  the 
mercy  of  their  pursuers,  whose  artillery 
did  more  havoc  at  this  moment  than 


during  the  whole  engagement  on  the 
battle-field.  Such  was  the  disorder,  that, 
our  troops  could  not  be  again  formed, 
but  giving  themselves  up  to  their  fears, 
sought  safety  only  in  flight.  The  horsea 
were  cut  from  gun-carriages  and  caissons, 
and  cannon  which  had  been  gallantly 
served  and  spiritedly  saved  from  the 
grasp  of  the  enemy  on  the  battle-field, 
were  now  left  ingloriously  upon  the  road 
to  fall  into  their  hands  without  an  effort 
to  defend  them. 

An  eye-witness*  describes  the  scene 
with  much  graphic  power.  "I  got  my 
horse,"  he  says,  "  up  into  the  field  out  of 
the  road,  and  went  on  rapidly  toward  the 
front.  Soon  I  met  soldiers,  who  were 
coming  through  the  corn,  mostly  without 
arms ;  and  presently  I  saw  firelocks, 
cooking-tins,  knapsacks,  and  great-coats 
on  the  ground,  and  observed  that  the 
confusion  and  speed  of  the  baggage  carts 
became  greater,  and  that  many  of  them 
were  crowded  with  men,  or  were  fol 
lowed  by  others  who  clung  to  them. 

0  Mr.  Russell,  of  the  London  Time*. 


FLIGHT  OF  THE  FEDERAL  TROOPS. 


411 


The  ambulances  were  crowded  with  sol 
diers,  but  it  did  not  look  as  if  there  were 
many  wounded.  Negro  servants  on  led 
horses  dashed  frantically  past ;  men  in 
uniform,  whom  it  were  a  disgrace  to  the 
profession  of  arms  to  call  'soldiers,7 
swarmed  by  on  mules,  chargers,  and 
even  draught  horses,  which  had  been  cut 
out  of  carts  or  wagons,  and  went  on 
with  harness  clinging  to  their  heels,  as 
frightened  as  their  riders.  Men  literally 
screamed  with  rage  and  fright  when 
their  way  was  blocked  up.  On  I  rode, 
asking  all,  'What  is  .all  this  about?'  and 
now  and  then,  but  rarely,  receiving  the 
answer,  '  We're  whipped  ;'  or,  '  We're 
repulsed.'  Faces  black  and  dusty, 
tongues  out  in  the  heat,  eyes  staring— 
it  was  a  most  wonderful  sight.  On  they 
came,  like  him, 

'  Who,  having  once  turned  round,  goes  on, 

And  turns  no  more  his  head, 
For  he  knoweth  that  a  fearful  fiend 
Doth  close  behind  him  tread.' 

But  where  was  the  fiend  ?  I  looked  in 
vain.  There  was,  indeed,  some  cannon 
ading  in  front  of  me  and  in  their  rear, 
but  still  the  firing  was  comparatively 
distant,  and  the  runaways  were  far  out 
of  range.  As  I  advanced,  the  number 
of  carts  diminished,  but  the  mounted 
men  increased,  and  the  column  of  fugi 
tives  became  denser.  A.  few  buggies 
and  light  wagons  filled  with  men,  whose 
faces  would  have  made  up  '  a  great 
Leporello'  in  the  ghost  scene,  tried  to 
pierce  the  rear  of  the  mass  of  carts, 
which  were  now  solidified  and  moving 
on  like  a  glacier.  I  crossed  a  small 
ditch  by  the  roadside,  got  out  on  the 
road  to  escape  some  snake  fences,  and, 


looking  before  me,  saw  there  was  still  a 
crowd  of  men  in  uniforms  coming  along. 
The  road  was  strewn  with  articles  of 
clothing — firelocks,  waist-belts,  cartouch- 
boxes,  caps,  great-coats,  mess-tins,  musi 
cal  instruments,  cartridges,  bayonets  and 
sheaths,  swords  and  pistols — even  bis 
cuits,  water-bottles,  and  pieces  of  meat.'7 

General  McDowell  still  continued  his 
efforts  to  check  this  reckless  and  dang^r- 
ous  flight.  After  directing  Porter  and 
Blenker  with  their  brigades  to  cover  the 
retreat  of  his  right  and  the  main  body, 
he  rode  toward  Blackburn's  Ford,  where 
Colonel  Richardson  had  been  posted. 
He  found  this  officer  already  retreating, 
in  accordance  with  the  orders  of  the 
commander  of  his  division.  He  imme 
diately  ordered  him  to  halt  his  brigade 
and  take  up  the  most  practicable  Hue 
of  defence  ;  and  ordering  up  the  First 
and  Second  New  Jersey  regiments,  and 
the  De  Kalb,  belonging  to  Runyon's 
division,  placed  a  reserve  behind  Cen- 
treville  to  sustain  him,  and  took  the  com 
mand  himself.  Having  made  the  best 
disposition  of  this  force  to  check  the 
enemy,  McDowell  succeeded  in  calming 
somewhat  the  panic  of  the  fugitives,  and 
"the  retreating  current  passed  slowly 
through  Centreville  to  the  rear." 

The  enemy  in  the  mean  time  had,  on 
the  retirement  of  Colonel  Richardson's 
brigade,  taken  possession  of  Blackburn's 
Ford,  and  threatened  to  turn  the  right 
of  our  army  as  it  fell  back.  About  sun 
down  the  whole  of  McDowell's  force  was 
within  Centreville.  It  now  became  a 
question  whether  an  effort  should  be 
made  to  hold  this  place.  The  General's 


412 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


final  decision  and  the  reasons  for  it  are 
best  given  in  his  own  words  : 

"  The  condition  of  our  artillery  and 
its  ammunition,  and  the  want  of  food 
for  the  men,  who  had  generally  aban 
doned  or  thrown  away  all  that  had  been 
issued  the  day  before,  and  the  utter  dis 
organization  and  consequent  demoraliza 
tion  of  the  mass  of  the  army,  seemed  to 
all  who  were  near  enough  to  be  con 
sulted — division  and  brigade,  command 
ers  and  staff — to  admit  of  no  alternative 
but  to  fall  back ;  the  more  so  as  the 
position  at  Blackburn's  Ford  was  then 
in  the  possession  of  the  enemy,  and  he 
was  already  turning  our  left.  On  send 
ing  the  officers  of  the  staff  to  the  differ 
ent  camps,  they  found,  as  they  reported 
to  me,  that  our  decision  had  been  antici 
pated  by  the  troops,  most  of  those  who 
had  come  in  from  the  front  being  already 
on  the  road  to  the  rear,  the  panic  with 
which  they  came  in  still  continuing  and 
hurrying  them  along." 

Indeed,  however  desirable  it  might 
have  been  to  hold  Centreville,  the  total 
demoralization  of  the  Federal  troops 
rendered  it  impracticable.  Carried  away 
by  an  irrational  panic  that  affected  our 
raw  recruits  like  an  attack  of  insanity, 
they  hurried  impetuously  toward  Wash 
ington.  Officers  and  men  losing  all  self- 
control  and  self-respect,  and  alike  reck 
less  of  the  duties  of  command  and  obe 
dience,  abandoned  themselves  to  the 
mere  desire  of  personal  safety.  There 
was  no  longer  any  pretence  on  the  part 
of  most  of  the  soldiers  and  many  of  the 
commanders  to  the  least  regard  for  mili 
tary  discipline.  Some  seized  the  ambu 


lances,  and  heedless  of  comrades  left 
wounded  or  dying  on  the  field,  rejoiced 
in  their  own  effective  means  of  escape. 
Others  cut  away  the  artillery  horses,  and 
rode  hastily  away,  without  a  thought  of 
the  prize  so  ingloriously  abandoned  to 
the  enemy.  Some  despoiled  the  stables 
of  the  country  people,  whose  houses  they 
had  failed  to  protect,  and  rode  off  in 
boastful  triumph :  or  even  stole  the 
horses  from  which  their  riders  had  just 
dismounted  to  relieve  a  wounded  or  con 
sole  a  dying  comrade.  Surgeons,  while 
lingering  on  the  battle-field  in  the  per 
formance  of  their  holy  duties — to  which 
but  few  of  them,  to  their  eternal  honor, 
were  recreant — were  thus  deprived  of 
the  means  of  escape  by  men  who,  reck 
less  of  all  obligations,  cared  only  for 
their  own  safety. 

The  panic-stricken  army  continued  its 
flight  all  the  afternoon  and  night  of 
Sunday  and  the  following  day.  Even 
after  the  reserve  under  Blenker  reached 
the  capital  on  Monday  afternoon,  ju]y 
stragglers  continued  to  come  in.  22. 
Many  of  the  fugitives,  not  well  assured 
of  safety  even  there,  or  disinclined  to 
further  military  service,  did  not  stop 
in  Washington,  but  hurried  to  their  dis 
tant  homes  in  New  York,  Pennsylvania, 
and  New  England.  So  complete  and 
long-continued  was  the  demoralization 
of  the  "grand  army"  of  the  Potomac, 
that  it  was  said,  and  apparently  not  with 
much  exaggeration,  that  a  squadron  of 
the  enemy's  cavalry  might  have  captured 
the  capital  on  the  day  after  the  battle  of 
Bull  Run.  For  weeks  afterward  there 
was  a  constant  and  not  unfounded  fear, 


LOSSES  AT  BULL  RUN. 


413 


that    if    Beauregard    should    advance, 
Washington  would  be  at  his  mercy. 

That  the  enemy  did  not  pursue  was  a 
tribute  to  the  spirit  of  our  troops,  and 
a  proof  of  the  victory  they  might  have 
gained  had  they  shown  as  much  persist 
ency  in  the  continuance  of  the  struggle 
as  they  had  gallantry  in  the  opening. 

The  whole  number  of  the  Federal 
force  which  crossed  Bull  Run  and  en 
gaged  in  the  battle  was  18,000  men. 
The  strength  of  the  enemy  was  variously 
computed  at  from  50,000  to  100,000  men. 
Beauregard  himself  declared,  that  on 
the  21st  of  August,  the  day  of  the  bat 
tle,  he  had  but  27,800  effective  men,  in 
cluding  the  6,200  brought  by  General 
Johnston  during  the  struggle  from  Win 
chester,  and  1,700  by  General  Holmes 
from  Fredericksburg. 

Our  loss  was  estimated  at  481  killed, 
1,011  wounded,  and  1,216  missing, 
making  a  total  of  2,708.  The  loss  in 
artillery  and  equipments  is  officially 
stated  as  follows : 

In  Artillery — Company  D,  Second  Ar 
tillery,  Captain  Arnold,  six  rifled  pieces. 
Company  I,  First  Artillery,  Captain 
Ricketts,  six  rifled  Parrott  ten-pounders. 
Company  E,  Second  Artillery,  Captain 
Carlisle,  two  rifled  pieces  and  two  how 
itzers.  This  company  had  six  pieces  in 
the  action.  Company  — ,  Fifth  Artil 
lery,  Captain  Griffin,  one  rifled  piece, 
four  smooth  bored — six  pieces  in  the 
action.  Company  G,  First  Artillery, 
one  thirty-pounder  Parrott  gun — one 
thirty  -pounder  and  two  twenty-pounder 
Parrott  guns  in  action.  Rhode  Island 
battery,  five  rifled  pieces — six  in  action. 


Total,  seventeen  rifled  and  eight  smooth 
bore  guns. 

In  Small- Arms  etc. — One  hundred  and 
fifty  boxes  small-arm  cartridges.  Eighty- 
seven  boxes  rifled  cannon  ammunition. 
Thirty  boxes  of  old  firearms.  Thirteen 
wagons  loaded  with  provisions,  and  three 
thousand  bushels  of  oats.  It  is  estima 
ted,  in  addition,  that  2,500  muskets  and 
8,000  knapsacks  and  blankets  were  lost. 

The  enemy  estimated  our  loss  at  the 
apparently  exaggerated  number  of  4,500 
exclusive  of  the  missing,  and  their  own 
at  the  proportionately  diminished  amount 
of  393  killed  and  1,200  wounded.* 

0  GENERAL  J.  E.  JOHNSTON'S  REPORT  OF  THE  BATTLE  OF  Bun 
RUN.  —  "I  assumed  command  at  Harper's  Ferry  on  the 
23d  of  May.  The  force  at  that  point  then  consisted  of  nine 
regiments  and  two  battalions  of  infantry,  four  companies 
of  artillery  with  sixteen  pieces  without  caissons,  harness, 
or  horses,  and  about  300  cavalry.  They  were  of  coursa 
undisciplined,  several  regiments  without  accoutrements 
and  with  an  entirely  inadequate  supply  of  ammunition. 

"  I  lost  no  time  in  making  a  complete  reconnoLssance  of 
the  place  and  its  environs,  in  which  the  chief  engineer, 
Major  (now  Brigadier-General)  Whiting,  ably  assisted. 
The  results  confirmed  my  preconceived  ideas. 

"The  position  is  untenable  by  any  force  not  strong 
enough  to  take  the  field  against  an  invading  army,  and  to 
hold  both  sides  of  the  Potomac.  It  is  a  triangle,  two  sides 
being  formed  by  the  Potomac  and  the  Shenandoah,  and 
the  third  by  Furnace  Ridge.  The  plateau  thus  inclosed, 
and  the  end  of  Furnace  Ridge  itself,  the  only  defensible  posi 
tion,  which,  however,  required  for  its  adequate  occupation 
double  our  numbers,  was  exposed  to  enfilade  and  reverse 
fires  of  artillery  from  heights  on  the  Maryland  side  of  the 
river.  Within  that  line  the  ground  was  more  favorable  to 
an  attacking  than  to  a  defending  force.  The  Potomac  can 
be  easily  crossed  at  many  points  above  and  below,  so  that 
it  is  easily  turned.  It  is  twenty  miles  from  the  great  route 
into  the  valley  of  Virginia  from  Pennsylvania  and  Mary 
land,  by  which  General  Patterson's  approach  was  expected. 
Its  garrison  was  thus  out  of  position  to  defend  that  valley, 
or  to  prevent  General  McClellan's  junction  with  General 
Patterson.  These  were  the  obvious  and  important  object* 
to  be  kept  in  view.  Besides  being  in  position  for  them,  it 
was  necessary  to  be  able,  on  emergency,  to  join  General 
Beauregard. 

"The  occupation  of  Harper's  Ferry  by  our  army  per 
fectly  suited  the  enemy's  views.  We  were  bound  to  a 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


The  chief  cause  of  the  defeat  of  the 
Federal  troops  at  Bull  Run  was  the 
junction  of  General  Johnston's  force 


fixed  point.  His  movements  were  unrestricted.  These 
views  were  submitted  to  the  military  authorities.  The 
continued  occupation  of  the  place  was,  however,  deemed 
by  them  indispensable.  I  determined  to  hold  it  until  the 
great  objects  of  the  government  required  its  abandonment. 

"The  practicable  roads  from  the  west  and  northwest,  as 
well  as  from  Manassas,  meet  the  route  from  Pennsylvania 
and  Maryland  at  Winchester.  That  point  was,  therefore, 
in  my  opinion,  our  best  position. 

"  The  distinguished  commander  of  the  army  of  the 
Potomac  was  convinced,  like  myself,  of  our  dependence 
upon  each  other,  and  promised  to  co-operate  with  me  in 
case  of  need.  To  guard  against  surprise,  and  to  impose 
upon  the  enemy,  Major  Whiting  was  directed  to  mount  a 
few  heavy  guns  upon  Furnace  Ridge,  and  otherwise 
strengthen  the  position. 

"  I  was  employed,  until  the  13th  of  June,  in  continuing 
what  had  been  begun  by  my  predecessor,  Colonel  (now 
Major-General)  Jackson,  the  organization,  instruction,  and 
equipment  of  the  troops,  and  providing  means  of  trans 
portation  and  artillery  horses.  The  river  was  observed 
from  the  Point  of  Bocks  to  the  western  part  of  the  county 
of  Berkeley— the  most  distant  portions  by  the  indefatigable 
Stuart  with  his  cavalry.  General  Patterson's  troops  were 
within  a  few  hours  of  Williamsport,  and  General  McClel- 
lan's  in  Western  Virginia,  were  supposed  to  be  approach 
ing  to  effect  a  junction  with  Patterson,  whose  force  was 
reported,  by  well-informed  persons,  to  be  18,000  men. 

"  On  the  morning  of  the  13th  of  June,  information  was 
received  from  Winchester  that  Romney  was  occupied  by 
2,000  Federal  troops,  supposed  to  be  the  vanguard  of  the 
army. 

•"Colonel  A.  P.  Hill,  with  his  own  (Thirteenth)  and 
Colonel  Gibbon's  (Tenth)  Virginia  regiments  were  dis 
patched  by  railway  to  Winchester.  He  was  directed  to 
move  thence  toward  Romney  to  take  the  best  position  and 
best  measures  to  check  the  advance  of  the  enemy.  He 
was  to  add  to  his  command  the  Third  Tennessee  Regiment, 
which  had  just  arrived  at  Winchester. 

"  During  that  day  and  the  next  the  heavy  baggage  and 
remaining  public  property  were  sent  to  Winchester  by  the 
railway,  and  the  bridges  on  the  Potomac  destroyed.  On 
the  morning  of  the  15th,  the  army  left  Harper's  Ferry  for 
Winchester  (the  force  had  been  increased  by  these  regi 
ments  since  the  1st  of  June)  and  bivouacked  four  miles 
beyond  Charlestown.  On  the  morning  of  the  16th,  intelli 
gence  was  received  that  General  Patterson's  army  had 
crossed  the  Potomac  at  Williamsport,  also  that  the  United 
States  force  at  Romney  had  fallen  back.  A  courier  from 
Richmond  brought  a  dispatch  authorizing  me  to  evacuate 
Harper's  Ferry  at  my  discretion. 

"The  army  was  ordered  to  gain  the  Martinsburg  turn- 


with  that  of  Beauregard.  General  Mc 
Dowell  said  in  his  report : 

"It  is  known  that  in  estimating  the 

pike  by  a  flank  movement  to  Bunker's  Hill  in  order  to 
place  itself  between  Winchester  and  the  expected  advance 
of  Patterson.  On  hearing  of  this,  the  enemy  re-crossed 
the  river  precipitately.  Resuming  my  first  direction  and 
plan,  I  proceeded  to  Winchester.  There  the  army  was  in 
position  to  oppose  either  McClellan  from  the  went,  or 
Patterson  from  the  northeast,  and  to  form  a  junction  with 
General  Beauregard  when  necessary. 

"  Lieutenant-Colonel  George  Stewart,  with  his  Maryland 
battalion,  was  sent  to  Harper's  Ferry  to  bring  off  some 
public  property  said  to  have  been  left.  As  McClellan  was 
moving  southeastward  from  Grafton,  Colonel  Hill's  com 
mand  was  withdrawn  from  Romney.  The  defence  of  that 
region  of  the  country  was  intrusted  to  Colonel  McDonald's 
regiment  of  cavalry.  Intelligence  from  Maryland  indica 
ting  another  movement  by  Patterson,  Colonel  Jackson, 
with  his  brigade,  was  sent  to  the  neighborhood  of  Martins- 
burg  to  support  Colonel  Stuart.  The  latter  officer  had  been 
placed  in  observation  on  the  line  of  the  Potomac  with  his 
cavalry.  His  increasing  vigilance  and  activity  were  relied 
on  to  repress  small  incursions  of  the  enemy,  to  give  intel 
ligence  of  invasion  by  them,  and  to  watch,  harass,  and 
circumscribe  their  every  movement.  Colonel  Jackson  was 
instructed  to  destroy  such  of  the  rolling  stock  of  the  Balti 
more  and  Ohio  Railroad  as  could  not  be  brought  off,  and 
to  have  so  much  of  it  as  could  be  made  available  to  our 
service,  brought  to  Winchester. 

"  Major  Whiting  was  ordered  to  plan  defensive  works, 
and  to  have  some  heavy  guns  on  navy  carriages  mounted. 
About  2,500  militia,  under  Brigadier-General  Carson,  were 
called  out  from  Frederick  and  the  neighboring  counties 
to  man  them. 

"  On  the  2d  of  July,  General  Patterson  again  crossed  the 
Potomac.  Colonel  Jackson,  pursuant  to  instructions,  fell 
back  before  him.  In  retiring,  he  gave  him  a  severe  lesson 
in  the  affair  at  Falling  Waters.  With  a  battalion  of  the 
Fifth  Virginia  Regiment  (Harper's)  and  Pendleton's  battery 
of  field  artillery,  he  engaged  the  enemy's  advance. 
Skilfully  taking  a  position  where  the  smallness  of  his 
force  was  concealed,  he  engaged  them  for  a  considerable 
time,  inflicted  a  heavy  loss,  and  retired  when  about  to  be 
outflanked,  scarcely  losing  a  man,  but  bringing  off  forty- 
five  prisoners. 

"  Upon  this  intelligence,  the  army,  strengthened  by  the 
arrival  of  General  Bee  and  Colonel  Elzey,  and  the  Ninth 
Georgia  Regiment,  was  ord(  red  forward  to  the  support  of 
Jackson.  It  met  him  at  Darksville,  six  miles  from  Mar 
tinsburg,  where  it  took  up  a  position  for  action,  as  Gen 
eral  Patterson,  it  was  supposed,  was  closely  following 
Colonel  Jackson.  We  waited  for  him  in  this  position  four 
days,  hoping  to  be  attacked  by  an  adversary  at  least  double 
our  number,  but  unwilling  to  attack  him  in  a  town  so  da- 


JOHNSTON'S  REPORT. 


415 


force  to  go  against  Manassas,  I  engaged 
not  to  have  to  do  with  the  enemy's 
forces  under  Johnston,  then  kept  in 

fonsible  as  Martinsburg,  with  its  solid  buildings  and  in- 
closures  of  masonry.  Convinced  at  length  that  he  would 
not  approach  us,  I  returned  to  Winchester,  much  to  the 
disappointment  of  our  troops,  who  were  eager  for  battle 
with  the  invaders.  Colonel  Stuart,  with  his  cavalry,  as 
usual,  remained  near  the  enemy. 

"Before  the  15th  of  July,  the  enemy's  force,  according 
to  the  best  intelligence  to  be  obtained,  amounted  to  about 
32,000.  Ours  had  been  increased  by  eight  Southern  regi 
ments.  On  the  15th  of  July,  Colonel  Stuart  reported  the 
advance  of  General  Patterson  from  Martinsburg.  He 
halted,  however,  at  Bunker's  Hill,  nine  miles  from  Win 
chester,  where  he  remained  on  the  16th.  On  the  17th  he 
moved  to  his  left  to  Smithfield.  This  created  the  impres 
sion  that  he  intended  to  attack  us  on  the  south,  or  was 
merely  holding  us  in  check,  while  General  Beauregard 
should  be  attacked  at  Manassas  by  General  Scott. 

"  About  one  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  July  18th,  I  re 
ceived  from  the  government  a  telegraph  dispatch,  inform 
ing  me  that  the  Northern  army  was  advancing  upon  Ma 
nassas,  then  held  by  General  Beauregard,  and  directing 
me,  if  practicable,  to  go  to  that  officer's  assistance,  send 
ing  my  sick  to  Culpepper  Court  House. 

' '  In  the  exercise  of  the  discretion  conferred  by  the  terms 
of  the  order,  I  at  once  determined  to  march  to  join  Gen 
eral  Beauregard.  The  best  service  which  the  army  of  the 
Shenandoah  could  render  was  to  prevent  the  defeat  of  that 
of  the  Potomac.  To  be  able  to  do  this,  it  was  necessary, 
in  the  first  instance,  to  defeat  General  Patterson  or  to  elude 
him.  The  latter  course  was  the  most  speedy  and  certain, 
and  was  therefore  adopted.  Our  sick,  nearly  1,700  in 
number,  were  provided  for  in  Winchester.  For  the  de 
fence  of  that  place  the  militia  of  Generals  Carson  and 
Meem  seemed  ample  ;  for  I  thought  it  certain  that  Gen 
eral  Patterson  would  follow  my  movement  as  soon  as  he 
discerned  it.  Evading  him  by  the  disposition  made  of  the 
advance  guard  under  Colonel  Stuart,  the  army  moved 
through  Ashby's  Gap  to  Piedmont,  a  station  of  the  Ma 
nassas  Gap  Railroad.  Hence  the  infantry  were  to  be  trans 
ported  by  the  railway,  while  the  cavalry  and  artillery  were 
ordered  to  continue  their  march.  I  reached  Manassas 
about  noon  on  the  20th,  preceded  by  the  Seventh  and 
Eighth  Georgia  regiments,  and  by  Jackson's  brigade,  con 
sisting  of  the  Second,  Fourth,  Fifth,  Twenty-seventh,  and 
Thirty-third  Virginia  regiments.  I  was  accompanied  by 
General  Bee,  with  the  Fourth  Alabama,  the  Second  and 
two  companies  of  the  Eleventh  Mississippi.  The  president 
of  the  railroad  company  had  assured  me  that  the  remain 
ing  troops  should  arrive  during  the  day. 

"  I  found  General  Beauregard' s  position  too  extensive, 
and  the  ground  too  densely  wooded  and  intricate  to  be 
learned  in  the  brief  tune  at  my  disposal,  and  therefore 


check  in  the  valley  by  Major-General 
Patterson,  or  those  kept  engaged  by 
Major-General  Butler,  and  I  know 

determined  to  rely  on  his  knowledge  of  it  and  of  the  ene 
my's  positions.  This  I  did  readily,  from  full  confidence  it 
his  capacity 

"  His  troops  were  divided  into  eight  brigades,  occupying 
the  defensive  line  of  Bull  Run.  Brigadier-General  Ewell's 
was  posted  at  the  Union  Mills  Ford ;  Brigadier -General 
D.  R.  Jones'  at  McLean's  ford  ;  Brigadier-General  Long- 
street*  sat  Blackburn's  Ford  ;  Brigadier-General  Bonhanvs 
at  Mitchell's  Ford ;  Colonel  Cocke's  at  Ball's  Ford,  some 
three  miles  above,  and  Colonel  Evans,  with  a  regiment 
and  a  battalion,  formed  the  extreme  left  at  the  stone 
bridge.  The  brigades  of  Brigadier-General  Holmes  and 
Colonel  Early  were  in  reserve,  in  rear  of  the  right.  I 
regarded  the  arrival  of  the  remainder  of  the  army  of  the 
Shenandoah,  during  the  night,  as  certain,  and  Patterson's 
with  the  grand  army,  on  the  22d,  as  probable.  During 
the  evening  it  was  determined,  instead  of  remaining  in 
the  defensive  positions  then  occupied,  to  assume  the 
offensive,  and  attack  the  enemy  before  such  a  junction. 

' '  General  Beauregard  proposed  a  plan  of  battle,  which 
I  approved  without  hesitation.  He  drew  up  the  necessary 
order  during  the  night,  which  was  approved  formally  by 
me  at  half-past  four  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  the  21st 
The  early  movements  of  the  enemy  on  that  morning,  and 
the  non-arrival  of  the  expected  troops,  prevented  its  ex 
ecution.  General  Beauregard  afterward  proposed  a  modi 
fication  of  the  abandoned  plan — to  attack  with  our  right, 
while  the  left  stood  on  the  defensive.  This,  too,  became 
impracticable,  and  a  battle  ensued,  different  in  place  and 
circumstance  from  any  previous  plan  on  our  side. 

"  Soon  after  sunrise,  on  the  morning  of  the  21st,  a  light 
cannonade  was  opened  on  Colonel  Evans'  position  ;  a 
similar  demonstration  was  made  against  the  centre  soon 
after,  and  strong  forces  were  observed  in  front  of  it  and 
of  the  right.  About  eight  o'clock  General  Beauregard 
and  I  placed  ourselves  on  a  commanding  hill  in  the  rear 
of  General  Bonham's  left ;  near  nine  o'clock  the  signal 
officer,  Captain  Alexander,  reported  that  a  large  body  of 
troops  was  crossing  the  valley  of  Bull  Run,  some  two 
miles  above  the  bridge  General  Bee,  who  had  been 
placed  near  Colonel  Cocke's  position,  Colonel  Hampton, 
with  his  legion,  and  Colonel  Jackson,  from  a  point  neai 
Bonham's  left,  were  ordered  to  hasten  to  the  left  flank. 

' '  The  signal  officer  soon  called  our  attention  to  a  heavy 
cloud  of  dust  to  the  northwest,  and  about  ten  miles  off, 
such  as  the  march  of  an  army  would  raise,  This  excited 
apprehensions  of  General  Patterson's  approach. 

"  The  enemy,  under  cover  of  a  strong  demonstration  on 
our  right,  made  a  long  detour  through  the  woods  on  his 
right,  crossed  Bull  Run  two  miles  above  our  left,  and  threw 
himself  upon  the  flank  and  rear  of  our  position.  Thii 
movement  was  fortunately  discovered  in  time  for  us  to 


4:16 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


every  effort  was  made  by  the  G-eneral- 
in-chief  that  this  should  be  done,  and 
that  even  if  Johnston  joined  Beauregard, 


check  its  progress,  and  ultimately  to  form  a  new  line  of 
battle  nearly  at  right  angles  with  the  defensive  line  of  Bull 
Run. 

"  On  discovering  that  the  enemy  had  crossed  the  stream 
above  him,  Colonel  Evans  moved  to  his  left  with  eleven 
companies  and  two  field-pieces,  to  oppose  his  advance,  and 
disposed  his  little  force  under  cover  of  the  woods  near  the 
intersection  of  the  Warrenton  turnpike  and  the  Sudley 
road.  Here  he  was  attacked  by  the  enemy  in  immensely 
superior  numbers,  against  which  he  maintained  himself 
with  skill  and  unshrinking  courage.  General  Bee,  moving 
toward  the  enemy,  guided  by  the  firing,  had,  with  a 
soldier's  eye,  selected  the  position  near  the  Henry  House, 
and  formed  his  troops  upon  it.  They  were  the  Seventh 
and  Eighth  Georgia,  Fourth  Alabama,  Second  Mississippi, 
and  two  companies  of  the  Eleventh  Mississippi  Eegiment, 
with  Imboden's  battery.  Being  compelled,  however,  to 
sustain  Colonel  Evans,  he  crossed  the  valley  and  formed 
on  the  right  and  somewhat  in  advance  of  his  position. 
Here  the  joint  force,  little  exceeding  five  regiments,  with 
six  field-pieces,  held  the  ground  against  about  15,000 
United  States  troops  for  an  hour,  until,  finding  themselves 
outflanked  by  the  continually  arriving  troops  of  the 
enemy,  they  fell  back  to  General  Bee's  first  position,  upon 
the  line  of  which  Jackson,  just  arriving,  formed  his  brig 
ade  and  Standard's  battery.  Colonel  Hampton,  who  had 
by  this  time  advanced  with  his  legion  as  far  as  the  turn 
pike,  rendered  efficient  service  in  maintaining  the  orderly 
character  of  the  retreat  from  that  point,  and  here  fell  the 
gallant  Lieutenant-Colonel  Johnson,  his  second  in  com 
mand. 

"In  the  mean  tune,  I  awaited,  with  General  Beauve- 
gard,  near  the  centre,  the  full  development  of  the  enemy's 
designs.  About  eleven  o'clock  the  violence  of  the  firing 
on  the  left  indicated  a  battle,  and  the  march  of  a  large 
body  from  the  enemy's  centre  toward  the  conflict  was 
shown  by  clouds  of  dust.  I  was  thus  convinced  that  his 
great  effort  was  to  be  made  with  his  right.  I  stated  that 
conviction  to  General  Beauregard,  and  the  absolute  neces 
sity  of  immediately  strengthening  our  left  as  much  as 
possible.  Orders  were  accordingly  at  once  sent  to  General 
Holmes  and  Colonel  Early  to  move  with  all  speed  to  the 
sound  of  the  firing,  and  to  General  Bonham  to  send  up 
two  of  his  regiments  and  a  battery.  General  Beauregard 
and  I  then  hurried  at  a  rapid  gallop  to  the  scene  of  action, 
about  four  miles  off.  On  the  way  I  directed  my  chief  of 
artillery,  Colonel  Pendleton,  to  follow  with  his  own  and 
Alburtis'  batteries.  We  came  not  a  moment  too  soon. 
The  long  contest  against  five-fold  odds  and  heavy  losses, 
especially  of  field  officers,  had  greatly  discouraged  the 
troops  of  General  Bee  and  Colonel  Evans.  Our  presence 
with  them  under  fire,  and  some  example,  had  the  happiest 


it  would  not  be  because  he  could  be  fol 
lowed  by  General  Patterson,  but  from 
causes  not  necessary  for  me  to  refer 

effect  on  the  spirit  of  the  troops.  Order  was  soon  restored 
and  the  battle  re-established,  to  which  the  firmness  of 
Jackson's  brigade  greatly  contributed.  Then,  in  a  brief 
and  rapid  conference,  General  Beauregard  was  assigned  to 
the  command  of  the  left,  which,  as  the  younger  officer,  he 
claimed,  while  I  returned  to  that  of  the  whole  field.  The 
aspect  of  affairs  was  critical ;  but  I  had  full  confidence  in 
the  skill  and  indomitable  courage  of  General  Beauregard, 
the  high  soldierly  qualities  of  Generals  Bee  and  Jackson 
and  Colonel  Evans,  and  the  devoted  patriotism  of  their 
troops.  Orders  were  first  dispatched  to  hasten  the  inarch 
of  General  Holmes',  Colonel  Early's,  and  General  Bon- 
ham's  regiments.  General  Ewell  was  also  directed  to  fol 
low  with  all  speed.  Many  of  the  broken  troops,  frag 
ments  of  companies,  and  individual  stragglers  were  re 
formed  and  brought  into  action,  with  the  aid  of  my  staff 
and  a  portion  of  General  Beauregard's. 

"Colonel  (Governor)  Smith,  with  his  battalion,  and 
Colonel  Hampton,  with  his  regiment,  were  ordered  up  to 
reinforce  the  right.  I  have  since  learned  that  General 
Beauregard  had  previously  ordered  them  into  the  battle. 
They  belonged  to  his  corps.  Colonel  Smith's  cheerful 
courage  had  a  fine  influence,  not  only  on  the  spirit  of  his 
own  men,  but  upon  the  stragglers  from  the  troops  engaged. 
The  largest  body  of  these,  equal  to  about  four  companies, 
having  no  competent  field-officer,  I  placed  them  under 
command  of  one  of  my  staff,  Colonel  F.  J.  Thomas,  who 
fell  while  gallantly  leading  it  against  the  enemy.  These 
reinforcements  were  all  sent  to  the  right  to  re-establish 
more  perfectly  that  part  of  our  line.  Having  attended  to 
these  pressing  duties  at  the  immediate  scene  of  conflict, 
my  eye  was  next  directed  to  Colonel  Cocke's  brigade,  the 
nearest  at  hand.  Hastening  to  his  position,  I  desired  him 
to  lead  his  troops  into  action.  He  informed  me,  however, 
that  a  large  body  of  the  enemy's  troops,  beyond  the  stream 
and  below  the  bridge,  threatened  us  from  that  quarter. 
He  was,  therefore,  left  in  his  position. 

' '  My  headquarters  were  now  established  near  the  Lewia 
house.  From  this  commanding  elevation  my  view  em 
braced  the  position  of  the  enemy  beyond  the  stream  and 
the  approaches  to  the  stone  bridge,  a  point  of  especial 
importance.  I  could  also  see  the  advances  of  our  troops 
far  down  the  valley,  in  the  direction  of  Manassas,  and 
observe  the  progress  of  the  action  and  the  manoeuvres  of 
the  enemy. 

"  We  had  now  sixteen  guns  and  two  hundred  and  sixty 
cavalry,  and  a  little  above  nine  regiments  of  the  army  of 
the  Shenandoah,  and  six  guns  and  less  than  the  strength 
of  three  regiments  of  that  of  the  Potomac,  engaged  with 
about  35,000  United  States  troops,  among  whom  were  full 
3,000  men  of  the  old  regular  army.  Yet  this  admirable 
artillery  and  brave  infantry  and  cavalry  lost  no  foot  of 


JOHNSTON'S  REPORT. 


417 


to — you  knew  them  all.  This  was  not 
done,  and  the  enemy  was  free  to  assem 
ble  from  every  direction  in  numbers 


ground.  For  nearly  three  hours  they  maintained  their 
position,  repelling  five  successive  assaults  by  the  heavy 
masses  of  the  enemy,  whose  numbers  enabled  him  con 
tinually  to  bring  up  fresh  troops  as  their  preceding  col 
umns  were  driven  back. 

' '  Colonel  Stuart  contributed  to  one  of  these  repulses  by 
fa  well-timed  and  vigorous  charge  on  the  enemy's  right 
flank  with  two  companies  of  his  cavalry.  The  efficiency 
of  our  infantry  and  cavalry  might  have  been  expected 
from  a  patriotic  people,  accustomed,  like  ours,  to  the 
management  of  arms  and  horses,  but  that  of  the  artillery 
was  little  less  than  wonderful.  They  were  opposed  to 
batteries  far  superior  in  the  number,  range,  and  equipment 
of  their  guns,  with  educated  officers  and  thoroughly  in 
structed  soldiers.  We  had  but  one  educated  artillerist 
(Colonel  Pendleton),  that  model  of  a  Christian  soldier,  yet 
they  exhibited  as  much  superiority  to  the  enemy  in  skill 
as  in  courage.  Their  fire  was  superior  both  in  rapidity 
and  precision. 

"  About  two  o'clock,  an  officer  of  General  Beauregard's 
adjutant-general's  office  galloped  from  Manassas  to  report 
to  me  that  a  United  States  army  had  reached  the  line  of 
Manassas  Gap  Railroad,  was  marching  toward  us,  and 
then  but  three  or  four  miles  from  our  left  flank." 

[This  "  army"  turned  out  to  be  a  part  of  General  John 
ston's  own  army  of  "the  Shenandoah,"  the  opportune 
arrival  of  which  decided  the  day  against  us.] 

"The  expected  reinforcements  appeared  soon  after. 
Colonel  Cocke  was  then  desired  to  lead  his  brigade  into 
action  to  support  the  right  of  the  troops  engaged,  which 
he  did  with  alacrity  and  effect.  Within  a  half  hour  the 
two  regiments  of  General  Bonham's  brigade  (Cash's  and 
Kershaw's)  came  lip,  and  were  directed  against  the  enemy's 
right,  which  he  seemed  to  be  strengthening.  Fisher's 
North  Carolina  Regiment  was  soon  after  sent  in  the  same 
direction.  About  three  o'clock,  while  the  enemy  seemed 
to  be  striving  to  outflank  and  drive  back  our  left,  and  thus 
separate  UF  from  Manassas,  General  E.  K.  Smith  arrived 
with  three  regiments  of  Elzey's  brigade.  He  was  in 
structed  to  attack  the  right  flank  of  the  enemy  now  ex 
posed  to  us.  Before  the  movement  was  completed  he  fell 
severely  wounded.  Colonel  Elzey,  at  once  taking  com 
mand,  executed  it  with  great  promptitude  and  vigor. 
General  Beauregard  rapidly  seized  the  opportunity  thus 
afforded  him,  and  threw  forward  his  whole  line.  The 
enemy  was  driven  back  from  the  long- con  tested  hill,  and 
victory  was  no  longer  doubtful.  He  made  yet  another  at 
tempt  to  retrieve  the  day.  lie  again  extended  his  right 
with  a  still  wider  sweep  to  turn  our  left.  Just  as  he  re 
formed  to  renew  the  battle,  Colonel  Early's  three  regi 
ments  came  upon  the  field.  The  enemy's  new  formation 
exposed  his  right  flank  more  even  than  the  previous  one. 
53 


only  limited  by  the  amount  of  his  rail 
road  rolling-stock  and  his  supply  of  pro 
visions.  To  the  forces,  therefore,  we 

Colonel  Early  was,  therefore,  ordered  to  throw  himself 
directly  upon  it ;  supported  by  Colonel  Stuart's  cavalry 
and  Beckham's  battery,  he  executed  this  attack  bravely 
and  well,  while  a  simultaneous  charge  was  made  by  Gen 
eral  Beauregard  in  front. 

"  The  enemy  was  broken  by  this  combined  attack.  He 
lost  all  the  artillery  which  he  had  advanced  to  the  scene 
of  the  conflict.  He  had  no  more  fresh  troops  to  rally  on. 
and  a  general  rout  ensued. 

"  Instructions  were  instantly  sent  to  General  Bonham 
to  march  by  the  quickest  route  to  the  turnpike,  to  inter 
cept  the  fugitives  ;  and  to  General  Longstreet  to  follow  as 
closely  as  possible  upon  the  right.  Their  progress  was 
checked  by  the  enemy's  reserve,  and  by  night,  at  Centre- 
ville. 

"  Schenck's  brigade  made  a  slight  demonstration  toward 
Lewis's  Ford,  which  was  quickly  checked  by  Holmes's 
brigade,  which  had  just  arrived  from  the  right.  His  artil 
lery,  under  Captain  Walker,  was  used  with  great  skill . 

"  Colonel  Stuart  pressed  the  pursuit  of  the  enemy's 
principal  line  of  retreat,  the  Sudley  Road.  Four  com 
panies  of  cavalry,  under  Colonel  Bradford  and  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  Munford,  which  I  had  held  in  reserve,  were  ordered 
to  cross  the  stream  at  Ball's  Ford,  to  reach  the  turnpike, 
the  line  of  retreat  of  the  enemy's  left.  Our  cavalry  found 
the  roads  encumbered  with  dead  and  wounded  (many  of 
whom  seemed  to  have  been  thrown  from  wagons),  arms, 
accoutrements,  and  clothing. 

' '  A  report  came  to  me  from  the  right  that  a  strong  body 
of  United  States  troops  was  advancing  upon  Manassas. 
General  Holmes,  who  had  just  reached  the  field,  and  Gen 
eral  Ewcll  on  his  way  to  it,  were  ordered  to  meet  the  ex 
pected  attack.  The}'  found  no  foe,  however. 

' '  Our  victory  was  as  complete  as  one  gained  by  infantry 
and  artillery  can  be.  An  adequate  force  of  cavalry  would 
have  made  it  decisive. 

"  It  is  due,  under  Almighty  God,  to  the  skill  and  reso 
lution  of  General  Beauregard,  the  admirable  conduct  of 
Generals  Bee,  E.  K.  Smith,  and  Jackson,  and  of  Colonels 
(commanding  brigades)  Evans,  Cocke.  Early,  and  Elzey,  and 
the  unyielding  firmness  of  our  patriotic  volunteers.  The 
admirable  character  of  our  troops  is  incontestably  proved 
by  the  result  of  this  battle  ;  especially  when  it  is  remem 
bered  that  little  more  than  6.000  men  of  the  army  of  the 
Shenandoah,  with  sixteen  guns,  and  less  than  2.000  of  that 
of  the  Potomac,  with  six  guns,  for  full  five  hours  success 
fully  resisted  35,000  United  States  troops,  with  a  powerful 
artillery  and  a  superior  force  of  regular  cavalry.  Our 
forces  engaged,  gradually  increasing  during  the  contest, 

amounted  to  but  men  at  the  close  of  the  battle. 

The  brunt  of  this  hard-fought  engagement  fell  upon  the 
troops  who  held  their  ground  so  long  with  such  heroic  res- 


418 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


drove  in  from  Fairfax  Court  House, 
Fairfax  Station,  Germantown,  and  Cen- 
treville,  and  those  under  Beauregard  at 
Manassas,  must  be  added  those  under 
Johnston  from  Winchester,  and  those 
brought  up  by  Davis  from  Richmond, 
•  and  other  places  at  the  South,  to  which 
is  to  be  added  the  levy  en  masse  or- 

olution.  The  unfading  honor  which  they  won  was  dearly 
bought  with  the  blood  of  our  best  and  bravest.  Their 
loss  was  far  heavier,  in  proportion,  than  those  coming 
later  into  action. 

"Every  regiment  and  battery  engaged  performed  its 
part  well.  The  commanders  of  brigades  have  been  already 
mentioned.  I  refer  you  to  General  Beauregard 's  report  for 
the  names  of  the  officers  of  the  army  of  the  Potomac  who 
distinguished  themselves  most.  I  cannot  enumerate  all 
of  the  army  of  the  Shenandoah  who  deserve  distinction, 
and  will  confine  myself  to  those  of  high  rank.  Colonels 
Bartow  and  Fisher  (killed),  Jones  (mortally  wounded), 
Harper,  J  F.  Preston,  Cummings,  Faulkner,  Gartrell,  and 
Vaughan  ;  J.  E.  B.  Stuart,  of  the  cavalry,  and  Pendleton, 
of  the  artillery,  Lieutenant-Colonels  Echols,  Lightfoot, 
Lackland,  G.  H.  Stewart,  and  Gardner.  The  last-named 
gallant  officer  was  severely  wounded. 

"  The  loss  of  the  army  of  the  Potomac  was  108  killed, 
610  wounded,  12  missing.  That  of  the  army  of  the 
Shenandoah  was  270  killed,  979  wounded,  18  missing. 

Total  killed 378 

Total  wounded 1,489 

Total  missing 30 

"  That  of  the  enemy  could  not  be  ascertained.  It  must 
have  been  between  4,000  and  5,000.  Twenty-eight  pieces 
of  artillery,  about  5,000  muskets,  and  nearly  500,000 
cartridges,  a  garrison  flag,  and  ten  colors  were  captured  on 
the  field  or  in  the  pursuit.  Besides  these,  we  captured 
sixty-four  artillery  horses,  with  their  harness,  twenty-six 
wagons,  and  much  camp  equipage,  clothing,  and  other 
property  abandoned  in  their  flight. 

"The  officers  of  my  staff  deserve  high  commendation 
for  their  efficient  and  gallant  services  during  the  day  and 
the  campaign,  and  I  beg  leave  to  call  the  attention  of  the 
government  to  their  merits.  Major  W.  H.  C.  Whiting, 
Chief  Engineer,  was  invaluable  to  me  for  his  signal  ability 
in  his  profession,  and  for  his  indefatigable  activity  before 
and  in  the  battle.  Major  McClean,  Chief  Quartermaster, 
and  M.ijor  Kearsley,  Chief  Commissary,  conducted  their 
respective  departments  with  skill  and  energy.  Major 
Tlhett,  A.  A  General,  who  joined  me  only  the  day  before, 
was  of  great  service.  I  left  him  at  Manassas,  and  to  his 
experience  and  energy  I  intrusted  the  care  of  ordering  my 
troops  to  the  field  of  battle  as  they  should  arrive,  and  for 
warding  ammunition  for  the  artillery  during  the  action. 


dered  by  the  Richmond  authorities, 
which  was  ordered  to  assemble  at  Ma 
nassas.  What  all  this  amounted  to,  I 
cannot  say — certainly  much  more  than 
we  attacked  them  with." 

Why  General  Patterson  failed  to 
check  Johnston  at  Winchester,  either 
by  an  attack  or  the  semblance  of  one, 

Captains  C.  M.  Fauntleroy,  C.  S.  Navy,  T.  L.  Preston,  A. 
A.  A.  General,  and  Lieutenant  J.  B.  Washington.  A.  D.  C., 
conveyed  my  orders  bravely  and  well  on  their  first  fiold, 
as  did  several  gallant  gentlemen  who  volunteered  their 
services — Colonel  Cole,  of  Florida ;  Major  Deas,  of  Ala 
bama  ;  Colonel  Duncan,  of  Kentucky  ;  Lieutenant  Beverly 
Randolph,  C.  S.  Navy,  aided  Colonel  F.  J.  Thomas  in  the 
command  of  the  body  of  troops  he  led  into  action,  and 
fought  with  gallantry.  With  these  was  my  gallant  friend, 
Captain  Barlow  Mason,  who  was  mortally  wounded.  I 
have  already  mentioned  the  brave  death  of  ordnance 
officer  Colonel  F.  J.  Thomas.  I  was  much  indebted,  also, 
to  Colonels  J.  J.  Preston,  Manning,  Miles,  and  Chisholm, 
and  Captain  Stevens,  of  the  engineers  corps,  members  of 
General  Beauregard's  staff,  who  kindly  proffered  their 
services,  and  rendered  efficient  and  valuable  aid  at  differ 
ent  times  during  the  day.  Colonel  G.  W.  Lay,  of  General 
Bonham's  staff,  delivered  my  instructions  to  the  troops 
sent  in  pursuit  and  to  intercept  the  enemy,  with  much  in 
telligence  and  courage. 

"  It  will  be  remarked  that  the  three  brigadier-generals 
of  the  army  of  the  Shenandoah  were  all  wounded.  I  have 
already  mentioned  the  wound  of  General  Smith.  General 
Jackson  though  painfully  wounded  early  in  the  day,  com 
manded  his  brigade  to  the  close  of  the  action.  General 
Bee,  after  great  exposure  at  the  commencement  of  the 
engagement,  was  mortally  wounded  just  as  our  reinforce 
ments  were  coining  up. 

' '  The  apparent  firmness  of  the  United  States  troops  at 
Centreville,  who  had  not  been  engaged,  which  checked  our 
pursuit,  the  strong  forces  occupying  the  works  neai 
Georgetown,  Arlington,  and  Alexandria,  the  certainty,  too, 
that  General  Patterson,  if  needed,  would  reach  Washing 
ton  with  his  army  of  30,000  men  sooner  than  we  could, 
and  the  condition  and  inadequate  means  of  the  army  in 
ammunition,  provisions,  and  transportation,  prevented 
any  serious  thoughts  of  advancing  against  the  capital.  It 
is  certain  that  the  fresh  troops  within  the  works  were,  in 
number,  quite  sufficient  for  their  defence  ;  if  not,  General 
Patterson's  army  would  certainly  reinforce  them  soon 
enough. 

"This  report  will  be  presented  to  you  by  my  aide-de 
camp,  Lieutenant  J.  B.  Washington,  by  whom,  and  by 
General  Beauregard's  aid,  Lieutenant  Ferguson,  the  cap 
tured  colors  are  transmitted  to  the  War  Department-" 


DEFENCE   OF  PATTERSON. 


419 


is  a  question  which  can  only  be  justly 
answered  in  the  future,  when  time  shall 
have  allayed  mutual  suspicion  and 
sobered  the  general  judgment.  Public 
opinion  emphatically  censured  General 
Patterson,  and  the  Federal  Government 
superseded  him  in  his  command,  for 
having  failed  in  his  duty.  He  requested 
a  court  of  inquiry,  but  this  was  not  con 
ceded  ;  the  General,  however,  at  a  pub 
lic  dinner  in  Philadelphia,  sought  the 
opportunity  of  justifying  his  conduct, 
in  a  speech  of  which  the  following  is  the 
newspaper  report : 

"I  would  here,"  said  General  Patter 
son,  "state  a  few  facts.  On  the  3d  of 
June  I  took  command  at  Chambersburg. 
On  the  4th  I  was  informed  by  the 
General-in-chief  that  he  considered  the 
addition  to  his  force  of  a  battery  of  ar 
tillery  and  some  regular  infantry  indis 
pensable.  On  the  8th  of  June  a  letter 
of  instructions  was  sent  me,  in  which 
I  was  told  that  there  must  be  no  re 
verse  ;  a  check  or  a  drawn  battle  would 
be  a  victory  to  the  enemy,  filling  his 
heart  with  joy,  his  ranks  with  men,  and 
his  magazines  with  voluntary  contribu 
tions,  and,  therefore,  to  take  my  mea 
sures  circumspectly,  and  attempt  nothing 
without  a  clear  prospect  of  success. 
This  was  good  instruction  and  most  sen 
sible  advice.  Good  or  bad,  I  was  to 
obey  ;  and  I  did. 

"O-  i-riday,  the  13th,  I  was  in 
formed  that,  on  the  supposition  that  I 
would  cross  the  river  on  the  next  Mon 
day  or  Tuesday,  General  McDowell 
would  be  instructed  to  make  a  demon 
stration  on  Manassas  Junction.  I  was 


surprised  at  the  order,  but  promptly 
obeyed.  On  the  15th  I  reached  Ha- 
gerstown,  and  on  the  16th  two-thirds 
of  my  forces  had  crossed  the  Potomac. 
The  promised  demonstration  by  General 
McDowell,  in  the  direction  of  Manassas 
Junction,  •  was  not  made,  and  on  the 
16th,  just  three  days  after  I  had  been 
told  I  was  expected  to  cross,  I  was 
telegraphed  by  the  General-in-chief  to 
send  him  '  at  once  all  the  regular 
troops,  horse  and  foot,  and  the  Rhode 
Island  regiment  and  battery,'  and  told 
that  I  was  strong  enough  without  the 
regulars,  and  to  keep  within  limits  until 
I  could  satisfy  myself  that  I  ought  to 
go  beyond  them.  On  the  17th  I  was 
again  telegraphed :  '  We  are  pressed 
here.  Send  the  troops  I  have  twice 
called  for  without  delay.'  This  was 
imperative,  and  the  troops  were  sent, 
leaving  me  without  a  single  piece  of 
artillery,  and,  for  the  time,  a  single 
troop  of  cavalry.  It  was  a  gloomy 
night,  but  they  were  all  brought  over 
the  river  again  without  loss. 

"  On  the  20th  of  June  I  was  asked 
by  the  General-in-chief  to  propose, 
without  delay,  a  plan  of  operations. 
On  the  21st  I  submitted  to  the  General- 
in-chief  my  plan,  which  was  to  abandon 
the  present  line  of  operations,  move  all 
supplies  to  Frederick,  occupy  Maryland 
Heights  with  Major  Doubleday's  heavy 
guns,  and  a  brigade  of  infantry  to  sup 
port  them,  and  with  everything  else — 
horse,  foot,  and  artillery — to  cross  the 
Potomac  at  Point  of  Rocks,  and  unite 
with  Colonel  Stone's  force  at  Leesburg, 
from  which  ooint  I  could  ooerate  as 


420 


THE   WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


circumstances  should  demand  and  the 
General's  orders  should  require.  No 
reply  was  received  ;  but  on  the  27th 
the  General  telegraphed  me  that  he 
•supposed  I  was  that  day  crossing  the 
river  in  pursuit  of  the  enemy. 

"  On  that  day  the  enemy  was  in 
condition  to  cross  the  river  to  pursue 
me.  He  had  over  15,000  men  and  from 
twenty  to  twenty-four  guns,  while  I  had 
but  about  10,000  men  and  six  guns — 
the  latter  immovable  for  want  of  har 
ness.  On  the  28th  I  informed  the  Gen 
eral  of  the  strength  of  the  enemy  and 
of  my  own  force  ;  that  I  would  not,  on 
my  own  responsibility,  attack  without 
artillery,  but  would  do  so  cheerfully  and 
promptly  if  he  would  give  me  an  explicit 
order  to  that  effect.  No  order  was  given. 
On  the  24th  I  received  the  harness  for 
my  single  battery  of  six  smooth-bore 
guns,  and  on  the  30th  gave  the  order  to 
cross.  On  the  2d  of  July  I  crossed, 
met  the  enemy,  and  whipped  them. 

"  On  the  9th  of  July  a  council  was 
held,  at  which  all  the  commanders  of 
divisions  and  brigades  and  chiefs  of  staff 
were  present.  Colonel  Stone,  the  junior 
line  officer,  spoke  twice  and  decid 
edly  against  an  advance,  advocating  a 
direct  movement  to  Shephardstown  and 
Charlestown.  All  who  spoke  opposed 
an  advance,  and  all  voted  against  one.  On 
the  same  day  I  informed  the  General- 
in-chief  of  the  condition  of  affairs  in  the 
valley,  and  proposed  that  I  should  go  to 
Charlestown  and  occupy  Harper's  Ferry, 
and  asked  to  be  informed  when  he  would 
attack  Manassas.  On  the  12th  I  was 
directed  to  go  where  I  had  proposed, 


and  informed  that  Manassas  would  be 
attacked  on  Tuesday,  the  16th.  On  the 
13th  I  was  telegraphed  :  '  If  not  strong 
enough  to  beat  the  enemy  early  next 
week,  make  demonstrations  so  as  to 
detain  him  in  the  valley  of  Winchester.' 
I  made  the  demonstrations,  and  on 
the  16th,  the  day  General  Scott  said  lie 
would  attack  Manassas,  I  drove  the 
enemy's  pickets  into  his  intrenchments 
at  Winchester,  and  on  the  17th  marched 
to  Charlestown. 

"On  the  13th  I  telegraphed  the 
General-in-chief  that  Johnston  was  in  a 
position  to  have  his  strength  doubled 
just  as  I  could  reach  him,  and  that  I 
would  rather  lose  the  chance  of  accom 
plishing  something  brilliant  than  by 
hazarding  my  column  destroy  the  fruits 
of  the  campaign  by  defeat,  closing 
my  dispatch  thus  :  '  If  wrong,  let  me 
be  instructed.'  But  no  instructions 
came.  This  was  eight  days  before  the 
battle  of  Manassas.  On  the  17th  General 
Scott  telegraphed  :  '  McDowell's  first 
day's  work  has  driven  the  enemy  be 
yond  Fairfax  Court  House.  To-morrow, 
probably,  the  Junction  will  be  carried.' 
With  this  information  I  was  happy. 
Johnston  had  been  detained  the  ap 
pointed  time,  and  the  work  of  my  col 
umn  had  been  done. 

"  On  the  18th,  at  half-pa,st  one  in  the 
morning,  I  telegraphed  General  Scott 
the  condition  of  the  enemy's  force  and 
of  my  own,  referring  to  my  letter  of  the 
16th  for  full  information,  and  closed  the 
dispatch  by  asking.  '  Shall  I  attack  ?' 
This  was  plain  English  and  could  not  be 
misunderstood,  but  I  received  no  reply. 


CAUSE   OF  DEFEAT. 


421 


I  expected  to  be  attacked  where  I 
was.  and  if  Manassas  was  not  to  be 
attacked  on  that  day,  as  stated  in 
General  Scott's  dispatch  of  the  day  pre 
vious,  I  ought  to  have  been  ordered 
down  forthwith  to  join  in  the  battle, 
and  the  attack  delayed  until  I  came. 
I  could  have  been  there  on  the  day  that 
the  battle  was  fought,  and  my  assistance 
might  have  produced  a  different  result. 

"  On  the  20th  I  heard  that  Johnston 
had  marched,  with  35,000  Confederate 
troops  and  a  large  artillery  force,  in  a 
southeasterly  direction.  I  immediately 
telegraphed  the  information  to  General 
Scott,  and  know  that  he  received  it  the 
same  day. 

"  In  accordance  with  instructions  I 
came  to  Harper's  Ferry  on  the  21st, 
which  place  I  held  until  relieved." 

The  delay  which  ensued  in  the  advance 
of  our  army  against  the  enemy  was  an 
other  cause  of  the  defeat  at  Bull  Run. 
If  the  attack  had  been  made  at  an  earlier 
day,  Beauregard  would  have  been  caught 
at  a  time  when  the  aid  of  Johnston  must 
have  failed  him.  The  causes  which  com 
pelled  McDowell's  delay  are  best  stated 
in  his  own  words.  He  says  : 

"When  I  submitted  to  the  General- 
in-chief,  in  compliance  with  his  verbal 
instructions,  the  plan  of  operations  and 
estimate  of  force  required,  the  time  I 
was  to  proceed  to  carry  it  into  effect  was 
fixed  for  the  8th  of  July,.  Monday. 
Every  facility  possible  was  given  me  by 
the  General-in-chief  and  the  heads  of 
the  administrative  departments  in  mak 
ing  the  necessary  preparations.  But  the 
regiments,  owing,  I  was  told,  to  a  want 


of  transportation,  came  over  slowly. 
Many  of  them  did  not  come  across  till 
eight  or  nine  days  after  the  time  fixed 
upon,  and  went  forward  without  my 
even  seeing  them,  and  without  having 
been  together  before  in  a  brigade.  The 
sending  reinforcements  to  General  Pat 
terson,  by  drawing  off  the  wagons,  was 
a  further  and  unavoidable  cause  of  delay. 
Notwithstanding  the  Herculean  efforts 
of  the  Quartermaster-General,  and  his 
favoring  me  in  every  way,  the  wagons 
for  ammunition,  subsistence,  etc.,  and  the 
horses  for  the  trains  and  the  artillery, 
did  not  arrive  for  more  than  a  week 
after  the  time  appointed  to  move.  I 
was  not  even  prepared  as  late  as  the 
15th  ultimo,  and  the  desire  I  should 
move  became  great,  and  it  was  wished 
I  should  not,  if  possible,  delay  longer 
than  Tuesday,  the  16th  ultimo.  When 
I  did  set  out,  on  the  16th,  I  was  still 
deficient  in  wagons  for  subsistence.  But 
I  went  forward,  trusting  to  their  being 
procured  in  time  to  follow  me.  The 
trains  thus  hurriedly  gathered  together, 
with  horses,  wagons,  drivers,  and  wagon 
managers,  all  new  and  unused  to  each 
other,  moved  with  difficulty  and  disor 
der,  and  was  the  cause  of  a  day's  delay 
in  getting  the  provisions  forward,  mak 
ing  it  necessary  to  make  on  Sunday  the 
attack  we  should  have  made  on  Satur 
day.  I  could  not,  with  every  exertion, 
get  forward  with  the  troops  earlier  than 
we  did.  I  wished  to  go  to  Centre ville 
the  second  day,  which  would  have  taken 
us  there  on  the  17th,  and  enabled  us,  so 
far  as  they  were  concerned,  to  go  into 
action  on  the  19th,  instead  of  the  21st ; 


422 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


but  when  I  went  forward  from  Fairfax 
Court  House,  beyond  G-ermantown,  to 
urge  them  forward,  I  was  told  it  was 
impossible  for  the  men  to  march  farther. 
They  had  only  come  from  Vienna,  about 
six  miles,  and  it  was  not  more  than  six 
and  a  half  miles  farther  to  Centreville — 
in  all  a  march  of  twelve  and  a  half 
miles ;  but  the  men  were  foot  weary  ; 
not  so  much,  I  was  told,  by  the  distance 
marched,  as  by  the  time  they  had  been 
on  foot,  caused  by  the  obstructions  in 
the  road,  and  the  slow  pace  we  had  to 
move  to  avoid  ambuscades.  The  men 
were,  moreover,  unaccustomed  to  march 
ing,  their  bodies  not  in  condition  for 
that  kind  of  work,  and  not  used  to 
carrying  even  the  load  of  light  marching 
order." 

Why,  on  the  other  hand,  having  been 
compelled  to  delay  so  long,  it  was  im 
practicable  to  secure  safety  by  a  longer 
arrest  of  movement,  is  a  question  for 
the  answer  to  which  it  is  best  again  to 
refer  to  the  frank  statement  of  McDowell, 
who  says  : 

"  I  could  not,  as  I  have  said,  more 
early  push  on  faster,  nor  could  I  delay. 
A  large  and  the  best  part  of  my  forces 
were  three  months  volunteers,  whose 
term  of  service  was  about  to  expire,  but 
who  were  sent  forward  as  having  long; 

O  o 

enough  to  serve  for  the  purpose  of  the 
expedition.  On  the  eve  of  the  battle 
the  Fourth  Pennsylvania  Regiment  of 
Volunteers,  and  the  battery  of  volunteer 


artillery  of  the  New  York  Eighth  Militia, 
whose  term  of  service  expired,  insisted 
on  their  discharge.  I  wrote  to  the  regi 
ment,  expressing  a  request  for  them  to 
remain  a  short  time,  and  the  Hon.  Sec 
retary  of  War,  who  was  at  the  time  on 
the  ground,  tried  to  induce  the  battery 
to  remain  at  least  five  days.  But  in 
vain.  They  insisted  on  their  discharge 
that  night.  It  was  granted,  and  the 
next  morning,  when  the  army  moved 
forward  into  battle,  these  troops  moved 
to  the  rear  to  the  sound  of  the  enemy's 
cannon. 

"In  the  next  few  days,  day  by  day, 
I  should  have  lost  10,000  of  the  best 
armed,  drilled,  officered,  and  disciplined 
troops  in  the  army.  In  other  words, 
every  day  which  added  to  the  strength 
of  the  enemy  made  us  weaker." 

McDowell,  thus  unfavored  by  fortune, 
lost  the  battle  of  Bull  Run,  and  paid 
the  penalty  of  his  ill-success  by  being 
compelled  to  yield  the  chief  command 
to  a  younger,  and,  as  yet,  more  fortunate 
officer.  General  McClellan  superseded 
him  as  the  commander  of  the  forces  on 
the  Potomac.  McDowell,  with  the  mod 
esty  of  true  worth,  graciously  yielded 
his  place,  and,  without  a  word  of  com 
plaint,  assumed  a  subordinate  position 
under  the  younger  superior,  with  whom 
he  acted  in  perfect  accord,  ready  to  serve 
his  country  and  make  every  personal 
sacrifice  consistent  with  the  preservation 
of  personal  honor. 


APPOINTMENT  OF  FREMONT. 


CHAPTER    XXXIX. 

The  popular  call  for  Fremont. — His  popularity  explained. — The  favorite  of  the  Republican  Party. — Appointed  a  Major 
General. — Return  of  Fremont  from  France. — Command  in  the  West. — His  popularity  there. — Life  of  Fremont.— 
His  Parentage. — Marriage  of  his  Father.— Youth.— Collegiate  Education.— Dismissal  from  College. — An  early  lovo 
passage. — Teacher  of  Mathematics. — A  Cruise  at  Sea. — Professor  of  Mathematics  in  the  Navy. — A  Civil  Engineer.- 
Explorer. — A  Lieutenant  in  the  Army. — In. love  with  Jessie  Benton. — A  Runaway  Match. — Explorations. — Con- 
qaest  of  California. — Dismissed  from  the  Army. — A  Pardon  refused. — Fresh  Explorations. — A  Landowner. — Visit 
to  Europe. — Fremont's  return  to  the  United  States. — His  Command  in  the  Army.— Lingering  on  his  way  to  St. 
Louis.— Important  events  in  Missouri. — Lyon's  Exploits.— Colonel  Sigel. — His  Life  and  Career.— His  Command 
in  Missouri. — His  Advance  to  the  Southwest. — His  Force. — Moves  against  the  Enemy. — The  Battle  of  Carthage. — 
Position  of  the  Enemy.— A  graphic  account  of  the  Engagement  by  an  eye-witness. — The  Enemy's  account. — 
General  Lyon's  Advance. — His  Force.— How  diminished.— The  reported  strength  of  the  Enemy. — The  Rendezvous. 
— Crane  Creek. — A  severe  March  in  pursuit  of  the  Enemy. — Dug  Springs.— A  brilliant  Skirmish. — Return  to  Spring 
field. — An  urgent  demand  for  Reinforcements. — No  Answer. — A  Mission. — A  bootless  Errand. — The  great  Explorer 
on  his  Dignity. — A  repulsed  Official. — Lyon's  Resolve. — Apologies  for  Fremont. — Partial  Judgments. — Difficulty 
of  Decision. 


FROM  the  commencement  of  the  civil 


ISfil 

especially  among  the  "  Republi 
cans,"  for  the  services  of  Fremont.  It 
was  not  only  his  pre-eminence  in  the 
Republican  party,  of  which  he  had  been 
a  candidate  for  President,  but  the  spirit 
and  capacity  which  he  had  exhibited  in 
his  adventurous  explorations  through 
the  pathless  regions  of  the  West  and  in 
the  conquest  of  California,  which  marked 
him  out,  in  popular  estimation,  as  a 
proper  leader  in  the  war.  The  Presi 
dent  of  the  United  States,  Mr.  Lincoln, 
with  a  ready  response  to  the  universal 
acclamation  of  his  party,  and  in  graceful 
concession  to  the  claims  of  one  who  had 
juiy  been  its  chosen  chief,  at  once  ap- 
9«  pointed  Fremont  a  major-general, 
and  gave  him  the  command  of  the  West 
ern  Department.  At  the  time  of  his 


appointment  Fremont  was  in  France, 
whence,  after  exercising  his  character 
istic  energy  in  supplying  the  immediate 
needs  of  the  Federal  Government  with 
arms,  he  hastened  back  to  the  United 
States.  After  lingering  awhile  in  Wash 
ington,  in  consultation  with  the  Presi 
dent  and  cabinet  upon  the  plans  of  the 
campaign,  he  proceeded  to  St.  Louis, 
where  he  was  to  establish  his  head 
quarters.  There  was  a  general  concur 
rence  in  the  fitness  of  his  appointment 
and  great  expectations  of  his  success. 
In  the  West,  with  which  his  career  as  an 
explorer  had  identified  him,  and  where 
his  adventurous  character  was  in  sym 
pathy  with  the  pioneer  life  of  the  people, 
he  was  especially  popular.  Though 
military  formalists  may  have  doubted 
the  policy  of  appointing  a  man  with  so 
little  skill  and  experience  in  the  art  of 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


war  to  lead  a  great  army,  most  believed 
that  one  who  had  proved  himself,  in 
danger  and  difficulty,  so  capable  of  con 
trolling  his  fellows,  would  be  equal  to  all 
the  trials  of  his  new  position. 

John  Charles  Fremont  was  born  in 
Savannah,  Georgia,  on  the  21st  of  Jan 
uary,  1813.  His  father,  a  Frenchman 
by  birth,  had  emigrated  to  Norfolk,  Va., 
where  he  taught  his  native  language. 
Here  he  fell  in  love  with  a  Mrs.  Pryor, 
the  divorced  wife  of  Major  Pryor, 
forty-five  years  her  senior,  and  whom, 
through  the  influence  of  her  friends,  she 
had  been  persuaded  to  marry  while  a 
girl  of  seventeen.  The  marriage  was 
naturally  an  unhappy  one,  and  recourse 
was  had,  by  the  consent  of  both  parties, 
to  a  bill  of  divorce.  The  Major  subse 
quently  married  his  housekeeper,  and 
Mrs.  Pryor  became  the  wife  of  Fremont's 
father.  Her  maiden  name  was  Anne 
Beverly  Whiting,  and  she  claimed  to  be 
connected  by  marriage  with  the  family 
of  Washington. 

Fremont's  father  having  died  in  1818, 
his  widow  removed  to  Charleston  with 
her  three  children.  John  Charles,  her 
son,  was  sent,  at  the  age  of  fifteen,  to 
Charleston  College,  where  he  entered 
the  Junior  class.  He  was  making  good 
progress  in  his  studies,  when  he  was 
suddenly  distracted  from  his  academic 
duties  by  a  youthful  love  passage.  This 
led  to  irregularities  and  inattention, 
whicli  caused  his  expulsion  from  col 
lege.  He  now  sought  and  obtained 
employment  as  a  private  teacher  of  his 
favorite  pursuit,  the  mathematics.  In 
1833  he  was  appointed  schoolmaster  on 


board  of  the  United  States  sloop-of-war 
Natchez,  and  sailed  on  a  cruise  to  the 
coast  of  South  America. 

On  his  return  to  Charleston,  after  an 
absence  of  two  years,  he  was  honored 
by  the  college  from  which  he  had  been 
expelled,  with  the  degrees  of  bachelor 
and  master  of  arts.  Soon  after,  having 
passed  a  rigorous  examination,  he  was 
appointed  professor  of  mathematics  in 
the  navy,  and  ordered  to  the  frigate 
Independence.  He,  however,  now  de 
termined  to  give  up  the  sea,  and  betak 
ing  himself  to  civil  engineering  on  land, 
was  employed  for  awhile  on  the  railroads 
of  South  Carolina  and  Tennessee.  In 
1837  he  was,  with  Captain  Williams,  en 
gaged  in  a  military  reconnoissance  of 
the  mountainous  regions  of  Georgia, 
North  Carolina,  and  Tennessee,  made  in 
anticipation  of  a  campaign  against  the 
Cherokee  Indians.  In  1838-9  he  ac 
companied  M.  Nicollet,  appointed  by 
the  Government  to  explore  the  country 
between  the  Missouri  and  the  British 
line.  While  thus  engaged,  he  received, 
from  President  Van  Buren,  the  com 
mission  of  second  lieutenant  in  the 
corps  of  Topographical  Engineers.  In 
1840,  while  occupied  at  the  capital  in 
preparing  the  reports  of  his  expedition, 
he  fell  in  love  with  Miss  Jessie  Benton, 
the  daughter  of  Colonel  Thomas  H. 
Benton,  a  United  States  senator  from 
Missouri.  His  suit  was  accepted  by  the 
maid,  but  refused  by  her  parents  on  the 
score  of  her  extreme  youth,  she  being 
only  fifteen  years  of  age.  Fremont  soon 
after  received,  at  the  instigation  prob 
ably  of  Colonel  Benton,  a  peremptory 


FREMONT   IN   CALIFORNIA. 


425 


order  from  the  War  Department  to  pro 
ceed  on  a  survey  to  the  river  Desmoines. 
This  mission  was  rapidly  accomplished 
by  the  impatient  suitor,  who,  soon  after 
his  return,  on  the  19th  of  October,  1841, 
secretly  married  Miss  Benton. 

On  May  2, 1842,  Fremont  set  out  from 
Washington  on  an  exploration  of  the 
Rocky  Mountains,  and  particularly  the 
South  Pass,  which  had  been  suggested 
to  the  Government  by  himself.  The  re 
port  of  his  first  expedition,  which  was 
concluded  in  October,  1842,  attracted 
great  attention.  In  May,  1843,  Lieu 
tenant  Fremont  started  on  a  second  ex 
pedition,  much  more  comprehensive  in 
its  design  than  the  first,  extending 
through  the  valleys  of  the  Columbia 
River.  While  on  this  expedition  he 
crossed  the  mountains  on  the  Pacific 
coast,  reaching  Sutter's  Fort,  on  the  Sac 
ramento,  early  in  March,  1844,  after 
forty  days  of  great  trial  and  suffering. 
The  preparation  of  the  report  of  this 
expedition  occupied  the  remainder  of 
that  year,  and  in  the  spring  of  1845, 
having  been  brevetted  captain,  he  started 
on  a  third  expedition,  to  explore  the 
great  basin  and  maritime  region  of 
Oregon  and  California.  This  expedition 
was  full  of  stirring  incident.  The  Mexi 
can  war  having,  in  the  mean  time,  broken 
out,  Fremont  was  diverted  from  the 
scientific  object  of  his  exploration  by  a 
call  to  arms.  He  defended  himself 
bravely  and  skilfully  against  the  Mexi 
can  General  Castro,  who  threatened  to 
attack  him  with  an  overwhelming  force. 
Subsequently,  under  Fremont's  leader 
ship,  the  Californians  succeeded  in  ex- 

54 


pelling  Castro  from  the  northern  part  of 
the  territory,  and  on  July  4  the  Ameri 
can  settlers  elected  Fremont  governor. 
About  this  time  he  was  promoted  to  a 
lieutenant-colonelcy,  and  on  January  13, 
1847.  he  concluded  with  the  Mexicans 
articles  of  capitulation  which  terminated 
the  war  in  California,  and  left  that  coun 
try  in  possession  of  the  United  States. 

Having  quarrelled  with  General  Kear 
ney,  his  superior  in  command,  Fremont 
was  refused  permission  to  join  the.  army 
in  Mexico,  and  ultimately  was  court- 
martialed  and  sentenced  to  be  dismissed 
from  the  service.  President  Polk  re 
mitted  the  penalty,  but  Fremont  refused 
to  avail  himself  of  the  favor,  declaring 
that  he  was  not  conscious  of  having  done 
anything  to  merit  the  finding  of  the 
court.  In  October,  1848,  he  started  on 
a  fourth  exploring  expedition,  along  the 
waters  of  the  Upper  Rio  Grande  and 
through  the  country  of  the  Apaches, 
Camanches,  etc.,  hoping  to  find  a  prac 
ticable  route  to  California.  This  expe 
dition  also  proved  one  of  great  trial  and 
suffering.  Having  purchased  a  vast 
tract  of  land  in  California,  known  as  the 
Mariposa  estate,  Fremont  has  the  pros 
pect  of  great  wealth,  though  for  the 
present  embarrassed  by  lawsuits  and 
heavy  mortgages.  In  1849  he  was 
elected  one  of  the  United  States  senators 
from  California,  drawing  the  short  term 
and  serving  but  three  weeks.  In  1852 
he  visited  Europe,  where  he  was  received 
with  every  mark  of  respect  by  eminent 
men  of  letters  and  of  science.  In  1853 
he  made  a  fifth  and  highly  successful 
exploring  expedition,  between  the  Mis- 


426 


THE  WAR  WITH   THE  SOUTH. 


eissippi  Valley  and  the  Pacific,  and  in 
1856  was  nominated  by  the  Republicans 
as  their  candidate  for  the  Presidency. 
He  received  114  electoral  votes,  and 
was  defeated  by  Mr.  Buchanan,  who 
had  174.  Returning  to  California  in 
1858,  he  devoted  himself  to  the  care  of 
his  vast  estates  until  February,  1861, 
when  he  departed  for  Europe,  whence  he 
was  summoned,  as  we  have  seen,  to  bear 
an  important  part  in  the  present  war. 

While  Fremont  was  still  lingering  on 
his  route  to  St.  Louis,  important  events 
were  occurring  in  Missouri.  The  ener 
getic  movements  of  General  Lyon,  his 
expedition  up  the  Missouri  River,  his 
seizure  of  Jefferson  City,  the  capital,  his 
expulsion  of  the  secession  bands  at 
Booneville,  his  possession  of  that  town, 
and  his  march  to  the  southwestern  part 
of  the  State,  where  the  enemy  were 
mustering  in  force,  have  been  already 
recorded.  General  Lyon  was  spiritedly 
seconded  in  his  efforts  to  establish  the 
Federal  authority  by  his  subaltern,  Col 
onel  Sigel. 

Franz  Sigel  was  born  in  the  Duchy 
of  Baden,  in  Germany.  During  the 
revolution  of  1848  he  sided  with  the 
liberals,  and  under  the  provisional  gov 
ernment  was  appointed  to  command  the 
republican  forces  of  the  Grand  Duchy 
of  Baden.  He  proved  himself  a  skilful 
general ;  but  when  the  revolutionary 
government  was  overturned,  and  its  army 
obliged  to  yield  to  the  reactionary  move 
ment  in  Germany  aided  by  the  armed 
force  of  Prussia,  Sigel,  like  Hecker  and 
other  German  patriots,  made  his  escape 
to  the  United  States.  Making  St.  Louis 


his  home,  he  raised  in  that  city,  on  the 
commencement  of  the  civil  war,  a  regi 
ment  of  Germans,  who  appointed  him 
their  colonel.  So  great  was  the  trust  of 
his  fellow-countryman,  Hecker,  in  his 
skill  as  a  military  leader,  that  he  left  his 
home  in  Illinois,  to  which  he  had  retired, 
and  entered  the  ranks  of  Sigel's  regiment 
as  a  private,  together  with  his  son,  whom 
he  had  brought  with  him.  Soon  after 
Hecker  was  summoned  back  to  Illinois 
to  assume  the  command  of  a  regiment 
of  Germans  formed  in  that  State.  He 
at  first  refused,  declaring  that  he  had  no 
higher  ambition  than  to  serve  as  a  pri 
vate  under  his  old  friend  Sigel,  but 
finally  yielded  to  the  persevering  de 
mands  of  his  fellow-citizens  in  Illinois, 
and  returned  there  to  take  command  of 
a  regiment  of  Jagers.  Sigel  was  urged 
by  the  Germans  of  New  York  to  become 
the  general  of  a  brigade,  but  refused, 
declaring  that  Missouri  presented  a 
wider  field  of  usefulness,  and  that  he 
did  not  care  to  desert  the  loyal  Germans 
of  his  own  adopted  State.  Though  still 
a  young  man,  Sigel's  foreign  experience 
as  a  military  leader  had  made  him  one 
of  the  most  accomplished  officers,  and 
he  gave  proof  on  various  occasions  dur 
ing  the  fierce  conflict  in  Missouri,  that 
he  not  only  was  versed  in  the  military 
art,  but  possessed  that  rare  aptitude  for 
command  which  comes  only  from  nature. 
Sigel  had  pushed  on  in  advance  of 
Lyon,  and  had  penetrated,  after  various 
encounters  with  the  secession  bands 
of  Missouri,  to  the  extreme  southwest 
of  the  State.  While  encamped  at  Neo- 
sho,  on  the  river  of  that  name,  in  the 


ENEMY'S  ACCOUNT. 


429 


hotly  contested  encounter  of  the  day. 
Over  two  hundred  rebels  bit  the  dust ; 
our  loss  was  eight  killed  and  about 
twenty  wounded.  One  officer,  Captain 
Strodmann,  was  wounded.  Our  cannon 
fired  ninety-five  rounds.  When  the 
enemy  retreated  to  .Carthage,  about  a 
mile  from  the  place  of  engagement,  Col 
onel  Sigel  had  got  his  troops  into  the 
wood,  where  they  were  secure  from  any 
further  attack." 

Although  exhausted  by  ten  hours' 
severe  fighting  in  the  heat,  and  suffer 
ing  intensely  from  thirst,  Colonel  Sigel 
ordered  his  forces  to  press  on  toward 
Sarcoxie.  Thence  the  retreat  was  con 
tinued  to  Mount  Vernon,  Lawrence 
County,  and  finally  a  junction  was 
formed  with  General  Lyon  at  Spring 
field,  whose  movements  will  be  soon  re 
lated. 

The  following  is  the  enemy's  account 
of  the  affair  at  Carthage,  as  given  by 
one  of  their  officers,  Colonel  Hughes,  in 
a  letter  to  the  editor  of  the  Liberty  (Mo.) 
Tribune  : 

"  CAMP  NEAR  CARTHAGE,  ON  THE  SPRING  ) 
RIVER,  Saturday,  July  6,  1861.  j 
"  On  the  4th  of  July  our  army  effect 
ed  a  junction  with  Jackson's  and  Gen 
eral  Parsons'  division  at  Rupe's  Creek, 
which  had  fallen  back  from  Booneville. 
Our  forces  being  thus  augmented,  we 
took  up  the  line  of  march  southward  on 
the  morning  of  the  5th.  The  day  was 
bright — the  inarch  was  upon  a  high 
prairie  plain.  We  met  the  enemy  at 
eleven  o'clock  A.M.,  advancing  upon  us. 
We  immediately  drew  up  our  lines  of 
battle.  The  cannonading  commenced 


vigorously  on  both  sides  at  the  same 
time,  at  a  distance  of  300  yards  or  more. 
The  enemy  were  2,500  strong.  We  had 
in  action  perhaps  about  the  same  num 
ber.  We  were  poorly  armed  compared 
to  the  National  troops. 

"  After  one  hour  of  severe  cannonad 
ing,  the  enemy  fell  back  about  one  mile 
to  a  better  position  across  a  branch  of 
the  Spring  River.  Here  the  action  was 
renewed,  and  a  brisk  fight  ensued,  in 
which  the  small-arms  took  part.  The 
National  troops  were  also  dislodged  from 
this  position,  after  a  severe  conflict. 
The  enemy  then  fell  back  in  good  order 
to  another  position  on  the  next  creek, 
two  miles  distant.  Here  another  sharp 
conflict  ensued,  in  which  there  was  loss 
on  both  sides,  the  National  troops  re 
treating  all  the  while,  and  the  infantry 
on  our  part  vigorously  pursuing  them  in 
front,  and  the  cavalry  endeavoring  to 
flank  and  annoy  them  in  the  rear.  I 
cannot  now  give  the  particulars  of  these 
several  engagements.  The  loss  on  both 
sides  was  considerable. 

"  The  National  troops  now  retreated 
arid  crossed  the  Spring  River  (the  hand 
somest  stream  I  ever  beheld)  and  took 
position  at  Carthage.  Here  they  made 
the  strongest  stand.  We  surrounded 
the  town  with  our  infantry,  the  cavalry 
still  flanking  to  the  right  and  left.  After 
an  obstinate  resistance  the  enemy  were 
dislodged  and  d.-iven  out  of  town,  and 
took  his  last  position  on  a  hill  south  of  the 
town  one  mile.  Here  the  cannonading 
was  spiritedly  renewed  on  both  sides. 
About  sundown  he  was  forced  from  his 
last  stronghold  and  pursued  in  the  di- 


THE  WAR.  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


rection  of  Sarcoxie.  The  chase  on  our 
part  and  the  retreat  on  the  part  of  the 
enemy  became  general,  and  a  running 
fire  for  several  miles  was  vigorously 
kept  up,  in  which  the  National  troops 
suffered  severely. 

"  Our  infantry  did  most  of  the  fight 
ing,  and  the  cavalry  was  raw  and  rather 
poorly  equipped.  At  dark  the  chase  was 
abandoned,  and  we  returned  to  Carthage, 
and  encamped.  It  is  just  to  observe 
that  at  this  point  of  time  the  cavalry 
had  effected  their  passage  through  the 
heavy  timber  skirting  the  Spring  River, 
and  advanced  to  the  attack  ;  and  after 
the  infantry  had  ceased  firing,  and  the 
men  drawn  off  from  exhaustion,  the  cav 
alry  annoyed  the  enemy  for  an  hour,  by 
galling  them  in  the  rear  and  flanks,  kill 
ing  several  and  capturing  a  portion  of 
their  trains. 

"  In  all  this  running  fight,  of  six  or 
seven  hours,  our  infantry  advanced 
steadily  upon  the  enemy,  and  stood  the 
fire  like  veterans.  The  artillery  under 
Colonel  Weightman,  and  the  infantry  in 
general,  stood  the  brunt  of  the  battle, 
and  bore  themselves  gallantly.  My  own 
regiment,  800  strong,  had  the  post  of 
danger  all  the  day.  Our  loss  was  more 
severe  than  that  of  any  other  part  of  the 
army.  We  had  the  front  position  in 
every  attack  made.  We  have  lost  some 
of  our  best  men.  In  the  several  actions 
had  in  the  '  running  battle  of  Carthage/ 
we  had  fifteen  killed  and  some  forty 
wounded — and  these  our  very  best  and 
most  gallant  men.  Some  seven  or  eight 
of  the  wounded  must  die. 

"  We  have  lost  some  two  or  three 


captains  killed,  and  my  sergeant-major, 
Hyde,  I  fear  is  mortally  wounded.  He 
was  one  of  the  bravest  and  best  officers 
in  the  army.  He  is  at  Carthage,  in 
charge  of  the  physicians.  Captain  Stone, 
of  Utica,  and  Captain  McKenzie,  were 
both  killed,  gallantly  fighting  at  the 
head  of  their  companies.  The  loss  of 
the  enemy  was  130  killed  and  some  300 
wounded,  and  some  20  prisoners,  and 
one  piece  of  cannon,  and  several  baggage- 
wagons,  and  a  lot  of  horses.  A  vigor 
ous  concerted  effort  of  the  infantry  and 
cavalry  would  have  captured  the  entire 
army.  They  retreated  to  Springfield. 
My  own  regiment  suffered  more  than 
any  other  in  the  engagement,  and  were 
among  the  last  to  quit  the  pursuit. 

"The  extra  battalion  from  Clay,  and 
Pratte,  Major  'C.  C.  Thornton,  Captains 
McCarty,  Thompson,  and  Stewart,  ren 
dered  me  effectual  and  valuable  service, 
and  fought  gallantly.  Many  others  de 
serve  special  mention,  and  will  no  doubt 
receive  merited  applause  in  General 
Slack's  official  report  to  the  Q-eneral-in- 
chief. 

"  On  yesterday  we  were  reinforced  by 
General  Sterling  Price,  and  General 
Benjamin  McCullough,  and  General 
Pierce,  of  Texas  and  Arkansas.  They 
brought  5,000  troops,  and  4,000  more 
in  the  rear.  The  State  Government  of 
Missouri  must  be  re-established  and  the 
liberties  of  the  people  restored.  When 
we  return,  this  is  our  motto  :  '  We  come 
to  deliver  you.' ' 

General  Lyon  started  upon  his  cam 
paign  to  the  southwest  of  Missouri  jtt\y 
with  only  2,000  men.  His  force,  3< 


LYON   SEEKS  THE  ENEM1 


431 


however,  increased  on  the  march  by  the 
junction  of  various  detachments,  so  that 
j,,jy  on  reaching  Springfield  it  counted 
20.  about  10,000;  but  many  of  his 
troops  being  volunteers  for  three  months, 
and  their  time  having  expired,  Lyon's 
army  was  reduced  by  the  1st  of  August 
to  6,000. 

The  enemy  were  reported  by  the 
Federal  scouts  to  be  30,000  strong,  who 
were  about  marching  to  meet  General 
Lyon,  in  two  columns  from  Cassville  and 
Sarcoxie,  under  the  command  of  Gen. 
McCulloch,  the  noted  Texan  ranger. 

Lyon  determined  to  advance  and  en 
counter  the  enemy  in  spite  of  their  re- 
Auw.  puted  strength.  Leaving  a  small 
1»  guard  at  Springfield,  he  ordered 
the  various  detachments  of  the  rest  of 
his  little  army  to  rendezvous  at  Crane 
Creek,  ten  miles  south  of  that  place. 
Early  next  morning  (the  2d  of  August) 
the  combined  force  began  its  march  from 
Crane  Creek.  The  route  was  along  the 
ridge  which  divides  the  waters  which 
fall  into  the  Missouri  and  White  rivers. 
The  midsummer  day  was  excessively  hot, 
and  as  the  men  marched  under  a  glaring 
sun,  amid  clouds  of  dust  raised  by  the 
moving  column,  they  were  fevered  with 
heat  and  thirst,  for  which  there  was 
but  little  relief  in  a  country  parched  at 
that  season  to  extreme  dryness.  Of  the 
usual  streams  there  were  no  traces  but 
in  their  dry  beds  of  rock.  The  few 
wells  and  springs  were  either  dried  up 
by  the  drought  of  the  summer,  or  ex 
hausted  by  those  thirsty  soldiers  who 
happened  to  be  the  first  to  reach  them. 
Upon  the  ridges  and  sides  of  the  lime 


stone  hills,  over  which  the  road  lay, 
there  were  trees,  but  these  were  only 
stunted  oak  saplings,  which  afforded  but 
little  shade  for  man  or  beast. 

The  troops,  though  greatly  fatigued, 
kept  up  a  manful  spirit,  which  was  en 
couraged  by  the  prospect  of  soon  meet 
ing  the  enemy,  whom  the  loyal  country 
men  on  the  road  reported  to  be  but  a 
few  miles  distant. 

At  about  eleven  o'clock  in  the  morn 
ing  the  skirmishers  discovered  several 
mounted  men  of  the  enemy.  A  six- 
pounder  being  brought  to  the  front  and 
a  shell  fired,  they  immediately  dispersed. 
The  march  was  now  continued  with 
greater  caution,  and  the  woods  and 
thickets  on  either  side  of  the  road  care 
fully  beaten  to  provide  against  the 
chances  of  surprise  and  ambuscades. 

On  reaching  Dug  Springs,  about 
nineteen  miles  south  of  Springfield,  great 
clouds  of  dust  were  seen  rising  along  the 
base  and  sides  of  the  hills  which  bor 
dered  the  valley  in  the  distance.  As 
our  troops  advanced,  large  bodies  of  men, 
both  mounted  and  on  foot,  could  be  dis 
tinctly  discerned,  and  soon  were  heard 
the  sharp  reports  of  the  rifle,  showing 
that  the  Federal  advanced  guard  had 
already  arrived  within  shot  of  the 
enemy. 

A  spirited  fire  was  begun  by  our  skir 
mishers,  when  the  enemy  strove  to  cut 
them  off.  Captain  Stanley,  however, 
with  his  company  of  cavalry,  made  a 
dashing  charge  and  drove  them  back. 
As  the  enemy  strove  to  regain  their  lost 
ground,  Captain  Totten  dispersed  them 
with  a  fire  of  shells  from  guns  he  had 


432 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


planted  on  a  commanding  hill.  In  this 
preliminary  skirmish  the  Federals  had  4 
killed  and  5  wounded,  but  the  enemy's 
loss  was  supposed  to  be  much  greater. 

It  was  thought  that  this  would  have 
led  to  a  general  engagement,  but  the 
enemy  retired,  and  Lyon  followed  in 
pursuit.  He  thus  proceeded  day  after 
day,  having  an  occasional  skirmish  with 
detached  rebel  troops,  and  pursuing  a 
difficult  march,  which  was  testing  the 
strength  and  perseverance  of  his  men  to 
the  utmost,  until  finding  that  the  enemy 
were  in  overpowering  numbers,  and 
threatening  to  cut  off  his  communica 
tions,  he  determined  to  return  toward 
Springfield. 

On  reaching  this  place,  General  Lyon 
telegraphed  to  General  Fremont  at 
Washington,  urgently  asking  for  rein 
forcements.  Receiving  no  answer,  and 
Fremont  having  in  the  mean  time  arrived 
at  St.  Louis,  he  sent  three  or  four  special 
messengers  to  him  there,  to  state  his 
needs  and  urgently  solicit  the  required 
aid.  Lyon  not  only  wanted  more  men, 
but  supplies  for  those  he  had,  who  had 
been  for  some  time  on  half  rations  of 
bread.  His  messengers  were  commend 
ed  by  the  impressive  sanction  of  high 
position,  one  being  a  former  Secretary 
of  State  and  the  other  a  member  of  Con 
gress,  and  by  thorough  acquaintance 
with  the  perilous  position  of  the  South 
west,  of  which  both  were  residents. 
They  failed,  however,  to  obtain  a  hearing 
after  having  forced  their  way  through 
the  imposing  throng  of  guards  and  fav 


ored  suitors  who  hedged  in  the  great  ex 
plorer,  like  the  parasites  and  Janizaries 
of  some  Eastern  monarch.  The  chief 
officer  of  the  State,  Governor  Gamble, 
presuming  upon  his  official  dignity, 
strove  to  make  an  impression  upon  the 
exclusive  Fremont.  He,  too,  though 
urgently  appealing  to  the  Commander- 
in-chief  to  send  aid  to  General  Lyon, 
met  with  no  favorable  response. 

The  spirited  Lyon,  notwithstanding, 
was  resolutely  determined  to  meet  the 
enemy.  His  daring  spirit  and  devoted 
patriotism,  or  an  excessive  confidence  in 
his  superior — which  led  him  to  hope 
that  the  succor  he  demanded  would  still 
be  conceded — may  have  carried  him 
beyond  the  bounds  of  prudence.  It 
must  not  be  forgotten,  in  fairness  to 
General  Fremont,  that  he  himself  was 
surrounded  with  difficulty.  Embarrassed 
with  the  overwhelming  labors  of  organiz 
ing  and  equipping  an  army,  and  dis 
tracted  by  the  diversified  claims  upon  a 
military  leadership,  for  the  duties  of 
which  he  was  ill-prepared  by  previous 
study  and  experience,  it  was  not  surpris 
ing  that  Fremont  should  have  erred,  if 
error  there  was,  in  not  responding  to 
the  urgent  demand  of  Lyon.  Though 
of  undoubted  patriotism,  eminent  as  an 
explorer,  and  prominent  as  a  former 
candidate  for  the  Presidency,  that  ho  was 
yet  unfit  to  be  intrusted  with  important 
command  became  evident  finally  ;  and 
he  must  be  classed  among  those  com 
manders  who,  prominent  when  the  war 
began,  were  almost  forgotten  at  its  close. 


BEN  McCULLOCH. 


433 


CHAPTER    XL. 

o  Enemy  in  pursuit  of  Lyon. — Ben  McCulloch  in  command  of  the  Secessionists. — Life  and  Career  of  McCulloch. — 
Birth. — Parentage. — A  young  Huntsman. — Success  with  the  Bears. — A  Trapper  of  the  West. — In  Texas. — At  the 
Battle  of  San  Jacinto. — Commands  the  Rangers  in  the  Mexican  War  — Good  services  of  McCulloch. — Marshal  in 
Texas. — The  Texan  Ranger  a  Peace  Commissioner. — His  Qualifications. — In  Washington. — A  Plot  to  seize  the 
Capital. — Sent  to  the  West. — His  Character. — Raises  a  Regiment. — Sterling  Price,  bis  Life,  Career,  and  Character. 
— Services  in  Mexico. — His  capacity. — Movement  of  the  Secessionists. — Determined  to  strike. — Anticipated  by  Lyon. 
— Plans  of  Lyon — Divisions  of  his  Force. — The  Battle  of  Wilson's  Creek  — Official  Report  of  Major  Sturgis. — Offi 
cial  Report  of  Colonel  Sigel. — The  comparative  strength  of  the  two  Antagonists  —Contradictory  Reports  — Embar 
rassment  of  the  Historian. — The  Death  of  Lyon. — His  Characteristics. — His  devotion  to  his  Country. — The  great 
ness  of  his  Loss — Something  more  than  a  Man  of  Art. — A  presentiment  of  Evil. — His  sadness. — Ominous  Talk. — 
Exposure  to  Danger. — "I  am  satisfied." — Wounds. — Disregard  of  Lyon. — The  Day  lost. — A  last  and  fatal  Charge. — 
Lyon  in  the  van. — A  fatal  bhot — A  lall. — Last  Words. — Death. — A  Memorial  of  disinterested  Patriotism. 


1861. 


ON  the  return  of  General  Lyon  to 
Springfield,  the  enemy  turned  back 
and  followed  in  pursuit  of  him. 
The  secessionists  concentrated  their 
forces  at  Crane  Creek,  where  General 
j^ug,  Price  yielded  the  command  of  the 
*•  army  to  the  noted  Ben  McCulloch. 

This  famous  partisan  chief  was  born 
in  Rutherford  County,  Tennessee,  in 
the  year  1814.  His  father  had  ac 
quired  considerable  military  fame  in 
border  warfare,  having  served  as  aide- 
de-camp  to  General  Coffee,  and  under 
General  Jackson  in  the  Indian  cam 
paigns  of  the  West,  and  at  the  battle  of 
New  Orleans.  His  son  Ben,  while  yet 
a  youth,  showed  great  fondness  for 
adventure,  and  at  the  age  of  four 
teen  was  foremost  among  a  band  of 
juvenile  bear-hunters.  Such  was  his 
success  in  this  career,  that  he  was 
known  to  have  killed  eighty  bears  in  a 
single  season. 

At   the    age    of    twenty-one,    young 

K5 


McCulloch  set  out  for  St.  Louis,  to  join 
a  company  of  trappers  in  an  expedition 
to  the  Rocky  Mountains.  Arriving  too 
late,  he  offered  his  services  to  a  party  of 
Santa  FC*  traders,  but  for  some  reason  or 
other  was  again  disappointed.  He  now 
sought  in  the  wilds  of  Texas,  then  be 
longing  to  Mexico,  and  inhabited  only  by 
adventurers,  Indians,  and  half-breeds — 
among  whom  he  made  his  home — scope 
for  the  free  exercise  of  his  untamed  spirit 
of  adventure.  When  General  Houston 
rallied  about  him  the  settlers  from  the 
United  States  and  struck  a  blow  for  the 
independence  of  Texas,  McCulloch  was 
among  the  first  to  offer  his  services.  At 
the  battle  of  San  Jacinto  he  commanded 
a  gun,  and  gallantly  bore  his  part  in 
winning  that  decisive  victory,  which 
wrested  Texas  from  Mexican  rule.  On 
the  breaking  out  of  the  Mexican  war,  in 
consequence  of  the  recognition  and  an 
nexation  of  Texas  by  the  United  States, 
McCulloch  raised  a  band  of  mounted 


434 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE   SOUTH. 


Texans,  called  Rangers,  and  was  chosen 
their  chief.  Practiced  in  guerrilla  war 
fare  against  the  Mexicans  and  Indians, 
whom  he  had  often  met  in  border 
forays,  he  was  peculiarly  fit  for  the  ser 
vice  of  scouring  the  country,  of  which 
he  knew  every  mile,  and  following  the 
traces  of  an  artful  enemy.  His  band 
was  accordingly  employed  by  General 
Taylor,  at  the  commencement  of  the 
campaign  against  Mexico,  as  scouts,  and 
did  effective  service.  After  serving  with 
General  Taylor  at  Resaca  de  la  Palma, 
Palo  Alto,  and  Buena  Yista,  McCulloch 
joined  General  Scott's  army,  and  en 
tered  with  it  the  capital  of  Mexico. 
After  peace  was  declared  he  returned  to 
Texas,  where  he  was  appointed  by 
President  Pierce  to  the  lucrative  office 
of  United  States  marshal.  When  Presi 
dent  Buchanan  put  forth  his  authority 
to  suppress  the  rebellion  in  Utah,  he 
selected,  with  his  characteristic  sense  of 
official  fitness,  Ben  McCulloch,  the  wild 
bear-hunter  and  dashing  Texan  ranger, 
as  one  of  the  peace  commissioners ! 
"  A  post,"  says  a  contemporary  writer, 
"  he  was  about  as  well  qualified  to  fill 
as  Mr.  Elihu  Burritt,  the  learned  black 
smith,  would  be  to  command  an  army." 
At  the  beginning  of  our  civil  troubles 
McCulloch  made  his  appearance  in  Vir 
ginia,  and  even  ventured  to  show  himself 
in  Washington,  where  he  was  suspected 
to  be  laying  a  plan  for  taking,  in  con 
junction  with  his  fellow-conspirators,  the 
capital  by  a  coup  de  main.  The  Con 
federate  Government,  however,  distrust 
ing  his  discretion,  sent  him  to  Mis 
souri,  where  his  peculiar  and  irregular 


mode  of  warfare  could  be  practiced  to 
greater  advantage.  His  fame  for  bold 
ness  of  spirit,  fertility  of  expedient,  and 
indifference  to  the  formality  of  law 
attracted  to  his  standard  all  the  daring 
and  unscrupulous  adventurers  of  the 
West,  and  he  was  enabled  to  raise  a 
large  and  effective  force  of  men.  His 
regiment,  which  he  termed  the  .Texan 
Rangers,  was  soon  swollen  to  an  army. 
On  forming  a  junction  with  the  secession 
forces  of  Missouri,  the  general  command 
was,  for  the  moment,  as  has  been  already 
stated,  transferred  to  the  Texan  chief, 
by  General  Price,  who  now  claims  notice. 
Sterling  Price  was  born  in  Virginia, 
but  emigrated  to  Missouri,  where  he 
became  a  leading  man.  He  was  a  rep 
resentative  in  Congress  from  1845  to 
1847.  When  war  was  declared  against 
Mexico,  he  raised  a  regiment  of  Missouri 
volunteers,  and  was  chosen  their  colonel. 
He  did  gallant  service  in  the  campaign, 
and  was  rewarded  by  promotion  to  the 
rank  of  brigadier-general.  In  the  battle 
of  Canada,  New  Mexico,  where  he  was 
the  chief  in  command,  he  was  wounded. 
At  the  battle  of  Santa  Cruz  de  Rosales 
he  also  Commanded,  and  proved  himself 
a  gallant  leader.  At  the  close  of  the  war 
he  resigned  his  commission  and  retired 
to  private  life  in  Missouri.  His  birth  as 
a  Virginian  naturally  associated  him  with 
the  advocates  of  slavery,  and  on  the 
commencement  of  the  civil  troubles  he 
openly  declared  for  secession.  A  close 
friend  of  Governor  Jackson,  he  joined 
him  in  every  movement  to  wrest  the 
State  of  Missouri  from  its  loyalty  to  the 
Union.  Energetic,  politic,  and  devoted 


BATTLE   OF  SPRINGFIELD. 


435 


to  the  interests  of  slave-owners,  he  is 
one  of  the  shrewdest,  most  active,  and 
determined  of  the  adherents  to  the  South 
ern  cause.  He  has,  moreover,  shown, 
notwithstanding  his  want  of  a  military 
education,  that  he  is  not  unskilled  in 
the  conduct  of  a  war  like  that  in  Mis 
souri,  where  the  formalities  of  art  are 
often  compelled  to  yield  to  the  force  of 
circumstances. 

The  combined  army  of  the  secession 
ists  started  from  Crane  Creek  in  eager 
pursuit  of  General  Lyon,  whom  they  ex 
pected  to  overtake  before  he  should 
reach  Springfield ;  but  after  a  forced 
march  of  seventeen  miles,  the  men  were 
so  prostrated  by  the  heat  and  dust  that 
they  were  obliged  to  encamp  at  Moody's 
Spring.  Early  next  morning  the  enemy 
Anv  resumed  their  march  and  moved  to 

Jlllgl 

5«  Wilson's  Creek,  ten  miles  south 
west  of  Springfield.  Here  they  posted 
themselves  and  awaited  an  attack  from 
General  Lyon.  After  a  delay  of  several 
days,  McCulloch  determined  again  to 
advance,  and  his  men  were  kept  under 
arms  all  night,  ready  to  march  at  break 
Au<r,  of  day.  In  the  mean  time,  it  was 

W»  discovered  that  General  Lyon  him 
self  was  approaching,  to  give  battle. 
The  enemy  made  rapid  preparations  to 
meet  the  attack. 

Lyon  having  determined  not  to  await 
the  coming  of  the  secessionists,  who  he 
did  not  doubt  could  with  their  large  num 
bers  readily  surround  him  at  Springfield, 
boldly  decided  to  strike  a  blow  against 
them  in  their  own  camp.  He  made  his 
plans  accordingly,  and  marched  with  his 
whole  force  at  the  break  of  day.  His 


army  moved  in  two  columns,  the 
first  under  his  own  immediate  com-  W» 
mand,  and  the  second  under  Colonel 
Sigel.  General  Lyon's  plan  was  to  at 
tack  simultaneously  the  two  extremities 
of  the  camp  of  the  enemy,  which  ex 
tended  for  three  miles  along  Wilson's 
Creek.  Against  one  end  he  was  to  lead 
the  division  commanded  by  himself; 
against  the  other,  Sigel  was  directed  to 
advance  with  his  force.  This  separated 
the  lines  of  march. 

Major  Sturgis,  upon  whom  devolved 
the  duty  of  making  the  report  of  Lyon's 
movement,  thus  describes  the  march  and 
the  subsequent  engagement  of  the  first 
column. 

"General  Lyon,"  he  says,  "marched 
from  Springfield  at  five  o'clock  P.M.,  on 
the  9th,  making  a  detour  to  the  right — 
at  one  o'clock  in  the  morning  arriving  in 
view  of  the  enemy's  guard-fires.  Here 
the  column  halted,  and  lay  on  their  arms 
until  the  dawn  of  day,  when  it  again 
moved  forward.  Captain  Gilbert's  com 
pany,  which  had  formed  the  advance 
during  the  night,  still  remained  in  ad 
vance,  and  the  column  moved  in  the  same 
order  in  which  it  had  halted. 

"  A  south-easterly  direction  was  now 
taken,  with  a  view  to  strike  the  extreme 
northern  point  of  the  enemy's  camp. 
At  daylight  a  line  of  battle  was  formed, 
closely  followed  by  Totten's  battery, 
supported  by  a  strong  reserve.  In  this 
order  we  advanced,  with  skirmishers  in 
front,  until  the  first  out-post  of  the 
rebels  was  encountered  and  driven  in, 
when  the  column  was  halted,  and  the 
following  dispositions  ma.de,  viz.,  Captain 


436 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


Plummer's  battalion,  with  the  Home 
Guard  on  his  left,  were  to  cross  Wilson' 
Creek  and  move  toward  the  front,  keep 
ing  pace  with  the  advance  on  the  left 
opposite  bank,  for  the  purpose  of  pro 
tecting  our  left  flank  against  any  attempt 
of  the  enemy  to  turn  it.  After  crossing 
a  ravine  and  ascending  a  high  ridge,  we 
came  in  full  view  of  a  considerable  force 
of  the  enemy's  skirmishers.  Major 
Osterhaus'  battalion  was  at  once  de 
ployed  to  the  right,  and  two  companies 
of  the  First  Missouri  Volunteers,  under 
Captains  Yates  and  Cavender,  were  de 
ployed  to  the  left,  all  as  skirmishers. 
The  firing  now  became  very  severe,  and 
it  was  evident  we  were  approaching  the 
enemy's  stronghold,  where  they  intended 
giving  battle.  A  few  shells  from  Tot- 
ten's  battery  assisted  our  skirmishers  in 
clearing  the  ground  in  front. 

"  The  First  Missouri  and  First  Kansas 
moved  to  the  front,  supported  by  Tot- 
ten's  battery,  and  the  First  Iowa  Regi 
ment,  Dubois'  battery,  Steele's  battalion, 
and  the  Second  Kansas  were  held  in  re 
serve.  The  First  Missouri  now  took  its 
position  in  the  front,  upon  the  crest  of 
a  small  elevated  plateau.  The  First 
Kansas  was  posted  on  the  left  of  the 
First  Missouri,  and  separated  from  it 
some  sixty  yards  on  account  of  a  ravine. 
The  First  Iowa  took  its  position  on  the 
left  of  the  First  Kansas,  while  Totten's 
battery  was  placed  opposite  the  interval 
between  the  First  Kansas  and  First 
Missouri.  Major  Osterhaus'  battalion 
occupied  the  extreme  right,  with  his 
right  resting  on  a  ravine  which  turned 
abruptly  to  our  right  and  rear.  Dubois7 


battery,  supported  by  Steele's  battalion, 
was  placed  some  eighty  yards  to  the  left 
and  rear  of  Totten's  guns,  'so  as  to  bear 
upon  a  powerful  battery  of  the  enemy, 
posted  to  our  left  and  front,  on  the  op 
posite  side  of  Wilson's  Creek,  to  sweep 
the  entire  plateau  upon  which  our  troops 
were  formed. 

"  The    enemy    now    rallied    in    large 
force  near  the  foot  of  the  slope,   and 
under  considerable  cover,  opposite  our 
left  wing,  and  along  the  slope  in  front 
and  on  our  right  toward  the  crest  of  the 
main  ridge  running  parallel  to  the  creek. 
During    this    time,    Captain    Plummer, 
with  his  four  companies  of  infantry,  had 
moved  down  a  ridge  about  500   yards 
to  our  left,  and  separated  from  us  by  a 
deep    ravine,    and   reached    its    abrupt 
terminus,   where   he   found   its  further 
progress  arrested  by  a  large  force  of  in 
fantry  occupying  a  cornfield  in  the  val 
ley  in  his  front.     At  this  moment  an 
artillery  fire  was   opened  from   a  high 
point  about  two  miles  distant,  and  nearly 
in  our  front,  from  which  Colonel  Sigel 
was   to   have    commenced    his    attack. 
This  fire  was  answered  from  the  oppo 
site  side  of  the  valley,  and  at  a  little 
greater    distance   from  us,   the   line  of 
fire  of  the  two  batteries  being   nearly 
perpendicular  to  our  own.     After  about 
ten  or  twelve  shots  on  either  side,  the 
firing  ceased,  and  we  neither  heard  nor 
saw  anything  more  of   General   Sigcl's 
brigade     until     about     half-past    eight 
o'clock,  when  a  brisk  cannonading  was 
leard  for  a  few  minutes,  about  a  mile 
to  the  right  of  that  heard  before,  and 
from  two  to  three  miles  distant. 


BATTLE   OF   WILSON'S   CREEK. 


437 


"  Our  whole  line  now  advanced  with 
much  energy  upon  the  enemy's  position, 
the  firing,  which  had  been  spirited  for 
the  last  half  hour,  now  increasing  to  a 
continuous  roar.  During  this  time  Cap 
tain  Totten's  battery  came  into  action 
by  section  and  by  piece,  as  the  nature 
of  the  ground  would  permit  (it  being 
wooded,  with  much  undergrowth),  and 
played  upon  the  enemy's  lines  with 
great  effect.  After  a  fierce  engagement, 
lasting  perhaps  half  an  hour,  and  in 
which  our  troops  retired  two  or  three 
times  in  more  or  less  disorder,  but  never 
more  than  a  few  yards,  again  to  rally 
and  press  forward  with  increased  vigor, 
the  enemy  at  length  gave  way  in  the 
utmost  confusion,  and  left  us  in  posses 
sion  of  the  position. 

"Meanwhile,  Captain  Plummer  was 
ordered  to  move  forward  on  our  left,  but 
meeting  with  overpowering  resistance 
from  the  large  mass  of  infantry  in  the 
cornfield  in  his  front,  and  in  the  woods 
beyond,  was  compelled  to  fall  back  ;  but 
at  this  moment  Lieutenant  Dubois'  bat 
tery,  which  had  taken  position  on  our 
left  flank,  supported  by  Captain  Steele's 
battalion,  opened  upon  the  enemy  in 
the  cornfield  a  fire  of  shells,  with  such 
marked  effect  as  to  drive  him  with  great 
slaughter  from  the  field. 

"  There  was  now  a  momentary  cessa 
tion  of  fire  along  nearly  the  whole  line, 
except  the  extreme  right,  where  the 
First  Missouri  was  still  engaged  with  a 
superior  force  of  the  enemy,  attempting 
to  turn  bur  right.  The  General  having 
been  informed  of  this  movement,  sent 
the  Second  Kansas  to  the  support  of  the 


First  Missouri.  It  came  up  in  time  to 
prevent  the  Missourians  from  being  de 
stroyed  by  the  overwhelming  force 
against  which  they  were  unflinchingly 
holding  their  position. 

"  The  battalion  of  regular  infantry 
under  Captain  Steele,  which  had  been 
detailed  to  the  support  of  Lieutenant 
Dubois'  battery,  was  during  this  time 
brought  forward  to  the  support  of  Cap 
tain  Totten's  battery.  Scarcely  had 
these  dispositions  been  made,  when  the 
enemy  again  appeared  in  very  large 
force  along  our  entire  front,  and  moving 
toward  each  flank.  The  engagement  at 
once  became  general,  and  almost  incon 
ceivably  fierce,  along  the  entire  line,  the 
enemy  appearing  in  front  often  in  three 
or  four  ranks,  lying  down,  kneeling  and 
standing,  the  lines  often  approaching  to 
within  thirty  or  forty  yards  of  each 
other,  as  the  enemy  would  charge  upon 
Captain  Totten's  battery  and  be  driven 
back. 

"  Early  in  the  engagement,  the  First 
Iowa  came  to  the  support  of  the  First 
Kansas  and  First  Missouri,  both  of  which 
had  stood  like  veteran  troops,  exposed 
to  a  galling  fire  of  the  enemy. 

"  Every  available  battalion  was  now 
brought  into  action,  and  the  battle  raged 
with  unabated  fury  for  more  than  an 
hour  ;  the  scales  seeming  all  the  time 
nearly  equally  balanced,  our  troops 
sometimes  gaining  a  little  ground,  and 
then  giving  way  a  few  yards  to  rally 
again.  Early  in  this  engagement,  while 
General  Lyon  was  leading  his  horse 
along  the  line  on  the  left  of  Captain 
Totten's  battery,  and  endeavoring  to 


438 


THE   WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


rally  our  troops,  which  were  at  this  time 
in  considerable  disorder,  his  horse  was 
killed,  and  he  received  a  wound  in  the 
leg  and  one  in  the  head.  He  walked 
slowly  a  few  paces  to  the  rear  and  said, 
'  I  fear  the  day  is  lost.'  I  then  dis 
mounted  one  of  my  orderlies  and  ten 
dered  the  horse  to  the  General,  who  at 
first  declined,  saying  it  was  not  neces 
sary.  The  horse,  however,  was  left  with 
him,  and  I  moved  off  to  rally  a  portion  of 
the  Iowa  Regiment,  which  was  begin 
ning  to  break  in  considerable  numbers. 

"In  the  mean  time  the  General 
mounted,  and  swinging  his  hat  in  the 
air,  called  to  the  troops  nearest  him  to 
follow.  The  Second  Kansas  gallantly 
rallied  around  him,  headed  by  the  brave 
Colonel  Mitchell.  In  a  few  moments 
the  Colonel  fell  severely  wounded ; 
about  the  same  time  a  fatal  ball  was 
lodged  in  the  General's  breast,  and  he 
was  carried  from  the  field  a  corpse. 
Thus  gloriously  fell  as  brave  a  soldier  as 
ever  drew  a  sword — a  man  whose  hon 
esty  of  purpose  was  proverbial — a  noble 
patriot,  and  one  who  held  his  life  as 
nothing  when  his  country  demanded  it 
of  him. 

' '  Of  this  dire  calamity  I  was  not  in 
formed  until  perhaps  half  an  hour  after 
its  occurrence.  In  the  mean  time  our 
disordered  line  on  the  left  was  again 

o 

rallied,  and  pressed  the  enemy  with 
great  vigor  and  coolness,  particularly 
the  First  Iowa  Regiment,  which  fought 
like  veterans.  This  hot  encounter  lasted 
perhaps  half  an  hour. 

"After  the  death  of  General  Lyon, 
when  the  enemy  fled  and  left  the  field 


clear,  so  far  as  we  could  see,  an  almost 
total  silence  reigned  for  a  space  of  twenty 
minutes.     Major  Schofield  now  informed 
me  of  the  death  of  General  Lyon,  and 
reported  for  orders.     The  responsibility 
which  now  rested  upon  me  was  duly  felt 
and  appreciated.     Our  brave  little  army 
was  scattered  and  broken  ;  over  20,000 
men  were  still  in  our  front,  and  our  men 
had  had  no  water  since  five  o'clock  the 
evening  before,  and  could  hope  for  none 
short  of  Springfield,  twelve  miles  distant, 
if  we  should  go  forward.     Our  own  suc 
cess  would  prove  our  certain  defeat  in 
the  end  ;  if  we  retreated,  disaster  stared 
us  in  the  face  5  our  ammunition  was  well 
nigh  exhausted,  and  should  the  enemy 
make  this  discovery  through  a  slacken 
ing  of  our  fire,  total  annihilation  was  all 
we  could  expect.     The  great  question 
in  my  mind  was,  '  Where  is  Sigel  ?'     If 
I  could  still  hope  for  a  vigorous  attack 
by  him  on  the  enemy's   right  flank  or 
rear,   then  we   could   go   forward   with 
some  hope  of  success.     If  he  had  re 
treated,  there  was   nothing  left  for  us 
also.     In  this  perplexing  condition  of 
affairs  I  summoned  the  principal  officers 
for   consultation.     The    great    question 
with  most  of  them  was,  '  Is  retreat  pos 
sible  ?'     The   consultation  was  brought 
to  a  close  by  the   advance  of  a  heavy 
column  of  infantry  from  the  hill  where 
Sigel's   guns   had   been   heard    before. 
Thinking  they  were  Sigel's  men,  a  line 
was  formed  for  an  advance,  with   the 
hope  of  forming  a  junction  with  him. 
These  troops  wore  a  dress  much  resem 
bling  that  of  Sigel's  brigade,  and  carried 
the  American  flag.     They  were  there- 


THE   ENEMY   FLY. 


fore  permitted  to  move  down  the  hill 
within  easy  range  of  Dubois'  battery, 
until  they  had  reached  the  covered  posi 
tion  at  the  foot  of  the  ridge  on  which 
we  were  posted,  and  from  which  we  had 
been  fiercely  assailed  before,  when  sud 
denly  a  battery  was  planted  on  the  hill 
in  our  front,  and  began  to  pour  upon  us 
shrapnel  and  cannister — a  species  of 
shot  not  before  fired  by  the  enemy.  At 
this  moment  the  enemy  showed  his  true 
colors,  and  at  once  commenced  along 
our  entire  lines  the  fiercest  and  most 
bloody  engagement  of  the  day.  Lieu 
tenant  Dubois'  battery  on  our  left,  gal 
lantly  supported  by  Major  Osterhaus' 
battalion  and  the  rallied  fragments  of 
the  Missouri  First,  soon  silenced  the 
enemy's  battery  on  the  hill  and  repulsed 
the  right  wing  of  his  infantry.  Captain 
Totten's  battery  in  the  centre,  supported 
by  the  lowas  and  regulars,  was  the 
main  point  of  attack.  The  enemy  could 
frequently  be  seen  within  twenty  feet 
of  Totten's  guns,  and  the  smoke  of  the 
opposing  lines  was  often  so  confounded 
as  to  seem  but  one.  Now,  for  the  first 
time  during  the  day,  our  entire  line 
maintained  its  position  with  perfect  firm 
ness.  Not  the  slightest  disposition  to 
give  way  was  manifested  at  any  point, 
and  while  Captain  Steele's  battalion, 
which  was  some  yards  in  front  of  the 
line,  together  with  the  troops  on  the 
right  and  left,  were  in  imminent  danger 
of  being  overwhelmed  by  superior  num 
bers,  the  contending  lines  being  almost 
muzzle  to  muzzle,  Captain  Granger 
rushed  to  the  rear  and  brought  up  the 
supports  of  Dubois'  battery,  consisting 


of  two  or  three  companies  of  the  First 
Missouri,  three  companies  of  the  First 
Kansas,  and  two  companies  of  the  First 
Iowa,  in  quick  time,  and  fell  upon  the 
enemy's  right  flank,  and  poured  into  it  a 
murderous  volley,  killing  or  wounding 
nearly  every  man  within  sixty  or  seventy 
yards.  From  this  moment  a  perfect 
rout  took  place  throughout  the  rebel 
front,  while  ours  on  the  right  flank  con 
tinued  to  pour  a  galling  fire  into  their 
disorganized  masses. 

"It  was  then  evident  that  Totten's 
battery  and  Steele's  little  battalion  were 
safe.  Among  the  officers  conspicuous 
in  leading  this  assault  were  Adjutant 
Hezcock,  Captains  Burke,  Miller,  Maun- 
ter,  Maurice,  and  Richardson,  and  Lieu 
tenant  Howard,  all  of  the  First  Missouri. 
There  were  others  of  the  First  Kansas 
and  First  Iowa  who  participated,  and 
whose  names  I  do  not  remember.  The 
enemy  then  fled  from  the  field.  A  few 
moments  before  the  close  of  the  en 
gagement,  the  Second  Kansas,  which 
had  firmly  maintained  its  position,  on 
the  extreme  right,  from  the  time  it  was 
first  sent  there,  found  its  ammunition 
exhausted,  and  I  directed  it  to  withdraw 
slowly  and  in  good  order  from  the  field, 
which  it  did,  bringing  off  its  wounded, 
which  left  our  right  flank  exposed,  and 
the  enemy  renewed  the  attack  at  that 
point,  after  it  had  ceased  along  the 
whole  line  ;  but  it  was  gallantly  met  by 
Captain  Steele's  battalion  of  regulars, 
which  had  just  driven  the  enemy  from 
the  right  of  the  centre,  and,  after  a  sharp 
engagement,  drove  him  precipitately 
from  the  field.  Thus  closed — at  about 


440 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


half-past  eleven  o'clock — an  almost  un 
interrupted  conflict  of  six  hours.  The 
order  to  retreat  was  given  soon  after  the 
enemy  gave  way  from  our  front  and 
centre,  Lieutenant  Dubois'  battery  hav 
ing  been  previously  sent  to  occupy,  with 
its  supports,  the  hill  in  our  rear.  Cap 
tain  Totten's  battery,  as  soon  as  his  dis 
abled  horses  could  be  replaced,  retired 
slowly  with  the  main  body  of  the  infan 
try,  while  Captain  Steele  was  meeting 
the  demonstrations  upon  our  right  flank. 
This  having  been  repulsed,  and  no 
enemy  being  in  sight,  the  whole  column 
moved  slowly  to  the  high  open  prairie, 
about  two  miles  from  the  battle-ground  ; 
meanwhile  our  ambulances  passed  to  and 
fro,  carrying  off  our  wounded.  After 
making  a  short  halt  on  the  prairie,  we 
continued  our  march  to  Springfield. 

"  It  should  be  here  remembered  that, 
just  after  the  order  to  retire  was  given, 
and  while  it  was  undecided  whether  the 
retreat  should  be  continued,  or  whether 
we  should  occupy  the  more  favorable 
position  of  our  rear,  and  await  tidings 
of  Colonel  Sigel,  one  of  his  non-com 
missioned  officers  arrived,  and  reported 
that  the  Colonel's  brigade  had  been 
totally  routed,  and  all  his  artillery  cap 
tured,  Colonel 'Sigel  himself  having  been 
either  killed  or  made  prisoner.  Most 
of  our  men  had  fired  away  all  their  am 
munition,  and  all  that  could  be  obtained 
from  the  boxes  of  the  killed  and  wounded. 
Nothing,  therefore,  was  left  to  do  but  to 
return  to  Springfield,  where  250  Home 
Guards,  with  two  pieces  of  artillery, 
had  been  left  to  take  care  of  the  train. 
On  reaching  the  Little  York  road,  we 


met  Lieutenant  Ferrand,  with  his  com 
pany  of  dragoons,  and  a  considerable 
portion  of  Colonel  Sigel's  command, 
with  one  piece  of  artillery.  At  five 
o'clock  p.  M.  we  reached  Springfield." 

General  Sigel  thus  reports  the  events 
of  the  march  and  engagement  of  his  own 
division,  the  second  column. 

"  I  left, "he  says,  "  Camp  Fremont,  on 
the  south  side  of  Springfield,  at  half- 
past  six  o'clock  on  the  evening  of  the 
9th,  and  arrived  at  daybreak  within  a 
mile  of  the  enemy's  camp.  I  advanced 
slowly  toward  the  camp,  and  after  tak 
ing  forward  the  two  cavalry  companies 
from  the  right  and  left,  I  cut  off  about 
forty  men  of  the  enemy's  troops,  who 
were  coming  from  the  camp  in  little 
squads  to  get  water  and  provisions. 
This  was  done  in  such  a  manner  that  no 
news  of  our  advance  could  be  brought 
into  the  camp. 

"  In  sight  of  the  enemy's  tents,  which 
spread  out  on  our  front  and  right,  I 
planted  four  pieces  of  artillery  on  a  little 
hill,  while  the  infantry  advanced  toward 
the  point  where  the  Fayetteville  road 
crosses  Wilson's  Creek,  and  the  two 
cavalry  companies  extended  to  the  right 
and  left  to  guard  our  flanks.  It  was 
half-past  five  o'clock,  when  some  musket 
firing  was  heard  from  the  northwest.  I 
therefore  ordered  the  artillery  to  begin 
their  fire  against  the  camp  of  the  enemy 
(Missourians),  which  was  so  destructive 
that  the  enemy  were  seen  leaving  their 
tents  and  retiring  in  haste  toward  the 
northeast  of  the  valley.  Meanwhile, 
the  Third  and  Fifth  had  quickly  ad 
vanced,  passed  the  creek,  and  traversing 


SIGEL'S   MOVEMENT. 


441 


the  camp,  formed  almost  in  the  centre 
of  it.  As  the  enemy  made  his  rally  in 
large  numbers  before  us,  about  3,000 
strong,  consisting  of  infantry  and  cav 
alry,  I  ordered  the  artillery  to  be  brought 
forward  from  the  hill  and  formed  there 
in  battery  across  the  valley,  with  the 
Third  and  Fifth  to  the  left  and  the  cav 
alry  to  the  right.  After  an  effectual  fire 
of  half  an  hour,  the  enemy  retired  in 
some  confusion  into  the  woods  and  up 
the  adjoining  hills.  The  firing  toward 
the  northwest  was  now  more  distinct, 
and  increased,  until  it  was  evident  that 
the  main  corps  of  General  Lyon  had 
engaged  the  enemy  along  the  whole  line. 
To  give  the  greatest  possible  assistance 
to  him,  I  left  position  in  the  camp  and  ad 
vanced  toward  the  northwest,  to  attack 
the  enemy's  line  of  battle  in  the  rear. 

"Marching  forward,  we  struck  the 
Fayetteville  road,  making  our  way 
through  a  large  number  of  cattle  and 
horses,  until  we  arrived  at  an  eminence 
used  as  a  slaughtering  place,  and  known 
as  Sharp's  farm.  On  our  route  we  had 
taken  about  100  prisoners,  who  were 
scattered  over  the  camp.  At  Sharp's 
place  we  met  numbers  of  the  enemy's 
soldiers,  who  were  evidently  retiring  in 
this  direction  ;  and  as  I  suspected  that 
the  enemy,  on  his  retreat,  would  follow 
in  the  same  direction,  I  formed  the 
troops  across  the  road  by  planting  the 
artillery  on  the  plateau,  and  two  infan 
try  regiments  on  the  right  and  left, 
across  the  road,  while  the  cavalry  com 
panies  extended  on  our  flanks.  At  this 
time,  and  after  some  skirmishing  in 
front  of  our  line,  the  firing  in  the  direc 


tion  of  the  northwest,  which  was  during 
an  hour's  time  roaring  in  succession,  had 
almost  entirely  ceased.  I  thereupon 
presumed  that  the  attack  of  General 
Lyon  had  been  successful,  and  that  his 
troops  were  in  pursuit  of  the  enemy, 
who  moved  in  large  numbers  toward 
the  south,  along  the  ridge  of  a  hill, 
about  700  yards  opposite  our  right. 

"This  was  the  state  of  affairs  at  half- 
past  eight  o'clock  in  the  morning,  when  it 
was  reported  to  me  by  Dr.  Melchior  and 
some  of  our  skirmishers,  that  '  Lyon's 
men  were  coming  up  the  road.'  Lieu 
tenant  Albert,  of  the  Third,  and  Colonel 
Salamon,  of  the  Fifth,  notified  their 
regiments  not  to  fire  on  troops  coming 
in  this  direction,  while  I  cautioned  the 
artillery  in  the  same  manner.  Our 
troops  in  this  moment  expected  with 
anxiety  the  approach  of  our  friends, 
and  were  waving  the  flag,  raised  as  a 
signal  to  their  comrades,  when  at  once 
two  batteries  opened  their  fire  against 
us — one  in  front,  placed  on  the  Fayette 
ville  road,  and  the  other  upon  the  hill 
upon  which  we  had  supposed  Lyon's 
forces  were  in  pursuit  of  the  enemy, 
while  a  strong  column  of  infantry,  sup 
posed  to  be  the  'Iowa  Regiment,'  ad 
vanced  from  the  Fayetteville  road  and 
attacked  our  right. 

"It  is  impossible  for  me  to  describe 
the  consternation  and  frightful  confusion 
which  was  occasioned  by  this  important 
event.  The  cry,  '  They  [Lyon's  troops] 
are  firing  against  us,'  spread  like  wild 
fire  through  our  ranks.  The  artillery 
men,  ordered  to  fire,  and  directed  by 
myself,  could  hardly  be  brought  forward 


442 


THE   WAR  WITH  THE   SOUTH. 


to  serve  their  pieces  ;  the  infantry  would 
not  level  their  arms  until  it  was  too  late. 
The  enemy  arrived  within  ten  paces  of 
the  muzzles  of  our  cannon,  killed  the 
horses,  turned  the  flanks  of  the  infantry, 
and  forced  them  to  fly.  The  troops 
were  throwing  themselves  into  the  bushes 
and  by-roads,  retreating  as  well  as  they 
could,  followed  and  attacked  incessantly 
by  large  bodies  of  Arkansas  and  Texas 
cavalry." 

The  force  of  the  Federalists  in  this 
unequal  struggle  at  Wilson's  Creek 
amounted  only  to  3,700  men,  and  that 
of  the  enemy  to  the  overwhelming 
number  of  23,000.  This,  however,  is 
the  computation  of  the  Federalists  them 
selves.  The  secessionists,  on  the  other 
hand,  declared  that  their  army  numbered 
nearly  10,000  men,  and  that  that  of  the 
Unionists  was  of  the  same  strength. 
The  total  loss  in  killed,  wounded,  and 
missing  on  their  side  was  estimated  by 
the  Federalists  at  1,285,  and  on  that  of 
the  enemy  at  3,000.  The  secessionists 
themselves  confess  to  have  had  265  killed, 
800  wounded,  and  30  missing,  while  they 
asserted  that  our  loss  was  800  killed, 
1,000  wounded,  and  300  taken  prisoners. 
It  is  impossible  to  reconcile  such  dis 
cordant  statements,  and  the  reader  must 
be  content  to  remain,  like  the  historian, 
embarrassed  by  the  conflicting  testimony 
of  partial  witnesses,  until  truth,  no 
longer,  as  now,  crushed  by  interested 
falsehood,  shall  rise  once  more  and  as 
sert  its  independence. 

Forced  to  retire  from  the  field,  the 
Federalists  left  behind  them  six  pieces 
of  artillery  and  several  hundred  stand 


of  arms,  which  were  captured  by  the 
enemy.  The  great  loss  was  the  death 
of  General  Lyon,  who  was  mourned  by 
the  whole  nation.  There  may  be  men  of 
greater  military  skill,  but  none,  more 
devoted  to  the  cause  of  the  Union.  He 
possessed,  what  seems  wanting  in  many 
of  our  leaders,  an  intense  sympathy  with 
the  motive  of  the  contest.  A  thought 
ful  observer  of  the  encroachments  of 
the  pro-slavery  politicians,  he  had  long 
watched  their  progress  with  anxious 
solicitude,  and  had  uttered  his  protests, 
as  a  writer,  against  their  fatal  theories 
before  he  had  drawn  his  sword,  as  a 
soldier,  to  strike  them  down  in  the 
commission  of  their  disloyal  acts.  Pro 
foundly  convinced,  from  study  and  reflec 
tion,  of  the  evil  designs  of  the  advocates 
of  the  extension  of  slavery,  he  believed 
no  sacrifice  too  great  in  thwarting  their 
purposes.  When,  therefore,  they  boldly 
defied  the  authority  of  the  Government, 
and  sought  to  settle  the  question  between 
it  and  themselves  by  the  arbitrament  of 
the  sword,  Lyon  obeyed  the  summous 
to  arms  with  the  enthusiasm  of  a  cru 
sader  about  to  fight  for  a  sacred  cause. 
Naturally  impulsive,  he  may  not  have 
always  acted  with  the  discretion  of  the 
judicious  officer  ;  but  an  ardent  defender 
of  the  cause  of  his  country,  he  never 
sacrificed  its  interests  to  the  fastidious 
ness  of  the  military  formalist.  If  the 
leaders  of  our  armies  had  more  of  the 
sentiment  of  Lyon,  the  country  might 
dispense  with  much  of  their  elaborate 
military  acquirement.  It  must  not  be 
inferred,  however,  that  he  was  deficient 
in  the  art  he  professed,  for  he  had,  in 


DEATH   OF  LYON. 


443 


common  with  the  most  accomplished  of 
our  generals,  a  thorough  military  educa 
tion,  but  he  possessed  what  so  many  of 
them  seem  to  want,  a  heart  to  feel,  as 
well  as  a  head  to  understand.  He  did 
not  believe  that  the  contest  was  to  be 
settled  by  the  conventional  rules  of 
Yauban  and  Jomini,  but  by  the  eternal 
principles  of  justice  and  liberty. 

Lyon  seemed  to  be  so  saddened  by 
the  position  in  which  he  had  been  left 
by  the  neglect  to  send  him  reinforce 
ments,  that  his  melancholy  took  the 
form  of  a  presentiment  of  the  evil  which 
awaited  him.  "  For  two  or  three  days 
before  the  battle,"  says  one*  who  was 
often  at  his  side,  "  General  Lyon  changed 
much  in  appearance.  Since  it  became 
apparent  to  him  that  he  must  abandon 
the  Southwest,  or  have  his  army  cut  to 
pieces,  he  had  lost  much  of  his  former 
energy  and  decision.  .  To  one  of  his 
staff  he  remarked,  the  evening  before 
the  battle,  '  I  am  a  man  believing  in 
presentiments,  and  ever  since  this  night 
surprise  was  planned,  I  have  had  a  feel 
ing  I  cannot  get  rid  of,  that  it  would  re 
sult  disastrously.  Through  the  refusal 
of  Government  properly  to  reinforce 
me,  I  am  obliged  to  abandon  the  coun 
try.  If  I  leave  it  without  engaging  the 
enemy,  the  public  will  call  me  a  coward. 
If  I  engage  him,  I  may  be  defeated  and 
my  command  cut  to  pieces.  I  am  too 
weak  to  hold  Springfield,  and  yet  the 
people  will  demand  that  I  bring  about 
a  battle  with  the  very  enemy  I  cannot 
keep  a  town  against.  How  can  this  re 
sult  otherwise  than  against  us?' 

°  Correspondent  of  the  New  York  Herald. 


"  On  the  way  to  the  field  I  frequently 
rode  near  him.  He  seemed  like  one 
bewildered,  and  often  when  addressed 
failed  to  give  any  recognition,  and 
seemed  totally  unaware  that  he  was 
spoken  to.  On  the  battle-field  he  gave 
his  orders  promptly,  and  seemed  solicit 
ous  for  the  welfare  of  his  men,  but 
utterly  regardless  of  his  own  safety. 
While  he  was  standing  where  bullets 
flew  thickest,  just  after  his  favorite  horse 
was  shot  from  under  him,  some  of  his 
officers  interposed  and  begged  that  he 
would  retire  from  the  spot  and  seek  one 
less  exposed.  Scarcely  raising  his  eyes 
from  the  enemy,  he  said  : 

"  '  It  is  well  enough  that  I  stand  here. 
I  am  satisfied.' ' 

Lyon  had  been  wounded  in  the  early 
part  of  the  engagement.  He  had  been 
struck  by  three  shots  :  one  in  the  heel, 
a  second  in  the  fleshy  part  of  his  thigh, 
and  a  third  in  the  back  of  his  head, 
which  had  cut  it  open  to  the  skull.  His 
surgeon  begged  him  to  retire  to  the  rear 
and  have  his  wounds  dressed.  "  No— 
these  are  nothing,"  was  the  General's 
reply,  and  thus  wounded  and  streaming 
with  blood,  he  led  the  Kansas  and  Iowa 
regiments  to  the  fatal  charge,  saying,  as 
he  mounted  his  horse,  "  I  fear  that  the 
day  is  lost ;  if  Colonel  Sigel  had  been 
successful,  he  would  have  joined  us  be 
fore  this.  I  think  I  will  lead  this 
charge.  He  then  cried  :  "  Forward, 
men !  I  will  lead  you !" 

His  horse  had  hardly  sprung  forward, 
when  a  Minie  ball  struck  Lyon  in  the 
breast,  and  passing  out  at  the  back 
severed  in  its  course  the  aorta,  the  prin- 


444 


TPIE  WAR   WITH  THE   SOUTH. 


cipal  blood-vessel  of  the  heart.  He  fell 
into  the  arms  of  his  body-servant,  say 
ing,  "  Lehman,  I  am  killed  ;  take  care 
of  my  body,"  and  instantly  expired. 


General  Lyon  left  behind  him  an  im-    ment. 


pressive  memorial  of  his  ardent  and 
disinterested  patriotism  in  a  legacy  by 
will  of  his  whole  property,  amounting  to 
$30,000,  to  the  United  States  Goverr- 


CHAPTER    XLI. 

Return  of  Federal  Troopa  to  Springfield.— General  Sigel  in  command. — Arrival  of  Federal  Force  at  Holla. — General 
Fremont  at  St.  Louis. — Flocking  to  his  Standard. — Unfavorable  rumors. — The  Military  capacity  of  Fremont  ques 
tioned. — Justification  by  his  Friends. — His  reason  for  not  reinforcing  Lyon. — A  failure. — Another  Military  Fault. 
— Description  of  Lexington. — Garrison  at  Lexington. — Reinforcement. — Colonel  Mulligan's  March. — His  arrival 
at  Lexington. — Fortifies  the  place. — Description  of  Fortifications. — The  Siege  and  its  results. — Importance  of  Lex 
ington. — Causes  of  its  Fall. — Comparative  strength  of  the  Antagonists. — Losses. — Regrets. — Release  of  Mulligan.- 
Hailed  as  a  Hero. — His  account  of  the  fall  of  Lexington. — General  Price's  report  of  the  capture  of  Lexington. 


1861. 


AFTER  the  defeat  at  Wilson's  Creek, 
the  Federal  troops  returned  to 
Springfield.  General  Sigel  having 
temporarily  succeeded  to  the  command, 
made  immediate  preparations  for  falling 
still  farther  back,  before  the  superior 
numbers  of  the  enemy,  who  were  push 
ing  forward  with  the  purpose  of  cutting 
off  his  retreat.  On  the  next  morning 
after  the  battle,  the  Federal  army  had 
commenced  its  movement  to  the  east. 
By  a  judicious  turn  in  the  march,  General 
Sigel  succeeded  in  eluding  the  manoeu 
vres  of  Price  and  McCulloch,  and  reach 
ing  Holla  in  safety,  where  the  Federal 
forces  now  encamped,  with  their  com 
munications  with  St.  Louis  secured  be 
yond  peradventure. 

General  Fremont  having,  in  the  mean 

juiy  time,  assumed  command  in  Missouri, 

25.    was  at  St.  Louis,  where  his  popular 


ity  attracted  to  his  standard  the  spirited 
volunteers  of  the  West  in  large  numbers 
While  organizing  and  equipping  ar 
army,  and  preparing  for  an  expedition 
down  the  Mississippi,  rumors  began  to 
circulate  unfavorable  to  his  conduct. 
His  disregard  of  the  call  of  Lyon  for 
reinforcements,  and  the  consequent  de 
feat  and  fall  of  that  gallant  officer  at 
Wilson's  Creek,  was  imputed  to  Fre 
mont  as  a  fault,  and  gave  rise  to  sus 
picions  of  his  military  incapacity.  His 
friends  were  ready  to  justify  him,  on 
the  score  of  the  embarrassments  in 
which  the  Federal  authorities  had  in 
volved  him,  by  their  inordinate  demands 
for  troops  to  proceed  elsewhere — by 
which  his  force  at  St.  Louis  had  been 
weakened — and  their  remissness  in  sup 
plying  him  with  adequate  means  for 
equipping  and  transporting  those  he 


MARCH  TO   LEXIXGTON. 


445 


had.  In  answer  to  this  it  was  urged, 
that  he  was  able,  within  one  week  after  his 
arrival  in  St.  Louis,  to  march  with  5,000 
men  to  Bird's  Point,  on  the  Mississippi, 
and  send  a  reinforcement  to  Pilot  Knob. 
This  force,  it  was  contended,  should  have 
been  sent  to  Springfield.  Fremont,  how 
ever,  declared  that  as  General  Pillow, 
at  New  Madrid,  and  General  Hardee,  at 
Greenfield,  were  threatening  these  points, 
it  was  there  where  aid  was  most  wanted. 
It  was  suggested  to  him  that  the  threat 
ened  movements  against  Pilot  Knob  and 
Bird's  Point  were  mere  feints  to  dis 
tract  his  attention  from  the  more  seri 
ous  manoeuvres  of  Price  and  McCulloch 
in  the  southwest,  which  was  the  natural 
route  for  Governor  Jackson  to  return 
to  the  State  and  try  to  recover  the  cap 
ital  ;  and  that  if  the  rebels  could  force 
Lyon  to  retreat  on  St.  Louis,  they  might 
expect  large  reinforcements  to  meet 
them  on  the  Osage,  and  thus  insure  the 
re-establishment  of  the  rebel  govern 
ment  at  Jefferson  City. 

Fremont  was  not  convinced,  and  Lyon 
was  left  to  struggle  against  an  over 
whelming  force,  with  the  fatal  result 
just  narrated,  while  his  commanding 
general  grandly  marched  out,  and 
marched  back  again  after  an  absence 
only  of  three  days,  giving,  by  the  failure 
of  his  expedition,  a  striking  condemna 
tion  of  his  own  judgment,  and  a  tri 
umphant  vindication  of  the  opinions  of 
liis  opponents. 

The  suspicion  of  Fremont's  military 
incapacity  was  further  strengthened  by 
another  defeat  in  Missouri,  which  is  at 
tributed  to  his  neglect  to  reinforce  a 


small  garrison  beleaguered  by  a  nu 
merous  enemy  at  Lexington,  the /all  of 
which  will  now  be  recorded. 

Lexington,  in  Lafayette  County,  Mis 
souri,  is  situated  on  the  southern  bank 
of  the  river  Missouri,  in  the  northwest 
ern  part  of  the  State.  There  are  two 
settlements,  called  Old  and  New  Lexing 
ton.  The  former  is  lower  down  and 
farther  from  the  river,  and  separated 
from  the  latter  by  a  hill,  although  be 
tween,  along  the  river  bank  or  bluff, 
there  are  some  scattered  houses. 

A  small  force,  consisting  of  several 
hundred  Home  Guards,  a  few  Kansas 
troops,  a  portion  of  the  Missouri  Eighth 
Regiment,  and  700  of  the  First  Regi 
ment  Illinois  cavalry,  under  the  com 
mand  of  Colonel  Peabody,  had  occupied 
Lexington  for  about  a  week,  when  Col 
onel  Mulligan  with  his  Irish  brigade  gep, 
was  ordered  from  Jefferson  City  to     !• 
reinforce  the  place. 

On  reaching  Lexington,  Colonel  Mul 
ligan,  as  senior  officer,  assumed  chief  §fp, 
command  of  the  whole  force,  which  9. 
with  the  accession  of  his  brigade  amount 
ed  to  about  2,500  men.  General  Price 
at  the  moment  was  rapidly  approaching 
with  his  secession  army,  which  was 
augmenting  daily  on  the  march.  Gen 
erals  Lane  and  Montgomery,  of  Kansas, 
had  striven  ineffectually  to  check  his 
progress,  and  had  been  compelled  to  re 
tire  from  the  State.  Mulligan  found 
that  there  was  no  time  to  lose,  and  be 
gan  industriously  to  prepare  for  the 
coming  of  the  enemy.  He  set  his  men 
to  work  at  once  in  raising  intrench- 
ments  to  defend  the  position  he  had 


440 


THE   WAR  WITH  THE   SOUTH. 


selected,  about  midway  between  Old  and 
New  Lexington,  which  are  nearly  a 
mile  apart. 

"Midway,"  says  a  writer  in  the  Chi 
cago  Tribune,  whose  account  is  here  quo 
ted,  "  stands  a  solid  brick  edifice,  built  for 
a  college,  and  about  this  a  small  breast 
work  had  already  been  begun. 

"  By  Colonel  Mulligan's  orders  this 
was  extended,  and  the  troops  set  about 
the  construction  of  an  earth-work,  ten 
feet  in  height,  with  a  ditch  eight  feet  in 
width,  inclosing  an  area  capable  of  con 
taining  a  force  of  10,000  men.  The 
army  train,  consisting  of  numerous 
mule  teams,  six  mules  to  a  team,  was 
brought  within  this.  The  supply  of 
intrenching  tools  being  inadequate,  a 
thorough  search  was  made  through  both 
towns,  and  every  description  of  suitable 
or  available  implements  appropriated. 
The  work  was  pushed  with  great  vigor 
— the  heavy  muscle  of  the  brigade  tell 
ing  well  as  the  brave  fellows  toiled  in 
the  trenches.  This  went  on  for  three 
days,  or  until  Thursday,  the  12th,  at 
which  time  the  portion  assigned  to  the 
Irish  brigade  was  well  advanced,  that 
of  the  Home  Guard  being  still  weak  on 
the  west,  or  New  Lexington  side. 

"Of  Lexington  it  should  be  said  in 
advance,  that  it  has  been  considered  a 
most  important  point  by  the  Confederate 
forces,  and  their  preparations  for  its 
capture  and  occupancy  abundantly  de 
clare  this.  Among  other  proofs  that  it 
was  a  coveted  prize,  was  the  fact  that 
Claiborne  Jackson  and  his  legislature 
had  been  in  session  there  as  late  as  only 
the  week  previous  tr  the  arrival  of  Col 


onel  Mulligan,  holding  their  session  in 
the  court-house,  whence  Claiborne  ful 
minated  a  proclamation  counter  to  that 
of  General  Fremont.  When  this  worthy 
body  prudently  retired  before  the  Federal 
troops,  they  did  so  in  such  haste  that 
$800,000  in  gold  coin,  and  the  State  seals 
left  in  the  vault  of  the  bank,  fell  into  the 
hands  of  Colonel  Peabody. 

"  The  college  building  within  the  forti 
fication  became  Colonel  Mulligan's  head 
quarters.  The  magazine  and  treasure 
were  stored  in  the  cellar  and  suitably 
protected.  The  hospital  of  our  troops 
was  located  just  outside  the  intrench- 
ments,  in  a  northwesterly  direction. 
The  river  at  that  point  is  about  half  a 
mile  wide,  and  about  half  a  mile  distant 
from  the  fortifications.  The  bluff  there 
is  high  and  abrupt,  the  steamboat  land 
ing  being  at  New  Lexington. 

"After  three  several  days  of  anxious 
watching  and  unremitting  toil  by  the  lit 
tle  force,  on  the  afternoon  of  Thursday, 
the  12th  instant,  scouts  and  advanced 
pickets  driven  in  reported  the  near  ap 
proach  of  the  rebels.  At  this  time  Col 
onel  Mulligan  had  a  portion  of  his  small 
artillery  in  readiness.  He  had  only  six 
brass  pieces  and  two  howitzers,  but  hav 
ing  no  shell,  the  latter  were  useless. 
Two  pieces  belonged  to  the  Kansas 
City  Company,  and  were  worked  by 
them  splendidly.  The  cavalry  company 
had  only  their  side-arms  and  pistols,  and 
having  no  carbines  or  rifles,  could  do 
nothing  at  long  range. 

"  Several  mines  were  laid  in  front  of 
the  intrenchments  by  our  men.  The  at 
tack  on  Thursday,  the  12th,  was  led  by 


SIEGE   OF  LEXINGTON. 


447 


General  Rains  in  person,  with  a  battery 
of  nine  pieces  of  artillery  on  the  angle 
least  prepared  to  resist  assault.  The 
eneiny  were  repulsed  with  heavy  loss. 
In  the  fight,  Companies  I,  Captain  Fitz 
gerald,  K,  Captain  John  Quirk,  and  G, 
Captain  Phillips,  did  gallant  service. 

"  As  stated,  the  hospital  had  been  lo 
cated  on  the  bank  below  the  new  town, 
and  contained  about  twenty-four  pa 
tients.  The  attacking  party  did  not 
spare  or  respect  this  building.  They 
were  met  by  the  Montgomery  Guards, 
Captain  Gleason,  who  made  a  brave 
resistance,  but  were  driven  back  with 
the  loss  of  twenty-five  of  their  men  kill 
ed  and  wounded.  Captain  Gleason  was 
shot  through  the  jaw  and  badly  wounded. 
The  gallant  Montgomery  made  many  of 
the  Texans  bite  the  dust.  The  fight 
was  very  fierce.  Some  of  the  sick  were 
actually  bayoneted  or  sabred  in  their 
cots.  Rev.  Father  Butler,  an  esteemed 
Catholic  clergyman  of  this  city,  and  the 
chaplain  of  the  Irish  Brigade,  was  wound 
ed  in  the  forehead  by  a  ball  which  passed 
across  it,  laying  open  the  skin.  He  was 
taken  prisoner,  as  also  was  Dr.  Winer, 
surgeon  of  the  brigade,  thus  depriving 
the  regiment  of  the  valuable  services  of 
both  during  the  dark  and  trying  days 
that  followed,  preceding  the  surrender. 

"The  issue  of  the  12th  warned  the 
enemy  that  they  had  a  task  before  them 
which  was  no  easy  one,  and  they  com 
menced  on  Friday  morning  a  new  sys 
tem  of  approaches.  They  scoured  the 
entire  region  for  its  staple,  hemp  in  bales. 
These  were  thoroughly  wetted  as  a  safe 
guard  against  red-hot  shot,  and  then  were 


skilfully  used  to  mask  the  batteries  of 
the  rebels,  and  rolled  forward  as  they 
made  their  advance. 

"  The  fight  went  on  thus  for  several 
days,  the  enemy  bringing  more  of  their 
artillery  into  action.  Following  the 
skirmish  of  the  19th,  Mulligan  ordered 
a  portion  of  the  old  town  on  the  east  to 
be  burned,  to  prevent  the  rebels  from 
gaining  therefrom  the  advantage  of 
shelter.  Meanwhile,  the  little  garrison, 
already  worn  by  labor  on  the  intrench- 
ments,  began  to  look  eagerly  for  the 
coming  of  reinforcements. 

"  On  the  10th,  Colonel  Mulligan  had 
sent  Lieutenant  Rains,  of  Company  K 
of  the  brigade,  with  a  squad  of  twelve 
men,  on  the  steamer  Sunshine,  to  Jeffer 
son  City,  160  miles  distant,  pressing  the 
necessity  for  reinforcements.  Forty 
miles  below,  the  Sunshine  was  captured, 
and  Rains  and  his  men  brought  back 
to  New  Lexington  and  lodged  as  pris 
oners  in  the  old  Fair  Ground.  Other 
messengers  were  sent  off  to  guard 
against  the  failure  of  any  one. 

"The  enemy  were  in  sufficient  force 
to  throw  out  parties  to  intercept  the 
Federal  troops  en  route  for  the  relief  of 
Colonel  Mulligan.  Thus,  a  detachment 
of  5,000  strong  met  and  turned  back 
1,500  Iowa  troops  from  Richmond,  six 
teen  miles  from  the  river,  they  retreat 
ing,  it  is  said,  to  St.  Joseph. 

"The  situation  of  the  Federal  troops 
grew  more  desperate  as  day  after  day 
passed.  Within  their  lines  were  pick 
eted  about  the  wagons  and  trains  a  large 
number  of  horses  and  mules,  nearly 
3,000  in  all,  now  a  serious  cause  of  care 


44:8 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE   SOUTH. 


and  anxiety,  for  as  shot  and  shell 
plunged  among  them,  many  of  the 
animals  were  killed  and  wounded,  and 
from  the  struggle  of  these  latter  the 
danger  of  a  general  stampede  was  im 
minent.  The  havoc  in  the  centre  of  the 
intrenchments  was  immense.  Wagons 
were  knocked  to  pieces,  stores  scattered 
and  destroyed,  and  the  ground  strewn 
with  dead  horses  and  mules. 

"  On  Wednesday,  the  17th,  an  evil, 
from  the  first  apprehended,  fell  upon 
Colonel  Mulligan's  command.  They 
were  cut  off  from  the  river,  and  their 
water  gave  out.  Fortunately  a  heavy 
rain,  at  intervals,  came  greatly  to  their 
relief.  But  to  show  how  severe  were 
the  straits  of  the  men,  the  fact  may  be 
stated  of  instances  occurring  where  sol 
diers  held  their  blankets  spread  out 
until  thoroughly  wet,  and  then  wrung 
them  into  their  camp  dishes,  carefully 
saving  the  priceless  fluid  thus  obtained. 
Rations,  also,  began  to  grow  short.  The 
fighting  at  this  time,  from  the  16th  to 
the  21st,  knew  little  cessation.  The 
nights  were  brilliant  moonlight,  and  all 
night  long  the  roar  of  the  guns  con 
tinued,  with  an  occasional  sharp  sortie 
and  skirmish  without  the  works. 

"  From  the  first  but  one  spirit  per 
vaded  our  troops,  and  that  was  no 
thought  or  word  of  surrender,  except 
among  some  of  the  Home  Guards,  who 
had  done  the  least  share  of  the  work 
and  the  fighting.  The  cavalry  behaved 
nobly,  and  could  the  full  details  be  writ 
ten  up,  some  of  their  sharp,  brave 
charges  on  the  enemy's  guns  would 
shine  with  any  battle-exploits  on  record. 


"  General  Price  sent  Colonel  Mulligan 
a  summons  to  surrender,  to  which  the 
gallant  commander  sent  a  refusal  saying, 
'  If  you  want  us,  you  must  take  us.' 
But  the  defection  and  disheartenment 
of  the  Home  Guards  intensified  daily, 
and  on  Friday  the  21st,  while  Colonel 
Mulligan  was  giving  his  attention  to 
some  matters  in  another  portion  of  the 
camp,  the  white  flag  was  raised,  at  his 
own  instance,  by  Major  Becker  of  the 
Home  Guards,  from  the  portion  of  the 
intrenchment  assigned  to  him. 

"  Captain  Simpson,  of  the  Earl  Rifles, 
called  Colonel  Mulligan's  attention  to 
Major  Becker's  action  instantly,  and  the 
Jackson  Guard,  Captain  McDermott,  of 
Detroit,  were  sent  to  take  down  that 
flag,  which  was  done.  The  heaviest 
part  of  the  fight  of  the  day  followed  in 
a  charge  upon  the  nearest  battery  of  the 
enemy,  the  Illinois  cavalry  suffering 
severely. 

"The  Home  Guards  then  left  the 
outer  work  and  retreated  within  the  line 
of  the  inner  intrenchments,  about  the 
college  building,  refusing  to  fight  longer, 
and  here  again  raised  the  white  flag,  this 
time  from  the  centre  of  the  fortifications, 
when  the  fire  of  the  enemy  slackened 
and  ceased.  Under  this  state  of  affairs, 
Colonel  Mulligan,  calling  his  officers 
into  council,  decided  to  capitulate,  and 
Captain  McDermott  went  out  to  the 
enemy's  lines  with  a  handkerchief  tied 
to  a  ramrod,  and  a  parley  took  place. 
Major  Moore,  of  the  brigade,  was  sent 
to  General  Price's  headquarters  at  New 
Lexington  to  know  the  terms  of  capitu 
lation.  These  were  made  unconditional, 


SURRENDER   OF   LEXINGTON. 


449 


the  officers  to  be  retained  as  prisoners 
of  war  the  men  to  be  allowed  to  depart 
with  their  personal  property,  surrender 
ing  their  arms  and  accoutrements." 

In  this  severe  siege  of  Lexington,  the 
small  Federal  force  held  out  with  great 
spirit,  and  an  endurance  in  conformity 
with  the  importance  of  the  post  and  the 
order  which  had  been  given  to  hold  it 
at  any  price.  The  position  was  of  the 
utmost  consequence,  as  it  controlled  the 
chief  route  of  communication  by  the 
river  Missouri,  between  St.  Louis  and 
Kansas.  Colonel  Mulligan,  however, 
with  his  meagre  garrison  and  incomplete 
intrenchments — only  adequate  for  a  tem 
porary  resistance  until  reinforcements 
should  be  sent  to  his  aid — was  so  com 
pletely  surrounded  by  the  enemy,  that 
'1  would  have  been  impossible,  disap 
pointed  as  he  was  of  the  expected  succor, 
to  make  a  successful  resistance.  Such, 
However,  was  the  persistency  of  the  gal 
lant  Colonel  and  his  devoted  Irish  brig 
ade,  that  it  would  seem  both  were  pre 
pared  to  give  up  their  lives  rather  than 
surrender..  The  Missouri  Home  Guards 
were  of  a  less  resolute  spirit,  and  to 
their  want  of  endurance  has  been  attri 
buted  the  concession  that  was  finally 
made. 

The  force  of  the  Federalists  was  esti 
mated  by  themselves  at  only  2,500,  and 
that  of  the  secessionists  at  28,000,  with 
1 3  pieces  of  artillery.  The  enemy  claimed 
!that  by  the  capture  of  Lexington  they 
had  made  3,500  prisoners,  and  obtained 
over  3,000  stand  of  infantry  arms,  five 
pieces  of  artillery  and  two  mortars,  a 
large  number  of  sabres,  about  750 


horses,  many  sets  of  cavalry  equipments, 
wagons,  teams,  ammunition,  and  stores 
amounting  in  value  to  $100,000.  In 
addition,  they  became  possessed  of 
$900,000  in  money,  of  the  great  seal  of 
the  State,  and  of  the  public  records. 
Their  whole  loss  as  given  by  themselves 
amounted  only  to  twenty-five  killed  and 
seventy-two  wounded,  while  it  was 
computed  by  the  Federalists  to  have 
been  several  thousand.  The  latter  es 
timated  their  own  loss  at  500  killed  and 
wounded. 

At  the  capitulation,  Colonel  Mulligan 
and  many  of  his  men  are  said  to  have 
shed  tears  of  regret  that  they  had  not 
secured  the  victory  their  heroism  would 
seem  to  have  deserved.  Most  of  the 
prisoners  were  soon  after  r.eleased  on 
giving  their  parole,  and  the  gallant  Mul 
ligan  was  exchanged.  On  his  release  he 
was  hailed  by  popular  acclamation  one 
of  the  heroes  of  the  war.  In  the  large 
cities,  crowds  thronged  about  him  and 
listened  with  eager  interest  to  the  story 
of  the  siege  of  Lexington,  as  told  by  its 
gallant  defender.  It  is  here  given  in 
his  own  words. 

"  Just  as  we  were  turning  in,"  says 
the  Colonel — taking  his  point  of  depart 
ure  from  Jefferson  City,  the  capital — "an 
order  came  for  us  to  report  ourselves 
to  our  superior  officer,  which  was  ac 
cordingly  done,  and  we  were  ordered 
to  go  to  Lexington  the  next  morning, 
and  hold  it  at  any  price,  which  order 
we  endeavored  to  carry  out  to  the 
death.  We  had  before  us  a  march 
of  a  hundred  and  fifty  miles,  but  met 
with  no  obstructions.  Immediately  after 


450 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE   SOUTH. 


arriving  at  Lexington  we  camped. 
Colonel  Marshall,  who  was  then  in  com 
mand,  had  taken  $800,000  from  the 
bank  of  Lexington  for  safe  keeping. 
He  then  received  an  order  to  advance, 
but  sent  a  reply  that  we  had  but  2,700 
men  and  a  limited  quantity  of  ammuni 
tion,  but  that  we  would  hold  out  to  the 
last.  The  next  night  10,000  men  were 
brought  against  us,  but  found  us  so 
well  prepared  that  the  enemy  fell  back. 
*  *  *  The  next  day  by  daybreak  the 
earth-works  were  completed,  and  we 
soon  heard  that  the  enemy  were  cross 
ing  the  bridge.  The  Missouri  troops 
were  sent  out  against  them,  and  com 
pletely  routed  them,  destroying  the 
bridge.  A  large  body  of  Missourians 
met  the  foe  in  the  grave-yard  and  forced 
them  to  retire.  The  enemy  then  fired 
into  them  from  a  battery  of  six  guns, 
and  the  result  was  a  scene  of  the  great 
est  confusion.  At  length  every  gun, 
both  cannon  and  musketry,  was  ordered 
to  cease  firing  until  the  cannoniers  of  the 
enemy  were  picked  off.  Considerable 
damage  was  done  the  enemy  ;  one  of 
their  cannon  was  dismounted  and  an  am 
munition  wagon  blown  up.  That  night 
the  10,000  retreated  before  our  2,700. 
The  next  day  the  enemy  sent  a  request 
to  bury  the  dead,  their  commander  stat 
ing  that  when  General  Lyon  had  fallen, 
they  had  allowed  the  Union  party  to 
take  possession  of  his  body  without  in 
terruption.  The  Irish  brigade  then  col 
lected  all  the  provisions  they  could,  and 
planted  their  pieces  of  artillery  so  as  to 
command  the  city.  Being  short  of  shot, 
they  moulded  several  in  an  adjacent 


foundry.  Thus  some  days  passed,  the 
pickets  nearly  overlapping  each  other  ; 
the  Irish  brigade  waiting  patiently  till 
the  10,000  of  the  enemy  should  again 
make  their  appearance.  Some  part  of 
Sunday  they  were  singing  and  praying, 
and  then  engaged  themselves  in  casting 
shot  and  stealing  provisions.  The  Union 
men  had  their  spies  out,  and  from  infor 
mation  received  it  became  apparent  that 
on  the  17th  the  death  struggle  was  to 
take  place  in  the  morning.  The  pro 
gramme  of  the  enemy  was  to  encircle 
us.  On  the  18th  we,  at  an  early 
hour,  heard  their  drums  and  saw  ad 
vancing  one  immense  black  mass  of  men, 
28,000  strong,  with  thirteen  pieces  of 
artillery.  Their  own  officers  said  there 
were  31,000.  The  marching  column  of 
that  force  was  fifteen  miles  long.  The 
Rev.  Mr.  Butler  then  went  around 
among  the  men  and  gave  them  his  bless 
ing,  after  which  they  cocked  their  mus 
kets.  The  conflict  then  commenced  and 
raged  till  noon.  For  three  days  and 
three  nights  the  fight  continued.  Tom, 
one  of  the  gunners,  stood  by  his  piece 
nearly  all  the  time,  and  whenever  he 
discharged  the  cannon  he  invariably 
broke  the  dense  masses  of  the  enemy. 
At  noon  news  came  that  the  hospital 
had  been  taken.  We  never  dreamed 
that  it  was  necessary  to  guard  a  sick 
man's  house  ;  but  the  enemy  actually 
charged  and  took  it,  with  one  hundred 
and  twenty  dead  and  wounded  lying  in 
it.  The  brigade  found  it  would  never 
do  to  allow  the  enemy  to  keep  the  hos 
pital,  and  the  Missouri  regiments  (Thir 
teenth  and  Fourteenth)  were  ordered  to 


MULLIGAN'S   REPORT. 


451 


dislodge  the  enemy,  but  only  proceeded 
as    far    as    the    sallyport.      The    Irish 
brigade    was   then    ordered   to   attack ; 
charged   it  at  a   double-quick,   poured 
one  volley  into  the  enemy,  passed  the 
embrasure — on — on  they  went  with  the 
cold  steel,  and  better  than  that,  the  iron 
will,  till  they  met  the  enemy,  grappled— 
then  foot  to  foot  and  teeth  to  teeth,  till 
they  drove  them  from  the  building.   They 
drove  them  from  room  to  room,  and  their 
bayonets  were  dripping  with  blood.    Un 
fortunately  they  were  unable  to  remove 
the  sick  and  dying.     Toward  night  the 
battle  was  reopened  and  kept  up  till  the 
sun  went   down.     At  nine  o'clock,  the 
brigade  again  attacked  the  enemy — sur 
prising  some  of  Colonel  Harris'  men  at 
supper,  and  captured  their  colors.     On 
the  19th,  we  found  that  our  water  was 
exhausted,    and  we    suffered   the   most 
excruciating   agony   from    thirst.      One 
man,  at  the  risk  of  his  life,  left  the  camp 
for  some  water,  and  returned  with  a  can 
teen  full.     The  surgeons  had  been  taken 
prisoners,  and  the  wounded   could  not 
be  attended  to,  and  were  obliged  to  lie 
in  agony  on  the  field  as  they  were.     Cap 
tain  Moriarty,  of  Company  F,  who  was 
by  profession  a  surgeon,  was  ordered  to 
the  hospital,  and  for  forty  hours  was  en 
gaged  in  amputating  limbs,  with  nothing 
but  a  razor.     The  morning  of  the  20th 
broke,  and  the  battle  was  resumed,  the 
Irish   brigade  being  still  without  pro 
visions  and  water.     They  dug  pits,  and 
constructed  a  circle  of  mines  for  the  bene 
fit  of  the  enemy,  when  they  should  at 
tack  them,  which,  when  they  did,  caused 
great  lose  to  them.     The  enemy  tried  to 


counteract  this  by  rolling  hemp  bales  in 
their  direction,  constantly  advancing  and 
firing  all  the  time.     The  foe  advanced 
to  about  170  feet  with  two  field-pieces, 
and  we  fought  desperately  with  our  two 
six-pounders    against    them    for   three 
hours.     Ultimately  the    enemy   cleared 
the  intrenchments,  and  then  a  desperate 
hand-to-hand  fight  ensued.     They  cap 
tured  our  guns  and  earth-works,  but  sev 
eral  companies  being  ordered   up,   the 
enemy    were    repulsed.     The    brigade 
was  nearly  out  of  ammunition,  and  but 
two  guns  out  of  the  five  could  be  used, 
and  orders  were  given  to  fire  as  slowly 
and  effectively  as  possible.     Both  sides 
then  ceased  firing,  and  I  received  a  note 
from  General  Price  asking  me  what  the 
matter  was,  to  which  I  replied  in  writing, 
'  General,  upon  my  honor  I  don't  know, 
unless  you    have    surrendered.'     Infor 
mation  then  ran  through  the  lines  that 
no  more  cartridges  were  to  be  had,  and 
great  consternation   followed.     On  this 
the  men  were  ordered  to  go  back  to  their 
trenches  without  a  single  charge  in  their 
boxes,   and  without  complaint  or  mur 
mur  they   gallantly  did  so.      We   sent 
this  intelligence  to  General  Price,  and 
the  place  was  delivered  up.     Then  the 
foe  galloped  in  upon  us  with  four  six- 
pounders,   the    commander    exclaiming, 
1  Load  them  up  with  grape  !'     They  then 
shouted,   '  Down  with  your   flags  ;'  but 
not  a  man  stirred.     The  green  flag  of 
Ireland,  which  floated  on  the  earthworks, 
ftve  feet  broad  and  eight  feet  long,  was 
pulled  down  by  the  enemy,  but  in  an  in- 
tant  it  was  replanted  in  the  sand  by  the 
men.     They  then  marched  us  off,  and 


452 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE   SOUTH. 


some  in  authority  said,  '  Colonel,  you 
must  give  us  your  word  you  won't  run 
away ;'  and  I  replied,  '  We  have  not 
done  that  for  a  good  while.'  They  de 
sired  us  to  take  the  oath  that  we  would 
not  fight  against  the  Confederate  States 
in  future,  which  we  declined  to  do." 

The  enemy  had  naturally  in  their  com 
mander  a  more  partial  historian  of  their 
deeds,  and,  as  may  be  expected,  the  fol 
lowing  report  by  General  Price,  of  the 
siege  of  Lexington,  will  be  found,  if  less 
true,  as  flattering  to  his  own  men  as 
Colonel  Mulligan's  record  is  to  ours. 
Price,  after  describing  the  first  skirmish 
with  the  Federalists,  says,  "  This  threat 
ened  to  become  general.  Being  unwill 
ing,  however,  to  risk  a  doubtful  engage 
ment,  when  a  short  delay  would  make 
success  certain,  I  fell  back  two  or  three 
miles  and  awaited  the  arrival  of  my  in 
fantry  and  artillery.  These  having  come 
up,  we  advanced  upon  the  town,  driving 
in  the  enemy's  pickets  until  we  came 
within  a  short  distance  of  the  city  itself. 
Here  the  enemy  attempted  to  make  a 
stand,  but  they  were  speedily  driven 
from  every  position  and  forced  to  take 
shelter  within  their  intrenchments.  We 
then  took  our  position  within  easy  range 
of  the  college,  which  building  they  had 
strongly  fortified,  and  opened  upon  them 
a  brisk  fire  from  Bledsoe's  battery  (which, 
in  the  absence  of  Captain  Bledsoe,  who 
had  been  wounded  at  Big  Dry- Wood, 
was  gallantly  commanded  by  Captain 
Emmett  McDonald),  and  by  Parson's 
battery,  under  the  skilful  command  of 
Captain  Guibor. 

"Finding  after  sunset  that  our  am 


munition,  the  most  of  which  had  been 
left  behind  on  the  march  from  Spring 
field,  was  nearly  exhausted,  and  that  my 
men,  thousands  of  whom  had  not  eaten 
a  particle  in  thirty-six  hours,  required 
rest  and  food,  I  withdrew  to  the  Fair 
Ground  and  encamped  there.  My  am 
munition  wagons  having  been  at  last 
brought  up,  and  large  reinforcements 
having  been  received,  I  again  moved 
into  the  town  on  Wednesday,  the  18th 
instant,  and  began  the  final  attack  on 
the  enemy's  works. 

"  Brigadier-General  Rains'  division  oc 
cupied  a  strong  position  on  the  east  and 
north-east  of  the  fortifications,  from 
which  an  effective  cannonading  was  kept 
up  on  the  enemy  by  Bledsoe's  battery, 
under  command,  except  on  the  last  day, 
of  Captain  Emmett  McDonald,  and  an 
other  battery  commanded  by  Captain 
Churchill  Clark,  of  St.  Louis.  *  *  * 

"  General  Parsons  took  a  position 
south-west  of  the  works,  whence  his  bat 
tery,  under  command  of  Captain  Guibor. 
poured  a  steady  fire  into  the  enemy. 
Skirmishers  and  sharpshooters  were  also 
sent  forth  from  both  of  these  divisions 
to  harass  and  fatigue  the  enemy,  and  to 
cut  them  off  from  the  water  on  the  north, 
east,  and  south  of  the  college,  and  did 
inestimable  service  in  the  accomplish 
ment  of  these  purposes. 

"  Colonel  Congreve  Jackson's  division 
and  a  part  of  General  Steen's  were  post 
ed  near  General  Rains  and  General  Par 
sons  as  a  reserve,  but  no  occasion  occur 
red  to  call  them  into  action.  They  were, 
however,  at  all  times  vigilant,  and  ready 
to  rush  upon  the  enemy. 


PRICE'S   REPORT. 


453 


' '  Shortly  after  entering  the  city  on 
the  18th,  Colonel  Rives,  who  command 
ed  the  Fourth  Division  in  the  absence 
of  General  Slack,  led  his  regiment  and 
Colonel  Hughes'  along  the  river  bank, 
to  a  point  immediately  beneath  and  west 
of  the  fortifications,  General  McBride's 
command  and  a  portion  of  General  Har 
ris'  having  been  ordered  to  reinforce 
him.  Colonel  Rives,  in  order  to  cut  off 
the  enemy's  means  of  escape,  proceeded 
down  the  bank  of  the  river  to  capture 
a  steamboat  which  was  lying  just  under 
their  guns.  Just  at  this  moment  a  heavy 
fire  was  opened  upon  him  from  Colonel 
Anderson's  large  dwelling-house,  on  the 
summit  of  the  bluffs,  which  the  enemy 
were  occupying  as  a  hospital,  and  upon 
which  a  white  flag  was  flying.  Several 
companies  of  General  Harris'  command 
and  the  gallant  soldiers  of  the  Fourth 
Division,  who  have  won  upon  so  many 
battle-fields  the  proud  distinction  of  al 
ways  being  among  the  bravest  of  the 
brave,  immediately  rushed  upon  and 
took  the  place. 

"  The  important  position  thus  secured 
was  within  125  yards  of  the  enemy's  in- 
trenchments.  A  company  from  Colonel 
Hughes'  regiment  then  took  possession 
of  the  boats,  one  of  which  was  richly 
freighted  with  valuable  stores.  General 
McBride's  and  General  Harris'  divisions 
meanwhile  gallantly  stormed  and  occu 
pied  the  bluffs  immediately  north  of 
Anderson's  house.  The  possession  of 
these  heights  enabled  our  men  to  har 
ass  the  enemy  so  greatly  that,  resolv 
ing  to  regain  them,  they  made  upon  the 
house  a  successful  assault,  and  one  which 


would  have  been  honorable  to  them  had 
it  not  been  accompanied  by  an  act  of 
savage  barbarity — the  cold-blooded  and 
cowardly  murder  of  three  defenceless 
men  who  had  laid  down  their  arms  and 
surrendered  themselves  as  prisoners. 
The  position  thus  retaken  by  the  enemy 
was  soon  regained  by  the  brave  men  who 
had  been  driven  from  it,  and  was  thence 
forward  held  by  them  to  the  very  end 
of  the  contest. 

"  The  heights  to  the  left  of  Anderson's 
house,  which  had  been  taken,  as  before 
stated,  by  Generals  McBride  and  Harris, 
and  by  part  of  General  Steen's  command, 
under  Colonel  Boyd  and  Major  Winston, 
were  rudely  fortified  by  our  soldiers, 
who  threw  up  breast-works  as  well  as 
they  could  with  their  slender  means.  On 
the  morning  of  the  20th  instant,  I  caused 
a  number  of  hemp  bales  to  be  transport 
ed  to  the  river  heights,  where  movable 
breast-works  were  speedily  constructed 
out  of  them  by  Generals  Harris  and 
McBride,  Colonel  Rives  and  Major 
Winston,  and  their  respective  commands. 
Captain  Kelly's  battery  (attached  to 
General  Steen's  division)  was  ordered 
at  the  same  time  to  the  position  occu 
pied  by  General  Harris'  force,  and 
quickly  opened  a  very  effective  fire, 
under  the  direction  of  its  gallant  cap 
tain,  upon  the  enemy.  These  demon 
strations,  and  particularly  the  continued 
advance  of  the  hempen  breast-works, 
which  were  as  efficient  as  the  cotton 
bales  at  New  Orleans,  quickly  attracted 
the  attention  and  excited  the  alarm  of 
the  enemy,  who  made  many  daring  at 
tempts  to  drive  us  back.  They  were, 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


however,  repulsed  in  every  instance  by 
the  unflinching  courage  and  fixed  deter 
mination  of  our  men. 

"In  these  desperate  encounters,  the 
veterans  of  McBride's  and  Slack's  divi 
sions  fully  sustained  their  proud  reputa 
tion,  while  Colonel  Martin  Green  and 
his  command,  and  Colonel  Boyd  and 
Major  Winston  and  their  commands, 
proved  themselves  worthy  to  fight  by 
the  side  of  the  men  who  had  by  their 
courage  and  valor  won  imperishable 
honor  in  the  bloody  battle  of  Spring 
field. 

"  About  two  o'clock  in  the  afternoon 
of  the  20th  [Sept.],  and  after  fifty-two 
hours  of  continuous  firing,  a  white  flag 
was  displayed  by  the  enemy  on  that 


part  of  their  works  nearest  to  Colonel 
Green's  position,  and  shortly  afterward 
another  was  displayed  opposite  to  Col 
onel  Rives.  I  immediately  ordered  a 
cessation  of  all  firing  on  our  part,  and 
sent  forward  one  of  my  staff  officers  to 
ascertain  the  object  of  the  flag,  and  to 
open  negotiations  with  the  enemy,  if 
such  should  be  their  desire.  It  was 
finally,  after  some  delay,  agreed  by  Col 
onel  Marshall  and  the  officers  associated 
with  him  for  that  purpose  by  Colonel 
Mulligan,  that  the  United  States  forces 
should  lay  down  their  arms  and  sur 
render  themselves  as  prisoners  of  war 
to  this  army.  These  terms  having  been 
made  known  to,  were  ratified  by,  me  and 
immediately  carried  into  effect." 


CHAPTER    XLII. 

Effect  of  the  Fall  of  Lexington,  in  Missouri. — Increased  Censure  of  Fremont. — Fremont  conscious  of  the  Misfortunes  of 
his  Campaign. — Eesolution  to  redeem  himself. — Dispatch  to  the  United  States  Government. — Sensihility  of  Fremont. 
— Increased  Denunciations  by  his  Opponents. — Exaggerations. — The  Apology  of  Fremont's  Friends. — Impossibility  ot 
forming  a  just  judgment  of  Fremont. — The  famous  Proclamation  of  Fremont. — How  received. — Letter  of  Presi 
dent  Lincoln.— Effect  in  Kentucky. — Holt's  Letter. — President's  Response. — Admiration  of  Fremont  at  the  North, 
— Charges  against  Fremont. — Maladministration. — Personal  Improprieties. — Profuse  Expenditure  of  Public  Money 
— Contracts. — Surrounded  by  Californians. — Their  character. — Personal  state  and  bearing. — A  Western  Satrap.— 
Grand  Retinue. — March  of  Fremont. — Arrival  at  Warsaw. — Bridge  building. — Crossing  the  Osage. — Movement  of 
the  Enemy. — Plan  of  Fremont's  Campaign. — Grand  Project. — Fremont's  Army. — Disposition  of  the  Forces. — Bril 
liant  actions  of  the  Advance. — Major  White's  Expedition. — Re-capture  of  Lexington. — Retreat  from  Lexington.— 
March  of  White. — Major  Clark  Wright's  Expedition. — Fight  at  Lebanon. — An  artless  Report. — -Capture  of  Lini 
Creek. — A  native  account. — Expedition  of  Fremont's  Body-guard. — Capture  of  Springfield  by  Major  Zagonyi.— 
Elation  of  Fremont. — An  exulting  Report. 


1861 


THE  fall  of  Lexington  was  a  heavy 
blow,  and  for  a  time  caused  great 
discouragement  to  the  Unionists  of 
Missouri,  and  loyal  men  throughout  the 
United  States.  Its  effect  in  regard  to 
General  Fremont  was  to  add  to  the 


suspicion  of  his  military  incapacity  ex 
cited  by  his  failure  to  rescue  the  spirited 
Lyon,  sacrificed  by  the  sad  disaster 
at  Springfield.  Fremont  himself  now 
seemed  conscious  that  he  was  arraigned 
before  the  whole  country  as  the  cause  of 


DISPATCH   TO   THE   U.   S.   GOVERNMENT. 


455 


these  misfortunes,  and  was  stimulated  to 
unusual  effort  to  redeem  his  good  name, 
which,  if  not  lost  by  his  own  conduct,  had 
been  singularly  imperilled  by  ill  fortune. 
The  losses  of  Springfield  and  Lexing 
ton  were  disasters  of  such  magnitude, 
and  had  succeeded  so  rapidly  after  the 
appointment  of  Fremont,  that  he  be 
came  conscious  that  however  he  might 
hope  in  the  future  to  exonerate  himself, 
by  arguments  submitted  to  the  reason 
of  the  country,  his  only  hope  of  securing 
public  favor  for  the  present  was  by 
triumphant  action.  His  position,  he 
knew,  depended  upon  immediate  success, 
and  this  he  now  made  a  desperate  effort 
to  accomplish.  He  no  sooner  heard  of 
the  disaster  at  Lexington  than  he  de 
termined  to  march  out  against  the 
enemy.  This  was  his  brief  notification 
to  the  Government  of  his  resolution  : 

"  HEADQUARTERS  WESTERN  DEPT.,  ) 
ST.  Louis,  Sept.  23,  1861.          i" 

"  COL.  E.  D.  TOWNSEND,  ADJUTANT-GENERAL  : 

"I  have  a  telegram  from  Brookfield 
that  Lexington  has  fallen  into  'Price's 
hands,  he  having  cut  off  Mulligan's  sup 
ply  of  water.  Reinforcements  •  4,000 
strong,  under  Sturgis,  by  the  capture  of 
the  ferry-boats,  had  no  means  of  crossing 
the  river  in  time.  Lane's  forces  from 
the  southwest,  and  Davis'  from  the 
southeast,  upward  of  11,000  in  all, 
could  also  not  get  there  in  time.  I  am 
taking  the  field  myself,  and  hope  to 
destroy  the  enemy  either  before  or  after 
the  junction  of  the  forces  under  McCul- 
loch.  Please  notify  the  President  im 
mediately.  "J.C.FREMONT, 

"  Major-General  Commanding." 


The  attempt  in  this  rapid  dispatch  to 
excuse  the  disaster  of  Lexington,  and 
the  emphatic  expression  of  his  resolu 
tion  to  take  the  field  in  person,  prove 
the  sensibility  of  Fremont  to  the  peril 
which  threatened  his  fair  fame,  and  his 
firm  resolve  to  do  his  utmost  to  save  it. 

This  second  misfortune  at  Lexington 
gave  additional  force  to  the  denuncia 
tions  of  his  opponents.  It  is  impossible 
at  this  period  to  decide  the  questions 
which  have  arisen  between  those  who 
oppose  and  those  who  favor  Fremont. 
The  censure  of  the  former  and  the  ap 
plause  of  the  latter  have  been  both  car 
ried  beyond  the  limits  of  impartiality, 
and  envy  and  malignity  may  have  on  the 
one  side  perverted  truth,  as  friendship 
and  flattery  have  undoubtedly  on  the 
other.  Fremont's  action  in  regard  to 
the  fatal  question  of  slavery,  it  is  con 
tended  by  his  friends,  has  been  the 
cause  of  the  readiness  with  which  he 
has  been  condemned  for  military  in 
capacity.  His  enemies,  it  is  declared, 
had  gladly  seized  upon  the  opportunity 
of  the  disasters  of  his  administration  as 
a  general,  and  turned  it  against  his 
policy  as  a  statesman.  In  a  contem 
porary  history,  like  the  present,  it.  would 
not  be  desirable,  even  if  it  were  practi 
cable,  so  to  investigate  the  acts  arid 
motives  of  living  men  as  to  pronounce 
decidedly  upon  their  conduct.  This 
must  be  left  to  future  historians.  The 
duty  of  the  present  annalist  is  merely 
to  record  facts. 

One  of  the  earliest  acts  of  General 
Fremont,  on  his  arrival  at  St.  Louis,  was 
to  issue  this,  his  famous  proclamation  : 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE   SOUTH. 


"  HEADQUARTERS  OF  THE  WESTERN  DEPT.,  ) 
ST.  Louis,  August  31,  1861.  f 

"  Circumstances,  in  my  judgment  of 
sufficient  urgency,  render  it  necessary 
that  the  Commanding  General  of  this 
Department  should  assume  the  adminis 
trative  powers  of  the  State.  Its  dis 
organized  condition,  the  helplessness  of 
the  civil  authority,  the  total  insecurity 
of  life,  and  the  devastation  of  property 
by  bands  of  murderers  and  marauders, 
who  infest  nearly  every  county  in  the 
State,  and  avail  themselves  of  the  public 
misfortunes  and  the  vicinity  of  a  hos 
tile  force  to  gratify  private  and  neigh 
borhood  vengeance,  and  who  find  an 
enemy  wherever  they  find  plunder,  finally 
demand  the  severest  measures  to  repress 
the  daily  increasing  crimes  and  outrages 
which  are  driving  off  the  inhabitants 
and  ruining  the  State.  In  this  condition 
the  public  safety  and  the  success  of  our 
arms  require  unity  of  purpose,  without 
let  or  hindrance,  to  the  prompt  adminis 
tration  of  affairs. 

"In  order,  therefore,  to  suppress  dis 
orders,  to  maintain  as  far  as  now  prac 
ticable  the  public  peace,  and  to  give  se 
curity  and  protection  to  the  persons  and 
property  of  loyal  citizens,  I  do  hereby 
extend,  and  declare  established,  martial 
law  throughout  the  State  of  Missouri. 
The  lines  of  the  army  of  occupation  in 
this  State  are  for  the  present  declared 
to  extend  from  Leavenworth  by  way  of 
the  posts  of  Jefferson  City,  Holla,  and 
Ironton,  to  Cape  Girardeau,  on  the  Mis 
sissippi  River. 

"  All  persons  who  shall  be  taken  with 
arms  in  their  hands  within  these  lines 


shall  be  tried  by  court-martial,  and,  if 
found  guilty,  will  be  shot.  The  prop 
erty,  real  and  personal,  of  all  persons  in 
the  State  of  Missouri  who  shall  take  up 
arms  against  the  United  States,  and 
who  shall  be  directly  proven  to  have 
taken  active  part  with  their  enemies  in 
the  field,  is  declared  to  be  confiscated  to 
the  public  use  ;  and  their  slaves,  if  any 
they  have,  are  hereby  declared  free. 

"  All  persons  who  shall  be  proven  to 
have  destroyed,  after  the  publication  of 
this  order,  railroad  tracks,  bridges,  or 
telegraphs,  shall  suffer  the  extreme  pen 
alty  of  the  law. 

"All  persons  engaged  in  treasonable 
correspondence,  in  giving  or  procuring 
aid  to  the  enemies  of  the  United  States, 
in  disturbing  the  public  tranquillity  by 
creating  and  circulating  false  reports  or 
incendiary  documents,  are  in  their  own 
interest  warned  that  they  are  exposing 
themselves. 

"  All  persons  who  have  been  led  away 
from  their  allegiance  are  required  to  re 
turn  to  their  homes  forthwith  ;  any  such 
absence  without  sufficient  cause  will  be 
held  to  be  presumptive  evidence  against 
them. 

"The  object  of  this  declaration  is  to 
place  in  the  hands  of  the  military  au 
thorities  the  power  to  give  instantaneous 
effect  to  existing  laws,  and  to  supply 
such  deficiencies  as  the  conditions  of  war 
demand.  But  it  is  not  intended  to  sus 
pend  the  ordinary  tribunals  of  the  coun 
try,  where  the  law  will  be  administered 
by  the  civil  officers  in  the  usual  manner 
and  with  their  customary  authority,  while 
the  same  can  be  peaceably  exercised. 


FREMONT'S  EMANCIPATION   PROCLAMATION . 


457 


"  The  Commanding  General  will  labor 
vigilantly  for-  the  public  welfare,  and  in 
his  efforts  for  their  safety,  hopes  to  ob 
tain  not  only  the  acquiescence,  but  the 
active  support  of  the  people  of  the 
country.  J.  C.  FREMONT, 

"  Major- General  Commanding." 

This  proclamation  was  welcomed  with 
enthusiasm,  not  only  by  those  who  had 
been  always  abolitionists,  but  by  many 
who  had  become  so  only  since  the  war, 
and  now  believed  that  the  most  effectual 
means  of  conquering  the  enemy  was 
by  emancipating  their  slaves.  At  the 
same  time,  however,  Fremont's  mani 
festo  caused  great  inquietude  to  the 
Union  men  of  the  border  slave  States, 
and  all  others  who  were  striving  to  con 
ciliate  them.  President  Lincoln,  scru 
pulous  in  the  exercise  of  his  constitu 
tional  power,  was  known  to  be  doubtful 
of  the  right,  even  in  war,  of  interfering 
with  the  slaves.  He  was,  moreover, 
especially  anxious  to  confirm  the  loyalty 
of  Kentucky,  which  seemed  to  be  waver 
ing,  in  consequence  of  the  doubts  of  its 
citizens  in  regard  to  the  action  of  the 
Federal  Government  on  the  subject. 

President  Lincoln  accordingly  took 
exception  to  Fremont's  proclamation, 
which  led  to  a  correspondence,  the  pur 
port  and  result  of  which  are  shown  by 
this  letter. 

"WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  Sept,  11,  1861. 
k'  MAJOR-GENERAL  JOHN  C.  FREMONT  : 

"  SIR  :  Yours  of  the  8th,  in  answer 
to  mine  of  the  2d  instant,  is  just  re 
ceived.  Assured  that  you,  upon  the 
ground,  could  judge  better  of  the  neces 
sities  of  your  position  than  I  could  at 

58 


this  distance,  on  seeing  your  proclama 
tion  of  August  30th,  I  perceived  no  gen 
eral  objection  to  it ;  the  particular  clause, 
however,  in  relation  to  the  confiscation 
of  property  and  the  liberation  of  slaves 
appeared  to  me  to  be  objectionable  in 
its  non-conformity  to  the  act  of  Congress 
passed  the  6th  of  August  upon  the  same 
subjects,  and  hence  I  wrote  you  express 
ing  my  wish  that  that  clause  should  be 
modified     accordingly.       Your    answer 
just  received  expresses  the  preference 
on  your  part  that  I  should  make   an 
open  order  for  the  modification,  which  I 
very  cheerfully  do.     It  is  therefore  or 
dered  that  the  said  clause  of  said  proc 
lamation  be  so  modified,  held,  and  con 
strued  as  to  conform  with  and  not  to 
transcend    the  provisions   on  the   same 
subject  contained  in  the  act  of  Congress 
entitled  '  An  act  to  confiscate  property 
used  for  insurrectionary  purposes,'  ap 
proved  August  6,   1861,  and  that  said 
act   be    published   at   length  with   this 
order.  Your  obedient  servant, 

"  A.  LINCOLN." 

The  effect  upon  Kentucky  may  be  in 
ferred  from  the  letter  addressed  by  the 
patriotic  Holt  to  the  President,  who,  it 
will  be  seen  by  his  answer,  had  already 
anticipated  the  sensitiveness  of  the  bor 
der  slave  States,  and  had  guarded 
against  wounding  it,  by  his  directions  to 
Fremont. 

"WASHINGTON,  Sept.  12,  186L. 
"  His  EXCELLENCY,  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN,  PRESI 
DENT  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES  : 

"  DEAR  SIR  :  The  late  act  of  Congress 
providing   for   the    confiscation    of    the 
states    of    persons   in   open    rebellion 


458 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE   SOUTH. 


against  the  Government,  was  as  a  neces 
sary  war  measure  accepted  and  finally 
approved  by  the  loyal  men  of  the  coun 
try.  It  limited  the  penalty  of  confisca 
tion  to  property  actually  employed  in 
the  service  of  the  rebellion  with  the 
knowledge  and  consent  of  its  owners, 
and  instead  of  emancipating  slaves  thus 
employed,  left  their  status  to  be  deter 
mined  by  the  courts  of  the  United 
States  or  by  subsequent  legislation. 
The  proclamation,  however,  of  General 
Fremont,  under  date  of  30th  of  August, 
transcends,  and  of  course  violates,  the 
law  in  both  these  particulars,  and  de 
clares  that  the  property  of  rebels, 
whether  used  in  support  of  the  rebellion 
or  not,  shall  be  confiscated,  and  if  con 
sisting  in  slaves,  that  they  shall  be  at 
once  manumitted.  The  act  of  Congress 
referred  to  was  believed  to  embody  the 
conservative  policy  of  your  administra 
tion  upon  this  delicate  and  perplexing 
question,  and  hence  the  loyal  men  of  the 
border  slave  States  have  felt  relieved  of 
all  fears  of  any  attempt  on  the  part  of 
the  Government  of  the  United  States  to 
liberate  suddenly  in  their  midst  a  popu 
lation  unprepared  for  freedom,  and 
whose  presence  could  not  fail  to  prove  a 
painful  apprehension,  if  not  a  terror,  to 
the  homes  and  families  of  all.  You 
may  therefore  well  judge  of  the  alarm 
and  condemnation  with  which  the  Union- 
loving  citizens  of  Kentucky — the  State 
with  whose  popular  sentiment  I  am  best 
acquainted — have  read  this  proclama 
tion. 

"  The  hope  is  earnestly  indulged  in 
by  them    as  it  is  by  myself,  that  this 


paper  was  issued  under  the  pressure  of 
a  military  necessity  which  General  Fre 
mont  believed  justified  the  step,  but. 
that  in  the  particulars  specified  it  has 
not  your  approbation  and  will  not  be 
enforced  in  derogation  of  law.  The 
magnitude  of  the  interest  at  stake,  and 
my  extreme  desire  that  by  no  misappre 
hension  of  your  sentiments  or  purposes 
shall  the  power  and  fervor  of  the  loyalty 
of  Kentucky  be  at  this  moment  abated 
or  chilled,  must  be  my  apology  for  the 
frankness  with  which  I  have  addressed 
you,  and  for  the  request  I  venture  to 
make  of  an  expression  of  your  views 
upon  the  points  of  General  Fremont's 
proclamation,  on  which  I  have  com 
mented. 

"  I  have  the  honor  to  be,  very  re 
spectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

"J.  HOLT." 

"EXECUTIVE  MANSION,  Sept.  12,  1861. 
"  THE  HON.  JOSEPH  HOLT  : 

"DEAR  SIR  :  Yours  of  this  day,  in  re 
lation  to  the  late  proclamation  of  Gen 
eral  Fremont,  is  received.  Yesterday  1 
addressed  a  letter  to  him  by  mail  on  the 
same  subject,  and  which  is  to  be  made 
public  when  he  receives  it.  I  herewith 
send  you  a  copy  of  that  letter,  which, 
perhaps,  shows  my  position  as  distinctly 
as  any  new  one  I  could  write.  I  will 
thank  you  not  to  make  it  public  until 
General  Fremont  shall  have  had  time  to 
receive  the  original. 

"Your  obedient  servant, 

"  A.  LINCOLN." 

Fremont's  action  in  regard  to  slavery 
had  thus  placed  him  in  antagonism  to 
the  policy  which  ruled  at  Washington. 


FREMONT  IN   STATE. 


459 


There  was,  however,  among  his  numer 
ous  partisans,  so  strong  an  approval  of 
his  conduct,  that  his  political  enemies 
would  have  hardly  ventured  to  press 
his  removal  on  the  score  of  the  procla 
mation.  But  they  found  other  charges 
by  which  a  plausible  case  could  be  made 
out  against  him.  In  addition  to  the 
disasters  attributed  to  his  want  of  gen 
eralship,  and  his  anti-slavery  proclama 
tion  denounced  as  unconstitutional  and 
impolitic,  there  were  various  evidences 
of  maladministration  and  personal  im 
proprieties  which  offered  ready  points 
of  attack  to  those  who  sought  them. 
Fremont,  with  a  naturally  generous 
nature,  had  evidently  spent  the  public 
money  with  too  profuse  a  hand. 
Contracts  had  been  indiscreetly  made, 
and  enormous  sums  paid  for  army  sup 
plies.  Fortifications  of  questionable 
utility  had  been  erected  about  the  city 
of  St.  Louis  at  the  cost  of  millions. 
The  contracts  for  these  works  and  others 
had  been  given  to  personal  friends,  it 
was  asserted,  who  were  making  rapid 
fortunes  at  the  expense  of  the  Govern 
ment.  None  ventured  to  suspect  Fre 
mont  himself  of  any  complicity  for  his 
own  pecuniary  advantage  in  these  trans 
actions,  but  he  was  naturally  held  re 
sponsible  for  those  who  benefited  by 
them.  He  had  unfortunately  surround 
ed  himself  by  a  throng  of  people  from 
California,  who  had  acquired  in  that 
goldea  State  habits  of  expenditure  little 
favorable  to  public  economy. 

To  these  faults  of  administration 
were  added  weaknesses  of  a  personal 
character,  which  were  elaborately  de 


tailed  and  magnified  to  Fremont's  dis 
advantage.  He  was  charged  with  affect 
ing  a  state  hardly  reconcilable  with 
notions  of  republican  equality.  Grandly 
installed  jn  one  of  the  finest  houses  of 
St.  Louis,  for  which,  as  the  public  was 
carefully  reminded  by  his  opponents, 
he  paid  an  exorbitant  rent  to  a  mem 
ber  of  his  own  family,  he  assumed  the 
air  of  a  monarch.  His  portals  were 
jealously  watched,  and  all  but  the  fa 
vorites  of  the  great  man  carefully  ex 
cluded. 

"I  have  known,"  says  one  witness, 
"colonels  of  regiments  spend  three, 
four,  and  five  days  in  St.  Louis,  seeking 
an  interview  with  the  General,  to  tender 
regiments  for  the  public  service.  Some 
of  them  gave  up  the  case  as  hopeless, 
and  went  home  '  without  the  sight.' 
When  perseverance  was  crowned  with 
success  and  regiments  were  accepted, 
I  have  known  them  wait  for  necessary 
orders  two  or  three  days.  This  last  de 
lay  may  have  been  the  fault  of  his  staff, 
but  if  so,  the  General  should  provide 
against  such  delays  in  his  own  office. 
Among  the  colonels  referred  to  as  offer 
ing  troops,  but  delayed,  I  will  name 
Colonel  Turner,  Colonel  Tindell,  Colonel 
Glover,  Colonel  Foster,  Colonel  Hays, 
and  Colonel  John  S.  Phelps. 

"Governors,  Congressmen,  and  lead 
ing  men  of  the  West  have  failed  to  ob 
tain  interviews  with  the  General  when 
calling  on  business  of  importance  to  the 
public  service.  If  this  statement  is 
doubted  by  your  readers,  let  them  in 
quire  of  Governor  Gamble,  Governor 
Yates,  Ex-Governor  Wood,  Senator 


460 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


Browning,  and  others  who  have  tried  the 
experiment." 

Fremont  was  described  as  having  as 
sumed  all  the  airs  and  importance  of  a 
vulgar  satrap,  shut  up  when  at  home 
with  his  favorites,  and  when  abroad  rid 
ing  in  a  carriage  with  four  horses,  fol 
lowed  by  his  foreign  guards  and  piped 
to  by  his  bands  of  music.  Such  were 
the  charges  elaborately  gathered  and 
loudly  pronounced  against  the  once 
popular  favorite.  Fremont  now  hoped 
to  redeem  his  character,  thus  rudely 
assailed,  by  a  brilliant  effort,  at  arms. 
fie  accordingly  set  out  on  an  expedition 
against  the  enemy,  in  the  interior  of 
Missouri. 

On  the  27th  of  September,  Fremont 
began  his  march  from  St.  Louis,  arrived 
at  Jefferson  City  on  the  next  day,  and 
on  the  17th  of  October,  after  a  tedious 
march,  delayed  by  the  ill  condition  of  the 
roads  and  his  deficient  means  of  trans 
port,  reached  Warsaw,  on  the  river 
Osage.  Four  days  the  troops  were 
at  work  building  a  bridge.  There 
was  no  saw-mill  or  lumber,  and  it 
was  necessary  to  cut  down  the  trees  of 
the  forest  and  fashion  them  into  a  bridge 
with  such  rude  tools  and  skill  as  the 
army  could  supply.  A  firm  passage 
was  finally  secured,  and  Fremont  crossed 
the  Osage  on  the  22d  of  October.  As  he 
thus  was  pressing  forward,  the  enemy 
retired,  and  although  at  times  threaten 
ing  to  give  him  battle,  it  soon  became 
apparent  that  they  wished  to  avoid 
an  engagement.  Fremont  moved  on 
deliberately  over  the  rolling  fields  of 
Missouri,  here  encamping  by  a  stream 


of  water,  and  there  on  the  borders  of 
the  occasional  forests  which  divide  the 
expanse  of  prairie  land.     The  plan  of 
his    campaign    was    finally    determined 
by    the     movements     of    his     enemy, 
and  is  thus  set  forth  by  one*  who  was 
on  his  staff.     "  Our  campaign,"  he  says, 
"has  been  in  some  measure  decided  by 
the  movements  of  the  rebels.     The  sud 
den  appearance  of  Price  in  the  West, 
gathering  to  his  standard  many  thousands 
of  the  disaffected,  has  made  it  necessary 
for  the  General  to  check  his  bold  and 
successful  progress.     Carthage,  Wilson's 
Creek,   and   Lexington   have    given    to 
Price  a  prestige  which  it  is  essential  to 
destroy.     The    gun-boats    can    not    be 
finished  for  two  months  or  more,  and 
we  cannot  go  down  the  Mississippi  until 
the  flotilla  is  ready  ;  and  from  the  char 
acter  of  the  country  upon  each  side  of 
the  river,  it  will  be  difficult  to  operate 
there   with  a  large   body   of  men.     In 
southwestern    Missouri  we  are  sure  of 
fine  weather  till  the  last  of  November  ; 
the  prairies  are  high  and  dry,  and  there 
are  no  natural  obstacles  except  such  as 
it   will   excite    the    enthusiasm   of   the 
troops    to    overcome.       Therefore    the 
General  has  determined  to  pursue  Price 
until  he   catches  him.     He   can  march 
faster  than  we  can   now,  but  we  shall 
soon  be  able  to  move  faster  than  it  is 
possible    for   him   to    do.      The    rebels 
have  no  base  of  operations  from  which 
to  draw  supplies  ;  they  depend  entirely 
upon  foraging  ;  and  for  this  reason  Price 
das   to  make  long   halts   wherever   he 
finds  mills  and  grind  the  flour.     He  is 


°  Atlantic  Magazine. 


FREMONT'S   MISSOURI   CAMPAIGN. 


461 


BO  deficient  in  equipage,  also,  that  it 
will  be  impossible  for  him  to  carry  his 
troops  over  great  distances.  But  we 
can  safely  calculate  that  Price  and  Rains 
will  not  leave  the  State  ;  their  followers 
are  enlisted  for  six  months,  and  are  al 
ready  becoming  discontented  at  their 
continued  retreat,  and  will  not  go  with 
them  beyond  the  borders.  This  is  the 
uniform  testimony  of  deserters  and 
scouts.  Price  disposed  of,  either  by  a 
defeat  or  by  the  dispersal  of  his  army, 
we  are  to  proceed  to  Bird's  Point,  or 
into  Arkansas,  according  to  circum 
stances.  A  blow  at  Little  Rock  seems 
now  the  wisest,  as  it  is  the  boldest  plan. 
We  can  reach  that  place  by  the  middle 
of  November,  and  if  we  obtain  posses 
sion  of  it,  the  position  of  the  enemy 
upon  the  Mississippi  will  be  completely 
turned.  The  communications  of  Pillow, 
Hardee,  and  Thompson,  who  draw  their 
supplies  through  Arkansas,  will  be  cut 
off.  they  will  be  compelled  to  retreat, 
and  our  flotilla  and  the  reinforcements 
can  descend  the  river  to  assist  in  the 
operations  -against  Memphis  and  the 
attack  upon  New  Orleans." 

Fremont's  army  was  composed  of  five 
divisions,  under  the  several  commands 
of  Generals  Hunter,  Pope,  Sigel,  Mc- 
Kinstry,  and  Asboth,  and  numbered 
about  30,000  menr  of  whom  5,000  were 
cavalry.  Eighty-six  pieces  of  artillery, 
many  of  which  were  rifled,  were  the 
effective  force  in  cannon.  Most  of  the 
infantry  soldiers  were  supplied  with  good 
arms,  but  there  was  a  great  want  of  sabres 
for  the  cavalry,  many  of  whom  were 
armed  only  with  revolvers  and  pikes. 


Lane  and  Sturgis  were  ordered  to 
form  a  junction  with  Fremont  on  the 
Osage,  and  the  force  at  Rolla  was  ex 
pected  to  meet  him  at  the  south  of  that 
river.  The  commanders  at  Paducah, 
Cairo,  Bird's  Point,  Cape  Girardeau, 
and  Ironton  were  directed  to  engage  the 
enemy  from  these  points  as  soon  as 
Fremont  should  have  either  beaten 
Price  or  dispersed  his  force.  By  this 
combined  plan,  Fremont  hoped  to  drive 
the  enemy  from  Missouri  and  the  banks 
of  the  Mississippi,  until  the  route  should 
be  clear  for  a  triumphant  advance  upon 
New  Orleans.  The  feasibility  of  this 
grand  design,  it  will  be  seen,  was  never 
destined  to  be  put  to  the  proof. 

While  Fremont  was  thus  moving 
forward  with  his  main  body,  hoping  to 
accomplish  great  things  in  the  future, 
some  of  his  advance  were  already  antici 
pating  the  brilliant  prospect  by  a  fore 
taste  of  the  expected  glory. 

In  the  course  of  the  march,  General 
Fremont  sent  out  a  cavalry  squadron, 
consisting  of  about  120  men,  under  the 
command  of  Major  Frank  J.  White,  to 
scout.  The  force  left  Jefferson  City, 
the  capital  of  Missouri,  on  the  5th  of 
October,  and  after  a  severe  tramp 
reached  Georgetown  on  the  afternoon 
of  the  8th.  The  horses  in  the  mean 
time  had  lost  their  shoes,  and  were 
unfit  for  further  travel.  The  energetic 
commander  of  the  squadron,  however, 
was  prepared  for  every  emergency.  He 
accordingly  ordered  all  the  old  horse 
shoes  and  iron  that  could  be  found  to  be 
collected,  summoned  from  his  ranks  any 
that  happened  to  be  blacksmiths,  or 


462 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


could  with  American  readiness  turn 
their  hands  to  the  work,  and  took  pos 
session  of  two  deserted  blacksmith  shops 
in  the  village.  Thus,  in  the  course  of 
five  days,  all  the  horses  and  mules, 
numbering  together  232,  were  duly 
shod.  The  ammunition,  too,  which  the 
men  carried,  had  been  destroyed  by  the 
pelting  rains  on  the  march,  and  it  be 
came  necessary  to  obtain  a  fresh  supply. 
Fortunately  lead  and  powder  were  found 
in  the  place,  and  an  old  carpenter's  shop 
being  extemporized  into  an  arsenal, 
3,000  cartridges  were  manufactured  for 
the  revolvers  carried  by  the  cavalry 
troop. 

On  the  15th  of  October  the  Federal 
commander  at  Georgetown  received  a 
dispatch  from  Lexington,  stating  that  a 
valuable  baggage  train  had  left  that 
neighborhood  for  the  army  of  the  enemy. 
To  this  was  added  the  ominous  intelli 
gence,  that  the  Federal  prisoners  left  at 
Lexington  by  Price,  on  his  retreat  to 
the  southwest  with  his  army,  would  be 
assassinated  by  the  "rebel  marauders 
infesting  that  place,"  if  they  were  not 
relieved  in  twenty-four  hours.  Major 
Frank  White  and  his  command  at  once 
volunteered  to  go  to  the  rescue  of  their 
comrades  at  Lexington.  Colonel  Har 
vey,  then  at  Georgetown,  was  under 
marching  orders,  and  not  being  able  to 
perform  the  required  service,  did  not 
hesitate  to  accept  the  offer  of  Major 
White.  This  gallant  officer  accordingly 
set  out  with  his  squadron  of  cavalry, 
strengthened  by  seventy  men  of  the 
regiment  of  Colonel  Eads,  who  accom 
panied  the  expedition. 


It  was  late  at  night  when  the  expedi 
tion  set  out,  and  it  arrived  at  Lex-  QC^ 
ington  early  the  next  morning,  6» 
having  made  a  forced  march  of  sixty 
miles  in  eight  or  nine  hours.  The 
enemy's  picket  guards  were  driven  in 
at  once,  and  Major  White  pushed  for 
ward  into  the  town  and  took  possession 
without  resistance  from  the  "  rebels,  who 
fled  in  every  direction."  Sixty  or 
seventy  were  taken  prisoners,  and  sixty 
stand  of  arms,  twenty-five  horses,  two 
ferry-boats,  a  quantity  of  flour  and  pro 
visions,  a  large  rebel  flag,  the  private 
ambulance  of  General  Price,  Colonel 
Mulligan's  saddle,  and  other  articles 
were  captured.  The  steamer  Sioux, 
also,  arriving  the  next  day  at  Lexington, 
was  seized. 

The  first  care  of  Major  White  was  to 
rescue  his  fellow-soldiers  who  had  been 
captured  at  Lexington,  and  were  in 
daily  fear  of  massacre.  These  consisted 
of  Colonels  White  and  Grover,  and 
some  dozen  others.  The  prisoners  taken 
from  the  enemy  were  released  after 
taking  the  oath  of  allegiance  to  the 
Federal  Government. 

After  Major  White  had  held  Lexing 
ton  thirty-six  hours,  he  found  that  the 
enemy  were  recovering  from  their  alarm 
and  beginning  to  surround  his  little 
force  in  great  numbers.  He  accordingly 
evacuated  the  place,  leaving  a  deserted 
camp  to  the  enemy,  which  they  "  at 
tacked  with  great  energy."  White 
then  proceeded  to  Warrenburg,  making 
a  few  captures  by  the  way.  At  this 
place  there  was  a  slight  resistance, 
which,  however,  soon  ceased,  and  the 


MAJOR   WRIGHT  AT  LEBANON. 


463 


inhabitants  were  kept  in  discreet  awe  by 
a  threat  to  burn  the  town  if  they  per 
sisted  in  acts  of  hostility.  Major  White 
thence  moved  on  to  Warsaw  to  form  a 
junction  with  the  main  body  under  Fre 
mont.  In  the  whole  course  of  this 
spirited  and  successful  raid,  the  Feder 
alists  did  not  lose  a  man.  Their  gallant 
commander  declared,  "  I  have  no  casual 
ties  to  report,  and  my  men  are  all  in 
good  health  and  anxious  for  further 
service." 

Other  small  cavalry  forces  detached 
from  the  main  body  of  Fremont's  army 
had  been  equally  successful.  Major 
Clark  Wright  had  fallen  in  with  the 
enemy  near  Lebanon,  and  after  a  spirited 
attack  put  them  completely  to  the  rout. 
The  artless  account  of  the  affair  by  the 
Major  is  so  graphic,  that  it  needs  no 
rhetorical  varnish. 

"  HEAPQUABTEKS,  CAMP ,  Oct.  13,  1861. 

"GENERAL:  At  seven  o'clock  A.M., 
morning  13th,  my  command  struck  tents 
at  Camp  Conant,  on  Tavern  Creek, 
and  formed  into  column  in  rear  of  the 
train.  I  immediately  passed  along  the 
line,  and  requested  the  officers  to  keep 
the  men  well  closed  up,  and  allow  none 
to  leave  their  places,  but  to  keep  every 
thing  ready  for  service  at  a  moment's 
notice.  The  reports  from  the  scouts 
during  the  night  induced  me  to  believe 
that  the  enemy  might  attack  us  during 
the  day.  I  also  went  forward  and  sug 
gested  to  the  quartermaster  of  the  13th 
that  the  train  be  well  closed  up  and 
kept  so  ;  after  which  nothing  of  import 
ance  occurred  until  I  arrived  at  Justice 
Bennington's,  where  I  learned  that 


Second  Lieutenant  Laughlin,  of  rebel 
Johnston's  command,  had  come  in  home, 
and  lived  one  mile  north  of  said  Ben- 
nington's,  and  had  a  lot  of  McClurg's 
goods  in  his  house.  I  at  once  detached 
Captain  Crockett  and  his  company  to 
bring  in  the  Lieutenant  and  search  his 
place.  The  Captain  had  not  been  gone 
more  than  five  minutes  before  I  saw  a 
courier  coming  from  the  front.  I  at 
once  called  Captain  Crockett  back.  The 
courier  arrived  from  Major  Bowen, 
stating  that  he  had  been  attacked  and 
needed  assistance.  I  at  once  ordered 
Captains  Montgomery  and  Switzler  for 
ward  at  full  speed  to  the  relief  of  Major 
Bowen.  I  ordered  the  train  corralled, 
and  Captain  Crockett  to  remain  with  his 
company  and  guard  it  until  relieved  by 
the  infantry.  I  then  dispatched  a  courier 
to  you  for  men  to  guard  the  train  and 
support  your  cavalry,  after  which  I  went 
forward  to  the  scene  of  action.  I  found 
Major  Bowen  some  two  miles  forward 
and  one  half  mile  south  of  Mr.  Lewis', 
on  the  Lebanon  road.  I  immediately 
had  a  conference  with  Major  Bowen, 
and  we  mutually  agreed  to  the  disposi 
tion  of  our  forces  and  plan  of  attack. 
The  rebels,  at  that  time,  occupied  a  high 
ridge  immediately  in  our  front  one  half 
mile  south  of  us.  The  presumption  was 
that  we  would  have  no  immediate  relief 
from  the  infantry  in  time  to  secure  the 
rebels,  and  an  immediate  attack  was  re 
solved  on.  The  disposition  was  as  fol 
lows  :  Captain  Montgomery's  company 
were  already  on  the  right,  and  I  ordered 
Captain  Switzler  to  join  him,  flank  the 
enemy,  and  engage  them  at  any  hazard. 


464 


THE   WAR   WITH   THE   SOUTH. 


"Major  Bowen,  with  two  companies 
of  his  command,  went  to  the  left.  I 
took  charge  of  one  company  of  Major 
Bowen's  cavalry  (at  his  request),  and 
took  position  in  the  centre,  as  you  found 
us  on  arrival.  I  observed  at  that  time 
that  the  enemy  was  moving  to  the  right. 
I  ordered  Captain  Crockett  forward  to 
support  them,  knowing  that  they  out 
numbered  us.  I  then  went  to  the  right 
myself,  found  that  Captains  Switzler  and 
Montgomery  had  formed  a  junction,  and 
succeeded  in  flanking  the  enemy,  and 
held  them  at  bay.  The  enemy  was 
commanded  by  Captains  Lorrels,  Wright, 
Thurman,  Bell,  Fain,  and  Hawthorn, 
and  were  drawn  up  in  line  of  battle. 
My  two  companies  threw  themselves 
into  line,  and  were  ordered  to  receive 
their  fire,  return  it  steadily,  and  then 
charge  with  their  sabres,  and  never 
allow  the  enemy  time  to  reload  their 
pieces,  all  of  which  order  was  carried 
out  to  the  letter,  with  a  coolness  and 
determination  that  evinced  true  bravery 
in  both  officers  and  men,  and  struck 
terror  along  the  whole  line.  They  could 
not  stand  such  a  charge,  so  prompt,  so 
uniform,  and  so  determined,  that  the  re 
sult  was  a  general  rout ;  and  in  a  short 
time  a  running  fight  commenced,  which 
extended  one  mile  and  a  half,  with  the 
following  result  as  near  as  we  could  as 
certain,  without  occupying  too  much 
time  to  hunt  through  the  bush  :  of  the 
rebels  there  were  twenty-seven*  killed, 
four  mortally  wounded,  five  severely 
wounded,  three  slightly  wounded,  and 

0  The  Major  afterward  reported  that  sixtj-two,  and  not 
twenty-Beven   was  the  number  of  the  enemy  killed. 


thirty-six  prisoners.  We  also  got  two 
horses,  eighty-one  guns,  most  of  which, 
however,  were  broken  around  trees  on 
the  field — they  were  mostly  old  rifles 
and  double-barrelled  shot-guns.  Officers 
and  men  all  agree  that  there  were  many 
more  killed  and  wounded,  but  we  did 
not  hunt  them  up.  Our  loss  was  one  man 
killed  and  two  horses  slightly  wounded. 

"I  cannot  call  your  special  attention 
to  every  one  of  the  officers  or  men  in 
those  two  brave  companies.  They  are 
each  one  of  them  as  true  as  steel,  and 
in  this  charge,  with  six  to  one  against 
them,  they  exhibited  a  coolness  and  de 
termination  that  those  of  more  experi 
ence  might  proudly  imitate.  Yet  I  feel 
that  I  would  do  injustice  not  to  speak 
of  the  tenacity  with  which  Captain 
Switzler  adhered  to  the  order  of 
'charge,'  and  the  promptness  and  the 
energy  of  Captain  Montgomery  in  carry 
ing  it  out. 

"I  cannot  omit  naming  Lieutenants 
Montgomery,  Paynter,  and  Stocksdale. 
Not  a  nerve  quivered  in  those  brave 
men  ;  nothing  left  undone  that  coolness 
and  energy  could  do  in  carrying  out 
orders,  encouraging  the  men,  and  dealing 
death-blows  to  rebels.  One  incident  I 
must  be  permitted  to  mention.  Lieu 
tenant  Montgomery,  after  exhausting 
his  revolver  and  doubling  up  his  sabre, 
in  a  hand-to-hand  fight,  so  that  it  was 
rendered  useless,  not  satisfied  with  the 
halt'  dozen  he  had  already  dispatched, 
charged  on  yet  another,  and  with 
one  blow  of  his  fist  made  him  bite  the 
dust.  All  of  which  is  respectfully  sub 
mitted. 


CAPTURE   OF 


CREEK. 


465 


"  I  have  the  honor  to  be,  very  re 
spectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

"  CLARK  WRIGHT, 
"  Maj.  Command'g  Fremont  Battalion.'7 

Major  Clark  Wright's  next  success 
was  in  capturing  Linn  Creek.  After 
surrounding  the  town,  he  demanded  a 
surrender,  but  the  secessionists  without 
responding  strove  to  escape.  The  re 
sult  is  best  told  in  the  words  of  the  Fed 
eral  commander,  who  relates  the  inci 
dents  with  the  graphic  power  of  a  cam 
paigner  whose  spirit  had  been  thoroughly 
tempered  to  the  savage  work. 

"  We  arrived, "he  says,  "  at  one  o'clock 
Oct.  p-M->  ana"  at  once  surrounded  the 
M.  whole  place  and  demanded  an  un 
conditional  surrender.  The  notorious 
captain,  and  a  few  of  his  followers,  as 
well  as  his  wife,  broke  from  some  of  the 
buildings,  fired  on  our  troops,  and  at 
tempted  to  escape.  I  promptly  ordered 
them  fired  on,  which  was  as  promptly 
executed.  Some  fifty  random  shots 
were  fired,  but  owing  to  the  fences, 
buildings,  and  other  means  of  obstruc 
tion,  none  were  killed,  but  one  slightly 
wounded  on  the  rebel  side — none  hurt 
on  our  side.  The  scene  was  a  wild  one 
— the  activity  of  our  cavalry  in  guard 
ing  the  avenues  of  the  place,  arresting 
the  rebels  in  running  to  and  fro,  the 
screams  of  the  secesh  wives,  daughters, 
and  children,  the  firing  from  both  sides 
echoing  from  the  bluffs  en  either  side, 
made  the  whole  thing  look  frantic. 
However,  at  the  end  of  thirty  minutes, 
the  town  was  restored  to  its  usual  quiet, 
and  secesh  under  guard." 

The  fourth  brilliant  dash  of  cavalry, 

59 


during  Fremont's  campaign,  was  ex 
ecuted  by  his  own  body-guard  under 
the  command  of  Major  Zagonyi,  who 
thus  relates  the  affair  in  his  official  re 
port  : 

"  COLONEL  J.  H.  EATON,  ASSISTANT  ADJUTANT- 
GENERAL  : 

"  SIR  :  According  to  the  order  of 
Major-General  Fremont,  I  left  the  camp 
south  of  the  Pomme  de  Terre  River  on 
Thursday,  the  24th  instant,  at  half-past 
eight  o'clock  P.M.,  and  proceeded  toward 
Springfield.  About  eight  miles  from 
that  place  I  captured  five  men  belong 
ing  to  picket  guard  and  foraging  parties. 
A  sixth  escaped,  and  gave  the  alarm  to 
the  rebels.  I  reached  Springfield,  a  dis 
tance  of  fifty- one  miles,  at  three  P.M.,  on 
the  25th.  Knowing  that  the  enemy  was 
apprised  of  our  coming,  I  made  a  detour 
of  five  miles  to  attack  from  another 
side  ;  but  instead  of  finding  the  enemy 
in  their  own  camp,  I  came  suddenly 
upon  them,  drawn  up  in  line  of  battle, 
as  I  emerged  from  a  wood  near  the 
Mount  Vernon  road.  The  place  was 
too  confined  for  me  to  form  my  men. 
I  had  to  pass  250  yards  down  a  lane, 
and  take  down  a  rail  fence  at  the  end 
of  it,  form  in  their  camp,  and  make 
the  first  charge.  My  men,  belonging  to 
the  body-guard,  amounted  to  150,  and 
were  exposed  from  the  moment  we  en 
tered  the  lane  to  a  murderous  cross-fire. 
Our  first  charge  was  completely  success 
ful.  Half  of  my  command  charged  upon 
the  infantry,  and  the  remainder  upon 
the  cavalry,  breaking  their  line  at  every 
point.  The  infantry  retired  to  a  thick 
wood,  where  it  was  impossible  to  follow 


466 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


them.  The  cavalry  fled  in  all  directions 
through  the  town.  I  rallied  and  charged 
through  the  streets  in  all  directions 
about  twenty  times,  clearing  the  town 
and  neighborhood,  returning  at  last  to 
the  court-house,  where  I  raised  the  flag 
of  one  of  my  companions,  liberated  the 
prisoners,  and  united  my  men,  which 
now  amounted  to  seventy,  the  rest  being 
scattered  or  lost.  As  it  was  nearly  dark, 
I  retired,  in  order  not  to  run  the  risk 
of  sacrificing  the  rest  of  my  men,  who 
were  exhausted  with  the  labors  of  the 
march  arid  the  battle.  Twenty  men, 
with  a  corporal,  who  were  without  horses, 
took  possession  of  the  town,  collected 
the  wounded  and  placed  them  in  the 
hospital,  picked  up  the  dead,  ordered 
out  the  Home  Guard,  and  preserved 
order  throughout  the  next  day.  * 

"  On  the  27th,  at  five  o'clock  A.M.,  I 
arrived  again  in  the  city,  and  from  the 
statement  of  citizens,  scouts,  and  pris 
oners  (the  latter  being  Union  soldiers, 
placed  in  front  of  the  enemy's  ranks  to 
be  shot  at),  I  ascertained  that  the  rebel 
strength  arrayed  to  receive  our  first 
charge,  was  2,190  men.  They  had  con 
centrated  all  the  forces  in  the  city  to 
receive  us. 

"  From  the  beginning  to  the  end  the 
body-guard  behaved  with  the  utmost 
bravery  and  coolness.  I  have  seen 
battles  and  cavalry  charges  before,  but 
I  never  imagined  that  a  body  of  men 
could  endure  and  accomplish  so  much 
in  the  face  of  such  fearful  disadvantages. 
At  the  war-cry  of  '  Fremont  and  Union  !' 
which  was  raised  at  every  charge,  they 
'lashed  forward^  repeatedly  in  perfect 


order  and  with  resistless  energy.  Many 
of  my  officers,  non-commissioned  officers, 
and  privates  had  three,  or  even  four 
horses  killed  under  them,  capturing  new 
ones  from  the  enemy.  I  cannot  mention 
any  names  without  doing  great  injustice 
to  my  command.  Many  performed  acts 
of  heroism  ;  not  one  but  did  his  whole 
duty.  Our  loss  is  as  follows  : 

"Killed:  Corporals,  six;  privates, 
nine  ;  total,  fifteen.  Wounded  :  Officers, 
four  ;  non-commissioned  officers,  seven  ; 
privates,  sixteen  ;  total,  twenty-seven. 
Missing :  Sergeant,  1  ;  corporal,  1  ;  pri 
vates,  eight ;  total,  ten.  Total  loss,  fifty- 
two. 

"The    loss    of  the    enemy   in   killed 
alone,   from  the  statements  of  citizens, 
scouts,  and  prisoners,  was  at  least  106  ; 
how  many  wounded  have  since  died  I 
have  no  means  of  knowing,  as  they  re 
moved  them  in  the  night  with  wagons. 
Twenty-three  of  these  dead  were  buried 
by  the  body-guard.     We  took  twenty- 
seven   prisoners,    $4,040    in    gold,    and 
about    sixty    stand    of    arms.       Major 
White's  command  left  me  at  the  begin 
ning  of  the  action,  and  before  my  first 
charge,    and    I    saw  no   more   of  them 
until  the  next  day  at  ten  o'clock.     Cap 
tain  Naughton  and  Lieutenant  Connelly, 
who  followed  part  way  down  the  lane, 
were  both  wounded  (the  latter  mortally), 
whereupon   this    company    turned    and 
followed  the  others,  too,  in  spite  of  the 
efforts  of  the  sergeant.     Major  White 
himself  was  made  a  prisoner  before  the 
battle,   and  placed,  with  others,  in  the 
enemy's  front  rank,  but  escaped  unin 
jured. 


ZAGONYI'S   CHARGE  AT  SPRIXGFIELD. 


•167 


"  In  conclusion,  I  beg  to  urge  the 
necessity  of  new  clothing  and  arms  for 
my  command.  Forty-five  horses  are 
killed  or  unfitted  for  use.  Uniforms, 
haversacks,  and  extra  clothes  carried  in 
the  haversacks,  are  so  riddled  with  bul 
lets  as  to  be  useless.  Revolvers  are 
also  seriously  damaged  by  the  enemy's 
bullets,  Very  respectfully, 

"  CHAS.  ZAGONYI, 
"  Commanding  Body-guard. 
"  SPRINGFIELD,  Monday,  October  28,  1861." 

The  gallant  Zagonyi  thus  announced 
the  success  of  the  guard  to  their  com- 
mander-in-chief : 

"  FIVE  MILES  OUT  OF  BOLIVAB,  ) 
October  25 — 10  A.M.  j 

"  GENERAL  :  I  report  respectfully  that 
yesterday,  at  four  P.M.,  I  met  in  Spring 
field  about  2,000  rebels  formed  in  line 
of  battle.  They  gave  a  very  warm  re 
ception,  but  your  guard,  with  one  feel 
ing,  made  a  charge,  and  in  less  than 
three  minutes  the  enemy  was  completely 
routed  by  150  men.  We  cleared  the 
city  of  every  rebel,  and  retired,  it  being 
near  night,  and  not  feeling  able  to  keep 
the  place  with  so  small  a  force.  Major 
White's  command  did  not  participate  in 
the  charge.  I  have  seen  charges,  but 


such  brilliant  bravery  I  have  never  seen 
and  did  not  expect.  Their  war-cry — 
Fremont  and  the  Union — broke  out  like 
thunder.  CHARLES  ZAGONYI, 

"Major  Commanding  Body-guard." 
Fremont,  equally  elated,  thus  exult- 
ingly  wrote  to  the  chief  military  author 
ity  at  Washington  : 

"  HEADQUARTERS,  IN  THE  FIELD,          ) 
NEAR  HOMANSVILLE,  Mo.,  Oct.  26,  1861.  f 
"CAPTAIN  MCKEEVER,  ASSISTANT  ADJUTANT- 
GENERAL  : 

"  Yesterday  afternoon  Major  Zagonyi, 
at  the  head  of  my  guard,  made  a  most 
brilliant  charge  upon  a  body  of  the 
enemy,  drawn  up  in  line  nf  battle,  and 
their  camp,  at  Springfield,  2,000  or 
2,200  strong.  He  completely  routed 
them,  cleared  them  from  the  town, 
hoisted  the  national  flag  on  the  court 
house,  and  retired  upon  a  reinforce 
ment,  which  he  had  already  joined. 
Our  loss  is  not  great. 

"  This  successful  charge  against  such 
very  large  odds  is  a  noble  example  to 
the  army.  Our  advance  will  occupy 
Springfield  to-night. 

"  J.  C.  FREMONT, 
11  Major-General  Commanding." 


468 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


CHAPTER    XLIII. 

Movement  of  the  Enemy  in  Missouri. — Advance  of  General  Lane,  of  Kansas. — Detachment  under  Colonel  Mont 
gomery. — Arrival  at  Papinsville. — Escape  of  the  Enemy. — Advance  of  Montgomery. — Advance  upon  Osceola. — A 
Mistaken  Guide. — A  Surprise. — Gallant.  Defence  of  the  Federalists. — Enemy  Retreat. — Escape  of  Enemy. — Marching 
into  Osceola. — A  Secession  Flag. — Firing  of  Osceola. — Reasons  for  burning  a  town. — Good  Effect  of  the  Federal  Ad 
vance. — Suffering  in  Missouri. — Movements  in  the  Southeast  of  Missouri. — Success  at  Frederick  town. — Account 
of  the  Engagement. — Losses. — "Justice  to  the  Rebels." — Condition  of  the  Enemy. — A  bravo  Gunner. — Move 
ments  in  the  Northeast  of  Missouri. — Expedition  against  the  Secessionists. — Movement  of  Colonel  Scott. — 
Action  with  the  Enemy. — Repulse  of  the  Federalists  at  Blue  Mills.  — Reinforcements  of  the  Federalists. — An 
Expected  Battle.— Disappointment. — Retreat  of  the  Enemy. — Escape  across  the  River.  — Arrival  of  Fremont  at 
Springfield. — Welcome. — Demonstrative  Loyalty.— Reports  of  the  Enemy. — Their  computed  Strength.— Ardor  of 
Fremont. — Enthusiasm  of  the  Men. — Concentration  of  Forces. — Great  Preparations  and  Expectations. —An  Order 
from  Washington. — A  sudden  check  to  Enthusiasm. — Fremont  superseded  in  Command. — Effect  on  the  Army. — • 
Great  Dissatisfaction. — Fremont  allays  Disaffection. — A  graceful  Farewell. — A  Delay. — Departure  of  Fremont. — 
Opponents  of  Fremont. — Colonel  Blair. — His  Opposition. — Arrest. — Scruples  of  President  Lincoln. — How  Received. — 
Government  Detectives. — Adjutant-General  Thomas'  Diary. — Effect  upon  the  Public. — Its  Purpose. 


1861. 


WHILE  Fremont  was  preparing  to  push 
forward,  apparently  with  all  pos 
sible  speed,  the  enemy,  under  Gen 
erals  Price  and  McCulloch,  were  retiring 
with  even  greater  dispatch,  and  it  was 
supposed  that,  fearful  of  trying  their 
strength  with  the  Federalists,  they  were 
making  for  the  Arkansas  frontier.  In 
the  mean  time,  General  Lane,  of  Kansas, 
had  advanced  into  Missouri  from  that 
State,  and  was  striving  either  to  cut  off 
or  embarrass  Price's  retreat.  Rumors 
having  reached  General  Lane  that  the 
enemy  were  in  force  at  Papinsville,  and 
at  other  points  west  of  the  Osage  River 
and  near  the  Kansas  border,  he  advanced 
a  body  of  infantry,  cavalry  and  artillery, 
under  the  command  of  Colonel  Mont 
gomery,  in  the  hope  of  taking  them 
by  surprise.  On  reaching  Papinsville, 
Colonel  Montgomery  found  that  the 
enemy  had  evacuated  the  place,  and  he 


accordingly  continued  to  advance.  Ar 
rived  at  Sac  River,  a  force  of  secession 
ists,  under  Quartermaster  Harris,  strove 
to  prevent  Montgomery  from  crossing 
the  ford,  which  he  had  been  compelled 
to  take,  as  the  bridge  had  been  burned 
by  the  rebel  leader,  General  Rains. 
The  effort  of  Harris,  however,  was 
thwarted  by  his  capture,  and  the  Feder 
alists  fording  the  river  marched  on 
toward  Osceola.  It  being  night,  and 
the  guide  having  mistaken  the  route, 
the  advance  of  the  Federalists,  under 
Colonel  Weir,  found  itself  unexpectedly 
in  the  suburbs  of  the  town.  It  was 
thus  taken  by  surprise  and  fired  upon 
from  the  cover  of  the  bushes  bordering 
the  road.  The  Colonel  immediately 
halted  his  men,  and  they  returned  the 
fire  with  a  volley  of  musketry.  The 
enemy  rejoined,  but  were  soon  forced 
to  fly,  leaving  a  dozen  or  more  dead 


BURNING  OF   OSCEOLA. 


469 


among  the  bushes.  Another  discharge, 
however,  came  from  a  neighboring  log 
house,  when  the  Federalists  turned  a 
howitzer  upon  the  building,  which  set 
fire  to  it  and  routed  out  its  occupants. 
Two  men  only  of  Weir's  force  suffered, 
who  were  slightly  wounded.  The  ad 
vance  now  waited  for  the  morning  before 
entering  Osceola.  The  troops  having 
slept  upon  their  arms,  rose  at  break  of 
day  to  resume  their  march,  when  they 
observed  the  secession  flag  floating  de 
fiantly  from  the  court-house  of  the  town. 
A  howitzer  was  at  once  turned  upon  it, 
and  in  a  moment  it  became  a  heap  of 
ruins.  The  Federalists  marched  slowly 
and  carefully  into  the  town  ;  but  the 
enemy  had  fled,  and  no  resistance  was 
offered.  Upon  making  search,  a  large 
quantity  of  lead,  some  powder,  arnry 
clothing,  and  provisions  were  found. 
Having  loaded  to  their  utmost  capacity 
the  army  wagons  with  these  spoils,  Col 
onel  Weir  ordered  his  men  back  to  their 
camp. 

In  the  mean  time,  Colonel  Montgom 
ery,  seconded  by  Richie,  though  op 
posed  by  Weir,  advised  the  destruction 
of  the  town.  It  was  accordingly  re- 
Sept,  solved  to  burn  the  business  portion 
20-  of  Osceola,  a  resolution  which  was 
immediately  executed.  The  reasons  for 
this  act  of  severity  are  thus  summed  up 
by  a  witness  of  the  scene.  "1.  It  was 
traitorous  to  the  core — but  one  loyalist 
could  be  found  in  it.  2.  It  was  a  place 
of  general  rendezvous  for  the  enemy. 
3.  He  intended  to  make  of  it  a  military 
post  during  the  winter.  4.  It  was  nat 
urally  a  strong  position,  and  could  easily 


be  fortified.  5.  If  left  standing,  the 
enemy  would  return  as  soon  as  our  army 
left.  6.  The  Government  could  not  af 
ford  to  make  such  expeditions  every  few 
weeks.  7.  We  hope  to  draw  the  enemy 
back  from  the  Missouri  River  upon  us, 
and  give  the  rebels  generally  the  benefits 
of  the  terrors  of  our  arms." 

The  authority  who  thus  justifies  the 
burning  of  Osceola  by  the  Federal  troops, 
gives  a  glowing   account  of  the    good 
effect  of  their  advance,  while  he  depicts 
in  sombre  colors  the  tragic  results  of  the 
invasion  of  the  enemy.     "  Loyal  citizens 
along  the  route,"  he  says,  "rejoiced  at 
the   approach  of  our  army.     Many  of 
them,  for  the  first  time  during  the  last 
few  months,  breathed  freely.     The  rebel 
army  and  its  marauding  bands  have  been 
a  scourge  to  all  that  section  of  Missouri. 
The  people  have  been  bled  and  plunder 
ed  till  they  have  but  little  left.     Moth 
ers  have  seen  the  clothing  stripped  from 
their  children  before  their  eyes.     Quite 
a  number  of  families  improved  the  op 
portunity  our  army  afforded  to  leave  the 
State.     Western  Missouri  has  but  few 
inhabitants  left,  and  thousands  of  acres 
of  corn  will  be  left  in  the  field  ungath- 
ered.     Not  a   field   of  fall-sown  wheat 
did  I  notice  in  our  long  march.     It  seems 
that  the  rebellion  has  brought  an  ac 
cumulation  of  all  the  curses  upon  the 
great  State  of  Missouri.     And  the  end 
is  not  yet.     We  have  probably  seen  but 
the   beginning  of  sorrows.     If  the   au 
thors  of  this  rebellion  could  endure  but 
a   tithe    of    the    sufferings    they   have 
Drought  upon  the  people,   they  would 
ry  out  in  the  language  of  another — 


470 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE   SOUTH. 


"  The  pains  of  hell  have  got  hold  of 
us!" 

While  Generals  Lane  and  Fremont 
were  thus  apparently  in  the  course  of 
effecting  a  clean  sweep  of  the  rebels  from 
the  west  and  southwest  of  Missouri, 
there  was  also  an  encouraging  success 
for  the  Federal  arms  in  the  southeastern 
portion  of  the  State.  A  junction  having 
been  formed  between  the  command 
of  Colonel  Carlin — consisting  of  parts 
of  the  Twenty-first,  Twenty-third,  and 
Thirty-eighth  Illinois  regiments,  Eighth 
Wisconsin,  Colonel  Baker's  Indiana  cav 
alry  and  Major  Scofield's  battery — and  a 
body  of  troops  led  by  Colonel  Plummer — 
consisting  of  the  Eleventh,  Seventeenth, 
and  Twentieth  Illinois,  and  400  cavalry — 
the  combined  force,  having  rendezvoused 
at  Fredericktown,  set  out  in  pursuit 
of  the  enemy,  who,  it  was  supposed, 
were  retreating  southward.  As  they 
had  left  Fredericktown  twenty-four 
hours  before  the  arrival  of  the  Federal 
troops,  a  lengthened  pursuit  was  an 
ticipated.  They  were,  however,  found 
only  a  mile  beyond  the  city,  prepared 
to  accept  battle.  The  enemy  were 
5,000  strong,  under  the  command  of 
General  Jefferson  Thompson  and  Col 
onel  Lowe,  and  were  well  posted,  partly 
in  the  open  field  and  partly  in  the  ad 
jacent  woods,  with  four  iron  eighteen- 
pounders  planted  in  their  front. 

The  Federalists  began  the  engage 
ment  by  opening  a  fire  from  Scofield's 
battery,  and  at  the  fourth  round  one  of 
the  enemy's  guns  was  silenced.  The 
engagement  now  became  general,  and 
lasted  about  three  hours,  although  after 


the  first  half  hour  the  secessionists 
showed  evidence  of  wavering  and  con 
fusion,  and  took  to  the  cover  of  the 
woods.  After  thus  retreating  from  the 
open  field  they  were  pursued  until  put 
completely  to  rout  by  the  Federal  cav 
alry,  and  great  havoc  ensued.  "  The 
bravery  and  activity,"  testifies  one  who 
was  present,  "of  the  Indiana  cavalry  at 
Fredericktown  have  never  been  sur 
passed.  Nine  tenths  of  the  rebels  who 
fell  in  their  charge  were  killed  by  sabre 
cuts." 

The  loss  of  the  Federalists  was  com 
puted  at  the  trifling  amount  of  ten 
killed  and  twenty  slightly  wounded, 
while  that  of  the  enemy  in  killed  and 
wounded  was  estimated  as  high  as  from 
two  to  five  hundred.  The  secessionists 
lost  one  of  their  leaders,  Colonel  Lowe, 
who  fell  killed  by  a  cannon-ball  at  the 
beginning  of  the  battle.  The  strength 
of  the  Federal  force  was  but  4,000  all 
told,  while  that  of  the  enemy  is  sup 
posed  to  have  been  somewhat  over 
5,000. 

"  Let  us  do  justice  to  the  rebels. 
They  fought,"  says  one  who  had  tested 
their  powers,  and  is  entitled  to  speak 
authoritatively,  "  well  and  bravely,  when 
all  the  circumstances  are  considered. 
No  doubt  they  expected  a  victory,  else 
Thompson  would  have  retreated  when 
he  found  he  had  missed  Plummer,  in 
stead  of  coming  back  to  his  position. 
He  knew  our  forces,  and  believed  he 
could  successfully  resist  them.  He  is 
by  this  time  a  wiser,  if  not  a  better 
man. 

"  But  who   could  reasonably   expect 


POPE  IN  MISSOURI. 


471 


victory  with  such  an  army  and  such 
implements  of  warfare?  One-third  of 
the  dead  and  wounded  were  boys  from 
fifteen  to  eighteen  years  old — mere 
striplings,  with  the  down  on  their  faces, 
who  could  not  have  been  disciplined, 
and  who  could  have  had  no  adequate 
idea  of  military  duty  or  the  horrors  of 
a  battle.  One  of  these,  who  had  been 
shot  through  the  thigh,  and  was  suf 
fering  intensely,  cried  like  a  child,  as 
he  was,  and  most  piteously  bewailed 
his  unfortunate  condition.  Then  their 
guns.  They  no  doubt  had  some  good 
muskets,  but  of  the  forty  or  fifty  pieces 
that  had  been  picked  up  on  the  battle 
field,  not  a  single  one  could  be  called 
respectable.  More  than  half  of  them 
were  old  flint-lock  squirrel  guns,  that 
were  next  to  useless  in  battle.  Two 
brothers  lay  behind  a  fence  ;  one  of 
them  was  shot  dead,  and  the  other,  a 
mere  boy,  concluding  discretion  was 
the  better  part  of  valor,  played  dead, 
and  allowed  himself  to  be  taken  pris 
oner. 

"Of  the  dead,  not  a  single  one  that 
I  saw  was  dressed  in  any  kind  of  uniform, 
the  cloth  being  generally  home-made  and 
butter-nut  colored.  Old,  torn,  fragment 
ary  hats  were  lying  in  every  direction, 
with  here  and  there  a  nut-brown  thread 
bare  coat.  I  confess  that,  in  looking 
over  the  field  and  reflecting  on  the  condi 
tion  of  these  people,  I  felt  for  them  the 
deepest  pity  and  commiseration.  Even 
Colonel  Lowe  himself  had  but  a  sash  to 
distinguish  him  from  a  civilian,  which, 
together  with  his  sword  and  pistols,  was 
taken  possession  of  by  some  of  the  boys 


before    the    body    was    removed    from 
where  it  fell. 

"  Some  of  the  enemy  performed 
deeds  of  heroism  worthy  of  a  better 
cause.  One  of  their  cannon  was  placed 
in  the  woods  near  the  mouth  of  the 
lane,  and  was  vigorously  worked.  As 
our  forces  advanced,  they  picked  one 
after  another  of  the  gunners  off,  till  at 
last  but  a  single  one  was  left.  He 
continued  his  work  of  loading  and  aim 
ing  as  fast  as  he  could,  nothing  daunted. 
He  seemed  utterly  oblivious  to  every 
thing  but  the  work  before  him,  and 
made  no  motion  toward  retreat.  At 
last  he  fell  at  his  post,  bravely  and 
heroically." 

Again,  in  the  northwestern  part  of 
Missouri,  the  Federalists  were  active, 
but  though  they  forced  the  enemy  to 
retire,  did  not  find  an  occasion  for  any 
very  brilliant  feat  of  arms.  As  the  se 
cessionist  bands  had  been  plundering  St. 
Joseph's  and  the  neighboring  country, 
General  Pope  resolved  to  rout  them  out, 
and  sent  three  detachments  in  pursuit — 
one  from  St.  Joseph's  under  Colonel 
Smith,  another  from  Cameron  under 
Lieutenant-Colonel  Scott,  and  a  third 
from  Mexico.  Smith  and  Scott  started 
at  the  same  time,  and  it  was  intended 
that  they  should  meet  at  Liberty,  where, 
having  combined  their  forces,  they  were 
to  march  toward  Blue  Mills  Landing,  at 
which  point  the  enemy  expected  to  cross 
the  river. 

Colonel  Scott,  while  on  the  march 
with  a  part  of  the  Iowa  Third,  and  of 
a  German  artillery  company  from  St. 
Louis,  with  a  single  six-pounder,  learn- 


472 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE   SOUTH. 


ing  that  the  enemy  under  Boyd,  Patton, 
gept.  and  others,  with  a  force  estimated 
21*  at  4,500  men,  were  strongly  posted 
near  Blue  Mills  Landing,  dispatched  a 
messenger  to  Colonel  Smith — who  had 
been  detained  by  the  rains  and  bad 
roads,  and  was  yet  distant  ten  miles 
from  Liberty — to  hasten  his  advance. 
Scott,  however,  did  not  await  his  com 
ing  up,  but  boldly  pushed  forward  with 
his  meagre  force  and  met  the  enemy 
near  Blue  Mills  Landing.  The  seces 
sionists  drove  back  Scott's  skirmishers 
with  a  severe  volley,  but  his  main  body 
held  their  ground,  and  the  action  soon 
became  general.  The  six-pounder,  the 
only  piece  of  artillery  the  Federalists 
had,  was  brought  to  bear,  and  fired  twice  ; 
but  was  responded  to  with  such  effect 
that  one  gunner  was  killed  and  two 
others  were  wounded.  The  rest  who 
were  serving  the  cannon  fled,  carrying 
with  them  the  primer  and  matches,  and 
rendering  the  gun  useless. 

The  action,  however,  was  gallantly 
continued  by  the  Federalists  for  an  hour 
longer,  until  finding  it  useless  to  perse 
vere  against  such  a  host,  they  finally  re 
tired  to  some  open  ground  near  by,  but 
succeeded  in  bringing  away  all  their 
wounded  and  securing  their  six-pounder, 
which  they  dragged  off  by  hand,  as  the 
horses  had  been  all  killed  or  badly 
wounded. 

Colonel  Smith  having  in  the  mean 
time  received  Scott's  message,  hurried 
forward  with  all  his  mounted  men  and 
artillery  to  his  succor.  This  much 
needed  reinforcement,  however,  did  not 
arrive  where  the  battle  had  been  fought 


until  dark.  It  was  now  determined 
to  postpone  a  renewal  of  the  attack 
upon  the  enemy  until  the  next  day.  At 
an  early  hour  in  the  morning,  the 
Federal  scouts  came  in  with  the  intelli 
gence  that  the  enemy  had  escaped, 
having  crossed  the  river  during  the 
night,  a  movement  which  they  readily 
accomplished,  being  supplied  with  three 
large  flat-boats  and  a  steamer  for  trans 
portation. 

In  the  mean  time  General  Fremont 
was  continuing  his  advance  against  the 
enemy  in  the  southwest  of  Missouri. 
He  finally  arrived  at  Springfield,  which 
had  just  before  been  the  scene  of  QCt, 
the  brilliant  exploit  of  his  body-  27. 
guard  under  Zagonyi.  Fremont  and 
his  troops  were  received  with  great  de 
monstrations  of  welcome.  There  were 
"  no  professed  rebels"  in  the  place.  The 
' '  stars  and  stripes"  floated  freely  from 
the  houses,  and  men,  women,  and  chil 
dren  waved  handkerchiefs  and  flags  from 
every  window  and  doorway. 

Of  the  enemy,  little  reliable  infor 
mation  could  be  obtained,  but  various 
rumors  were  in  circulation.  Now,  it 
was  reported  that  General  Price  was  at 
Carthage  and  in  full  retreat,  and  now, 
that  he  was  at  Cassville  with  a  large 
force,  about  to  form  a  junction  with  Mc- 
Culloch  in  advance,  and  march  to  meet 
Fremont.  The  enemy's  strength  was 
variously  computed  at  from  twenty-five 
to  sixty  thousand  men.  Great  activity 
reigned  in  the  Federal  camp  preparatory 
to  an  expected  battle,  which  each  man. 
seemed  to  be  eager  to  fight  under  the 
inspiring  leadership  of  his  popular  gen- 


FREMONT  SUPERSEDED. 


473 


eral.  Fremont  himself  was  full  of  ardor 
for  the  contest,  upon  the  result  of  which 
his  personal  destiny  was  believed  to  de 
pend.  For  five  nights  he  hardly  slept, 
such  were  his  vigilance  and  activity  in 
making  ready  for  the  momentous  strug 
gle.  He  was  rapidly  concentrating  his 
whole  force  for  one  great  effort.  Gen 
erals  Lane  and  Sturgis  had  arrived  with 
their  columns,  and  Pope  and  McKinstry 
were  hourly  expected.  The  enemy 
were  supposed  to  be  about  to  march 
upon  Springfield,  and  offer  battle  at 
Wilson's  Creek,  the  field  so  fatal  to  the 
gallant  Lyon,  whose  death  every  Federal 
soldier  burned  to  avenge,  and  for  whose 
sacrifice  the  Federal  leader  was  resolved 
to  atone. 

While  Fremont  and  his  men  were 
thus  ready  to  strike,  as  they  believed, 
a  decided  blow  for  the  Federal  cause  in 
Missouri,  there  came  an  order  from  the 
President  which  suddenly  checked  the 
rising  ardor  and  paralyzed  the  effort  of 
every  soldier.  Fremont  had  been  re- 
Nov.  moved  from  the  command  and 
2*  superseded  by  *his  subordinate, 
General  Hunter.  The  intelligence,  as 
it  spread  throughout  the  camp,  excited 
the  greatest  indignation,  which  threat 
ened  to  result  in  mutiny.  Several 
regiments  threw  down  their  arms  and 
declared  that  they  would  serve  under 
no  other  commander  than  General  Fre 
mont.  Deputation  after  deputation  of 
field  and  line  officers  hurried  to  head 
quarters  and  earnestly  protested  against 
the  change  in  the  command.  Such  was 
the  demoralization  among  the  troops 
which  ensued,  that  it  was  believed  that 

60 


if  the  enemy  had,  in  the  mean  time, 
attacked  them,  they  would  have  been 
utterly  routed.  General  Fremont,  how 
ever,  repressed  the  disorder  and  rising 
mutiny  by  expostulating  with  the  of 
ficers  and  men,  and  urging  them  by 
their  love  for  their  country  and  himself 
not  to  forsake  their  duty.  He  at  the 
same  time  issued  the  following  order, 
in  which  he  took  a  graceful  farewell  of 
his  troops,  and  decorously  reminded 
them  of  the  claims  of  his  successor  to 
their  obedience  : 

"  HEADQUARTERS,  WESTERN  DEPARTMENT,  > 
SPRINGFIELD,  Mo.,  Nov.  2,  1861.        j 
"  SOLDIERS  OF  THE  MISSISSIPPI  ARMY  : 

"Agreeably  to  orders  received  this 
day  I  take  leave  of  you.  Although  our 
army  has  been  of  sudden  growth,  we 
have  grown  up  together,  and  I  have  be 
come  familiar  with  the  brave  and  gener 
ous  spirits  which  you  bring  to  the  de 
fence  of  your  country,  and  which  makes 
me  anticipate  for  you  a  brilliant  career. 
Continue  as  you  have  begun,  and  give 
to  my  successor  the  same  cordial  and 
enthusiastic  support  with  which  you 
have  encouraged  me.  Emulate  the 
splendid  example  which  you  have  al 
ready  before  you,  and  let  me  remain  as 
I  am,  proud  of  the  noble  army  which  I 
have  thus  far  labored  to  bring  together. 
"  Soldiers,  I  regret  to  leave  you.  Most 
sincerely  I  thank  you  for  the  regard  and 
confidence  you  have  invariably  shown 
me.  I  deeply  regret  that  I  shall  not 
have  the  honor  to  lead  you  to  the 
victory  which  you  are  just  about  to 
win  ;  but  I  shall  claim  the  right  to  share 
with  you  in  the  joy  of  every  triumph, 


474 


THE  WAR  WITH   THE   SOUTH. 


and  trust  always  to   be  personally  re 
membered  by  my  companions  in  arms. 

"  JOHN  C.  FREMONT,  Major-General." 

As  the  order  from  Washington  by 
which  Fremont  had  been  superseded 
seemed  peremptory,  he  had  determined 
upon  leaving  Springfield  at  break  of 
day,  on  the  next  morning.  General 
Hunter,  who  was  to  succeed  him,  being 
away,  Fremont  would  have  made  over 
his  command  to  General  Pope,  Hunter's 
next  in  rank. 

On  the  reception  of  this  informa 
tion,  all  the  commanders  of  divisions 
and  brigades  united  in  a  remonstrance 
against  General  Fremont's  relinquishing 
the  command  until  General  Hunter  came 
up.  Answer  was  returned  that  their 
request  should  be  complied  with,  and 
the  command  not  be  given  up  to  any 
one  save  the  proper  officer.  In  the 
afternoon  of  the  31st  November,  Gen 
eral  Hunter  not  having  arrived,  and  no 
intelligence  being  received  from  him, 
another  request  was  made  that  the  army 
should  be  led  to  battle  on  the  following 
morning,  as  it  was  stated  that  the  enemy 
were  in  force  in  the  old  battle-ground 
on  Wilson's  Creek.  After  duly  consid 
ering  the  request,  General  Fremont  re 
plied  that  he  would  accede  to  it  in  case 
Gen.  Hunter  should  not  be  heard  from, 
and  at  once  issued  an  order  to  all  the 
commanders  of  divisions  and  brigades 
for  a  full  and  exact  statement  of  the 
size  and  condition  of  their  respective 
force,  and  on  the  reception  of  that  in 
formation  proceeded  to  perfect  his  plan 
of  battle. 

11  The  intelligence  of  this  determina 


tion  of  the  commanding  General  was," 
wrote  a  campaigner,  "  at  once  communi 
cated  from  camp  to  camp,  and  the  great 
est  enthusiasm  prevailed.  Every  five 
minutes  during  the  succeeding  two  and 
a  half  hours,  the  wildest  cheering  could 
be  heard  from  some  portion  of  the  army 
as  the  information  was  conveyed  to  the 
various  regiments.  A  dozen  bands  at 
once  proceeded  to  the  headquarters  and 
serenaded  the  General.  Crowds  of  offi 
cers  gathered  in  front  of  his  quarters 
and  greeted  him  by  loud  and  prolonged 
cheering,  and  had  the  battle  occurred 
according  to  arrangements,  the  troops 
would  have  fought  in  the  most  deter 
mined  manner  ;  but  the  arrival  of  Gen 
eral  Hunter,  about  ten  o'clock  in  the 
evening,  made  a  complete  change  in  the 
matter,  and  the  battle  was  delayed. 

"  Generals  Fremont  and  Hunter  had 
an  interview  of  two  hours,  in  which  the 
former  stated  his  entire  plan  of  battle, 
and  turned  over  to  the  latter  all  the 
official  documents  pertaining  to  the 
headquarters  of  this  department.  The 
interview  was  entirely  official  in  its 
character,  and  at  its  close  the  Generals 
retired  to  their  headquarters  for  the 
night. 

"  General  Fremont  and  staff,  with  the 
exception  of  Colonels  Lovejoy,  Hudson, 
and  Schenck,  took  their  departure  next 
day.  The  ^camps  were  not  generally 
made  aware  of  the  departure,  as  it  was 
not  deemed  prudent  for  the  soldiers  to 
receive  the  information  until  the  Gen 
eral  should  be  some  distance  on  the  way. 
"The  faces  of  all  who  were  around 
the  headquarters  at  the  time  of  the  de- 


ARREST   OF   COLONEL   BLAIR. 


475 


parture  wore  an  expression  of  sadness, 
and  evinced  that  a  sore  blow  had  been 
struck  at  the  enthusiasm  of  the  Western 
army.  Only  the  immediate  presence  of 
the  enemy,  and  the  prospect  of  battle 
in  a  few  days,  kept  our  camp  in  order 
and  the  army  from  demoralization. 

"  Whatever  may  have  been  the  in 
formation  that  furnished  grounds  for  the 
removal  of  our  commanding  General,  it 
is  certain  that  the  administration  is  in 
error  in  taking  him  away  on  the  eve  of 
a  great  and  decisive  battle  with  the 
rebels  of  the  Southwest.  The  soldiers 
of  this  command  had  implicit  faith  in 
General  Fremont,  and  would  have  fol 
lowed  him  to  victory  over  a  foe  of  treble 
their  number.  At  present  they  are 
much  dispirited,  and  though  they  would 
doubtless  behave  well  and  gallantly  in 
action,  their  great  enthusiasm  while 
serving  under  Fremont  is  lost.  Many 
of  the  regiments  were  raised  with  the 
special  view  of  being  placed  in  the 
command  of  the  man  for  whom  such  a 
feeling  of  admiration  ha,s  been  raised 
throughout  the  West,  and  these  in  par 
ticular  regret  his  loss. 

"Until  General  Fremont  shall  have  the 
opportunity  of  a  hearing,  it  will  be  im 
possible  to  render  a  just  judgment  in 
his  case  ;  he  must  stand  arraigned  be 
fore  the  country  for  military  incapacity, 
and  maladministration  as  an  executive 
officer.  Charges  of  corruption  have 
been  made  against  his  subordinates,  for 
whom  he  is  held  responsible,  but  his 
own  direct  connivance,  though  insinu 
ated,  is  by  no  means  proved.  Fremont's 
conduct  in  Missouri  had  aroused  the 


opposition  of  some  of  the  leading  men 
of  the  State,  among  whom  Colonel 
Frank  P.  Blair  was  especially  prominent. 
The  intense  antagonism  of  this  gentle 
man  had  excited  the  indignation  of 
Fremont,  who  had  caused  him  to  be 
arrested  on  a  charge  of  using  disre 
spectful  language  toward  his  superior. 
Without  imputing  any  but  patriotic 
motives  to  Colonel  Blair,  it  cannot  be 
denied  that  his  personal  influence  with 
the  cabinet  at  Washington,  of  which  his 
brother  was  an  influential  member,  serv 
ed  greatly  to  induce  the  President  to 
remove  Fremont  from  his  command." 

President  Lincoln  did  not  assume  the 
responsibility  of  such  an  act  as  the  re 
moval  of  the  popular  General  of  the  West 
without  some  scrutiny  of  his  conduct. 
The  secretary  of  war,  Mr.  Cameron, 
accompanied  by  the  adjutant-general, 
Thomas,  was  dispatched  to  make  a  per 
sonal  investigation  of  the  charges  against 
Fremont,  which  had  been  so  pertinaci 
ously  presented  to  the  notice  of  the  ad 
ministration. 

These  gentlemen  having  visited  St. 
Louis,  and  followed  Fremont  on  his 
march,  the  result  of  their  inquiries  was 
published  to  the  world  in  that  remark 
able  document  termed  the  journal  of 
Adjutant-General  Thomas.  There  can 
be  little  doubt  that  this  paper  was  a 
frank  exposition  of  all  that  was  heard 
by  the  Secretary  and  his  fidus  Achates 
during  this  tour  of  governmental  detec- 
tiveism.  With  much  that  it  contained 
of  grave  and  responsible  accusation,  there 
was  mingled  a  great  deal  of  unquestion 
able  gossip  and  scandalous  libel,  which 


476 


THE  WAR  WITH   THE   SOUTH. 


have  been  subsequently  exposed  as  un 
worthy  of  the  least  credit. 

The  publication  of  Adjutant-General 
Thomas'  diary,  charged  as  it  was  with 
the  personalities  of  the  gossip  of  infor 
mal  talk  with  querulous  subalterns  and 
disappointed  contract-seekers,  told  se 
verely  against  Fremont,  and  prepared 


the  public  for  the  fall  of  a  popular  idol. 
Thus  the  purpose  of  the  Government 
was  gained,  and  Fremont  deposed  from 
his  majestic  elevation  without  exciting 
that  resistance  from  his  partisans  which 
had  been  apprehended  from  their  admi 
ration  of  his  character.* 


CHAPTER    XLIV. 

Attitude  of  Kentucky.— Presumption  of  the  Secessionists. — Its  Grounds. — Hopes  of  the  Unionists. — Foundation  01 
their  Hopes. — Discouraging  Response  from  the  Governor  of  Kentucky  to  the  President's  Call  to  Arms. — Encour 
agement  of  the  Secessionists.— Confederate  Secretary  of  War's  Letter  to  Governor  Magoffin.— Proclamation  of 
Magoffin.— Its  Word  and  Spirit.— Special  Session  of  Kentucky  Legislature.— Message  of  the  Governor.— Its  Scope 
and  Purpose.— Action  of  the  Legislature.— The  Loyalty  of  the  Legislature.— Magoffin  proclaims  Neutrality.— Con 
vention  of  the  Border  Slave  States. — Its  despair.— Proceedings.— Address. — The  delusion  of  Neutrality — Practical 
abuse  of  Neutrality. — Division  of  Sentiment. — Father  against  Son.— Son  against  Father. — Horrors  of  Civil  War. — 
Old  Men  pleading  the  cause  of  the  Union. — Proclamation  of  Magoffin  forbidding  either  belligerent  to  occupy  the 
State  with  troops. — The  Convention  at  Frankfort  in  favor  of  Neutrality.— Conference  of  General  Buckner  with 
General  McClellan.— Questioned  veracity. —The  Confederate  Troops  enter  Kentucky. — McClellan's  Protest. —Union 
reaction  in  Kentucky.— Elections  decidedly  for  the  Union. — The  Federal  Government  asserting  its  authority  iii 
Kentucky. — General  Andrew  appointed  to  command  in  Kentucky.— Governor  Magoffin  sends  Commissioners  to  the 
President  demanding  the  removal  of  United  States  Troops. 


1861. 


THE  attitude  of  the  great  State  of 
Kentucky,  in  relation  to  the  civil 
conflict,  was  watched  with  solicitude 
throughout  the  country,  both  at  the 
North  and  at  the  South.  The  secession 
ists,  presuming  upon  the  sympathy  which 
binds  together  the  States  where  slavery 
is  a  recognized  social  institution,  were 
hopeful  of  gaming  Kentucky  to  their 
cause.  Their  hope  was  strengthened  by 
the  known  aversion  of  most  of  the 
political  leaders  of  the  State  to  the  rule 
of  the  Republican  party,  the  avowed  op 
position  of  many  to  the  suppression  of 
the  rebellion  by  force  of  arms,  and  the 


secret  connivance  of  others,  as  was  sus 
pected,  with  the  conspiracy  against  the 
Federal  authority.  The  Unionists,  on 
the  other  hand — calculating  upon  the 


0  Since  these  pages  were  written,  General  Fremont  has 
published  a  justification,  in  which  he  meets  the  main 
charges  against  him — his  expensive  fortifications  of  St. 
Louis,  and  his  neglect  to  reinforce  Lyon  at  Springfield  and 
Colonel  Mulligan  at  Lexington.  In  regard  to  the  first,  he 
declares  that  the  fortifications  were  at  the  time  necessary, 
and  the  cost  not  exorbitant  As  for  the  second,  he  pleads 
that  the  more  urgent  necessity  of  protecting  Cairo  de 
prived  him  of  the  means  of  sending  troops  to  the  aid  of 
Lyon  ;  and  lastly,  he  insists  that  he  did  his  best  for  Colonel 
Mulligan  consistently  with  the  meagre  and  ill-equipped 
force  left  him,  after  complying  with  the  peremptory  demand 
of  the  Government  at  Washington  for  5,000  of  his  best 
men. 


ATTITUDE   OF  KENTUCKY. 


477 


close  commercial  and  agricultural  rela 
tions  of  Kentucky,  as  a  border  State, 
with  the  North,  the  comparatively  small 
influence  of  the  slave  interest,  the  large 
proportion  of  non-slaveholders,  the  fre 
quent  efforts  in  past  times  for  emanci 
pation,  and  the  traditional  Union  senti 
ment  of  the  people — believed  that  by  a 
conciliatory  policy  the  loyalty  of  Ken 
tucky  might  be  secured.  Some  of  her 
senators  and  representatives  in  Congress 
had,  although  protesting  against  the  prin 
ciples  of  the  ruling  party,  shown  their 
devotion  to  the  Union  by  constant  efforts 
to  preserve  it  by  every  possible  plan  of 
compromise.  Having  failed  in  their  ami 
able  attempts,  they  still  declared  them 
selves  loyal  to  the  Federal  Government, 
and  have  mostly  proved  by  their  acts  the 
sincerity  of  their  professions. 

The  first  direct  appeal  to  the  loyalty 
of  Kentucky,  however,  met  with  a  re 
ception  as  disheartening  to  the  Federal 
ists  as  it  was  encouraging  to  the  seces 
sionists.  We  refer  to  the  response  of 
Governor  Magoffin  to  the  demand  of 
President  Lincoln  for  military  aid  from 
Kentucky  in  suppressing  the  insurrec 
tion. 

"  Your  dispatch  is  received.  In  an 
swer,"  wrote  the  Governor,  "  I  say  em 
phatically,  that  Kentucky  will  furnish  no 
troops  for  the  wicked  purpose  of  subdu 
ing  her  sister  Southern  States." 

This  official  rebuff  to  the  President 
of  the  United  States  seemed  to  augur 
ill  for  the  loyalty  of  Kentucky  to  the 
Union,  and  was  hailed  by  the  seces 
sionists  as  an  auspicious  omen  of  a 
further  accession  to  their  cause.  The 


Confederate  Government  eagerly  caught 
at  this  apparent  manifestation  of  sym 
pathy  from  the  Governor  of  Kentucky, 
and  presuming  upon  it,  solicited,  through 
their  secretary  of  war,  Mr.  B.  P. 
"Walker,  his  active  co-operation  against 
the  Federal  authorities. 

This  Confederate  official  immedi-  j^pru 
ately  addressed  the  following  letter    22. 
to  Governor  Magoffin  : 

"  MONTGOMERY,  April  22. 
"  HON.  B.  MAGOFFIN  : 

"  SIR  :  Your  patriotic  response  to  the 
President  of  the  United  States  for  troops 
to  coerce  the  Confederate  States,  justi 
fies  the  belief  that  your  people  are 
prepared  to  unite  with  us  in  repelling 
the  common  enemy  of  the  South. 
Virginia  needs  our  aid.  I  therefore  re 
quest  you  to  furnish  one  regiment  of 
infantry  without  delay,  to  rendezvous  at 
Harper's  Ferry,  Virginia.  It  must  con 
sist  of  ten  companies,  of  not  less  than 
sixty-four  men  each.  The  regiment  will 
be  entitled  to  one  colonel,  one  lieuten 
ant-colonel,  one  major,  one  adjutant 
from  the  line  of  lieutenants,  one  ser 
geant-major  from  the  enlisted  men.  Each 
company  is  entitled  to  one  captain,  one 
first  lieutenant,  two  second  lieutenants 
four  sergeants,  four  corporals,  and  two 
musicians  ;  the  officers,  except  staff  offi 
cers,  to  be  appointed  in  the  manner 
prescribed  by  the  law  of  your  State. 
Staff  officers  are  appointed  by  the  Presi 
dent.  Term  of  service  not  less  than 
twelve  months,  unless  sooner  discharg 
ed.  They  will  be  mustered  into  the  ser 
vice  of  the  Confederate  States  at  Har 
per's  Ferry,  but  transportation  and  sub- 


478 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


sistence  will  be  provided  from  the  point 
of  departure.  They  will  furnish  their 
own  uniforms.  By  com1  aunicating  with 
me,  arms  and  ammunition  will  be  sent 
to  Harper's  Ferry,  or  to  such  points 
as  you  may  designate.  Answer,  and 
say  whether  you  will  comply  with  this 
request,  and  if  so,  when. 

L.  P.  WALKER, 
Secretary  of  War  of  Confederate  States." 

Magoffin  in  zealous  haste  responded 
to  this  appeal  by  a  proclamation  con 
vening  the  Legislature  of  Kentucky. 
Although  he  studiously  avoided  commit 
ting  himself  by  word,  he  manifested  a 
disposition,  if  not  to  promote  the  cause 
of  secession,  at  least  to  resist  any  armed 
effort  to  check  it.  This  was  his  procla 
mation  : 

"  Recent  events  are  of  so  startling  a 
character  as  to  render  it  imperatively 
necessary  that  the  Legislature  of 
Kentucky  be  again  convened  in  extra 
ordinary  session.  It  is  now  apparent 
that  the  most  energetic  measures  are 
being  resorted  to  by  the  Government  at 
Washington  to  prosecute  a  war  upon  an 
extended  scale  with  the  seceded  States. 
Already  large  sums  of  money  and 
supplies  of  men  are  being  raised  in  the 
Northern  States  for  that  purpose.  The 
tread  of  armies  is  the  response  which  is 
being  made  to  the  measures  of  pacifica 
tion  which  are  being  discussed  before 
the  people,  while  up  to  this  moment  we 
are  comparatively  in  a  defenceless 
attitude. 

"  Whatever  else  should  be  done,  it  is, 
in  rny  judgment,  the  duty  of  Kentucky, 
without  delay,  to  place  herself  in  a  com 


plete  position  for  defence.  The  causes 
for  apprehension  are  now  certainly  grave 
enough  to  impel  every  Kentuckian  to 
demand  that  this  be  done,  and  to  re 
quire  of  the  Legislature  of  the  State 
such  additional  action  as  may  be  neces 
sary  for  the  general  welfare.  To  this 
end  I  now  call  upon  the  members  of 
General  Assembly  to  convene  at  the 
Capitol,  in  Frankfort,  on  the  6th  day  of 
May,  1861. 

"Done  at  the  city  of  Frankfort,  the 
24th  day  of  April,  1861,  and  in  the 
sixty-ninth  year  of  the  Commonwealth. 

"B.  MAGOFFIN." 

On  the  meeting  of  the  Legislature  of 
Kentucky  in  special  session,  the  jjjay 
Governor  addressed  it  in  a  message  ®* 
in  which  his  spirit  of  opposition  to  the 
Federal  Government  was  even  more 
manifest  than  in  his  proclamation.  "  It 
is  idle,"  he  said,  "  longer  to  refuse  to 
recognize  the  fact  that  the  late  Ameri 
can  Union  is  dissolved."  And  after 
imputing  the  blame  of  the  war  to  the 
President,  he  asked,  in  the  language  of 
unsettled  loyalty, ' '  what  Kentucky  should 
do  in  this  deplorable  conflict  ?  Shall  she 
continue  her  alliance  with  the  Northern 
States,  adhere  to  the  United  States 
Government,  and  assume  her  portion  of 
the  war  debt  being  incurred  ?  Shall 
she  declare  her  own  independence,  and 
prepare  single-handed  to  maintain  it  V 
Shall  she  ally  herself  with  the  remaining 
slave  States,  and  make  common  cause 
with  them  ?" 

The  members  of  the  Legislature,  how 
ever,  were  indisposed  to  be  made  a  party 
to  the  suspected  designs  of  the  Governor 


KENTUCKY   NEUTRALITY. 


470 


to  wrest  the  State  of  Kentucky  from  its 
allegiance  to  the  Union.  It  is  true  they 
authorized  the  organization  of  the  State 
militia,  as  had  been  advised  by  the  Gov 
ernor,  but  at  the  same  time  affixed  a  con 
dition  of  enrolment  which  it  was  sus 
pected  was  by  no  means  in  accordance 
with  his  desire.  They  loyally  made  it  the 
duty  of  every  one  who  took  up  arms  to 
swear  fealty  not  only  to  Kentucky,  but 
to  the  United  States.  In  the  mean  time, 
the  State  itself  had  clearly  revealed  its 
attachment  to  the  Union  by  electing  a 
large  majority  of  Unionists  to  represent 
it  in  the  "  convention  of  the  border 
slave  States,"  first  proposed  by  Virginia. 
Finding  that  both  the  Legislature  and 
the  people  were  indisposed  to  leave  the 
Union,  the  Governor  strove  to  paralyze 
the  Federal  power  in  Kentucky  by  the 
artifice  of  establishing  the  State  in  a 
neutral  and  independent  position.  He 
accordingly  issued  a  proclamation,*  in 

°  "  Whereas  numerous  applications  have  been  made  to 
me  from  many  good  citizens  of  this  commonwealth,  pray 
ing  me  to  issue  a  proclamation  forbidding  the  march  of 
any  forces,  of  this  or  any  other  State  or  States,  over  our  soil 
to  make  an  apprehended  attack  upon  the  Federal  forces 
at  Cairo,  in  Illinois,  or  disturb  any  otherwise  the  peaceful 
attitude  of  Kentucky  with  reference  to  the  deplorable  war 
now  waging  between  the  United  States  and  the  Confederate 
States ;  and  whereas  numerous  applications  from  the 
good  citizens  of  this  commonwealth  have  also  been  made 
to  me,  praying  me  to  issue  a  proclamation  forbidding  the 
occupation  of  any  post  or  place,  or  the  march  over  our 
sacred  soil  by  any  force  of  the  United  States  for  any 
purpose  ;  and  whereas  it  is  made  fully  evident,  by  every 
indication  of  public  sentiment,  that  it  is  the  determined 
purpose  of  the  good  people  of  Kentucky  to  maintain,  with 
courageous  firmness,  the  fixed  position  of  self-defence,  pro 
posing  or  intending  no  invasion  or  aggression  toward  any 
other  State  or  States,  forbidding  the  quartering  of  troops 
upon  her  soil  by  either  of  the  hostile  sections,  but  simply 
standing  aloof  from  an  unnatural,  horrid,  and  lamentable 
strife,  for  the  existence  of  which  Kentucky,  neither  by 
thought,  word,  nor  act,  is  in  anywise  responsible  ;  and 


which  he  advocated  the  notable  expe 
dient  of  neutrality,  which,  if  conceded, 

whereas  the  policy  thus  recommended  by  so  many  of  my 
fellow-citizens  of  all  political  leanings  is,  in  my  judgment, 
wise,  peaceful,  safe,  and  honorable,  and  the  most  likely  to 
preserve  peace  and  amity  between  the  neighboring  border 
ing  States  on  both  shores  of  the  Ohio  River,  and  protect 
Kentucky,  generally,  from  the  ravages  of  a  deplorable 
war  ;  and  whereas  the  arms  distributed  to  the  '  State 
Guard,'  composed  as  it  is  of  gentlemen  equally  consci 
entious  and  honest,  who  entertain  the  opinions  of  both 
parties,  are  not  to  be  used  against  the  Federal  Government 
nor  the  Confederate  States,  but  to  resist  and  prevent  encroach 
ments  upon  her  soil,  her  rights,  her  honor,  and  her 
sovereignty  by  either  of  the  belligerent  parties,  and  to 
preserve  the  peace,  safety,  prosperity,  and  happiness  and 
strict  neutrality  of  her  people,  in  the  hope  that  she  may 
soon  have  an  opportunity  to  become  a  successful  mediator 
between  them ;  and  in  order  to  remove  the  unfounded 
distrust  and  suspicions  of  purposes  to  force  Kentucky  out 
of  the  Union  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet,  which  may  have 
been  strongly  and  wickedly  engendered  in  the  public 
mind  in  regard  to  my  own  position  and  that  of  the 
'  State  Guard'— 

"  Now,  therefore,  I,  Beriah  Magoffin,  governor  of  the 
commonwealth  of  Kentucky,  and  commander-in-chief  of 
all  her  military  forces  on  land  or  water,  have  issued  this 
my  proclamation,  hereby  notifying  and  warning  all  other 
States,  whether  separate  or  united,  and  especially  the 
'United  States'  and  the  'Confederate  States,'  that  I 
solemnly  forbid  any  movement  upon  the  soil  of  Kentucky, 
or  the  occupation  of  any  port,  post,  or  place  whatever 
within  the  lawful  boundary  or  jurisdiction  of  this  State  by 
any  of  the  forces  under  the  orders  of  the  States  aforesaid, 
for  any  purpose  whatever,  until  authorized  by  invitation 
or  permission  of  the  legislative  and  executive  authorities 
of  this  State  previously  granted  I  also  hereby  especially 
and  solemnly  forbid  all  good  citizens  of  this  commonwealth, 
whether  incorporated  in  the  'State  Guard'  or  otherwise, 
making  any  warlike  or  hostile  demonstrations  whatevet 
against  any  of  the  authorities  aforesaid,  earnestly  request 
ing  all  citizens,  civic  and  military,  to  be  obedient  hereto  , 
to  be  obedient  to  the  law  and  lawful  orders  of  both  the 
civil  and  military  authorities  ;  to  remain,  when  off  military 
duty,  quietly  and  peaceably  at  their  homes,  pursuing 
their  wonted  lawful  avocations  ;  to  refrain  from  all  words 
and  acts  likely  to  engender  hot  blood  and  provoke  colli 
sion  ;  to  pursue  such  a  line  of  wise  conduct  as  will  promote 
peace  and  tranquillity,  and  a  sense  of  safety  and  security, 
and  thus  keep  far  away  from  our  beloved  land  and  the 
people  the  deplorable  calamities  of  invasion  ;  but  at  the 
same  time  earnestly  counselling  my  fellow-citizens  of 
Kentucky  to  make  prompt  and  efficient  preparations  to 
assume  the  armor  and  attitude  prescribed  by  the  para 
mount  and  supreme  law  of  self-defence — and  strictly  of  self- 


480 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


would  imply  the  right  of  independent 
State  sovereignty,  and  be  as  emphatic  a 
defiance  of  the  Federal  authority  as  an 
act  of  secession  itself. 

The  "  convention  of  the  border  slave 
States"  met  at  Frankfort,  but  Virginia, 
which  had  proposed  it,  and  Delaware 
and  Maryland,  failed  to  send  representa 
tives.  Delegates  only  appeared  from 
Kentucky  and  Missouri,  to  whom  was 
added  a  single  member  from  Tennessee, 
who  offered  himself  as  a  volunteer.  The 
convention,  however,  was  organized  with 
the  Honorable  John  J.  Crittenden,  of 
Kentucky,  as  president.  An  address  was 
issued,  in  which  there  was  a  cry  for 
"peace,  peace,"  yet  no  practicable  sug 
gestion  by  which  peace  could  be  secured. 
The  spirit  of  the  document  was  evidently 
in  favor  of  the  Union. 

In  regard  to  the  seceded  States,  its 
authors  said  :  "  Our  present  purpose 
does  not  require  us  to  discuss  the  pro 
priety  of  the  acts  of  these  States,  yet  it 
may  be  proper  for  us  to  say,  that  they 
find  no  warrant  in  any  known  principle 
of  our  Government,  and  no  justification 
in  the  fact  existing  when  they  seceded." 

Throughout  the  paper  there  was  ev 
ident  a  feeling  of  despair  of  reconcil 
iation,  although  a  recurrence  to  the  old 
remedies  of  a  national  convention,  con 
stitutional  alterations,  and  compromises 
was  proposed.  But  there  was  evidently 

defence  alone  ;  praying  Almighty  God  to  have  us  evermore 
in  his  holy  keeping,  and  to  preserve  us  in  peace,  prosper 
ity,  and  security  forever. 

"  In  testimony  whereof  I  have  hereunto  set  my  name, 
and  caused  the  seal  of  the  commonwealth  to  be  affixed. 
Done  at  Frankfort,  this  the  30th  of  May,  A.D.  1861,  and 
the  sixty-ninth  year  of  the  commonwealth. 

"  B.  MAOOFFTN." 


little  hope  of  the  success  of  such  means, 
and  the  delegates  of  Kentucky  and  Mis 
souri,  the  only  Spates  represented  in  the 
convention,  sought  refuge  in  neutrality 
from  the  horrors  of  civil  war. 

"  Our  States  desire,"  they  declared, 
"and  have  indicated  a  purpose  to  take 
no  part  in  this  war,  and  we  believe  that 
in  this  course  we  shall  ultimately  best 
serve  the  interest  of  our  common  coun 
try.  It  is  impossible  that  we  should  be 
indifferent  spectators  ;  we  consider  that 
our  interests  would  be  irretrievably 
ruined  by  taking  part  in  the  conflict  on 
the  side  where  the  strongest  sympathies 
of  our  people  are,  and  that  our  sense 
of  honor  and  of  duty  requires  that  we 
should  not  allow  ourselves  to  be  drawn 
or  driven  into  a  war  in  which  other 
States,  without  consulting  us,  have  de 
liberately  chosen  to  involve  themselves. 
Our  safety  and  our  dignity  as  among 
the  most  powerful  of  the  slave  States 
demand  of  us  that  we  take  this  position." 

Notwithstanding  this  theoretical  neu 
trality,  in  the  delusion  of  which  the 
political  leaders  of  Kentucky  were  in 
dulging,  it  soon  became  evident  that  the 
people  of  the  State  could  not  be  withheld 
from  practically  co-operating,  as  their 
sentiments  or  interests  guided  them,  ei 
ther  with  the  Federalists  or  secessionists. 
A  large  number  of  Kentuckians  enrolled 
themselves  in  the  army  of  the  Confeder 
acy,  as  did  many  in  that  of  the  United 
States,  and  thus  Kentuckian  was  waging 
actual  war  with  Kentuckian,  while  their 
State  was  proposing  the  impracticable 
theory  of  neutrality. 

Most  of  the  young  men  of  the  State. 


HORRORS  OF  WAR. 


481 


with  the  indiscreet  ardor  of  youth,  had 
adopted  the  cause  of  secession,  while  the 
older,  with  a  prudent  regard  to  the  risks 
and  dangers  of  a  revolution,  had  as  gen 
erally  adhered  to  that  of  the  Union. 
Thus  while  fathers  were  counselling  fidel 
ity  to  the  Federal  authority  as  the  only 
hope  of  safety  for  the  State,  their  sons 
were  in  open  rebellion  against  it. 

The  aged  leaders  of  Kentucky,  among 
whom  were  men  who  had  long  since 
given  proof  of  devotion  to  their  country 
as  the  wisest  of  its  counsellors  and  the 
bravest  of  its  soldiers,  now  showed  a 
loyalty  to  the  Union  not  to  be  shaken 
by  a  convulsion  which  had  shattered 
their  fortunes,  rudely  severed  the  dear 
est  ties  of  affection,  and  extinguished 
their  political  hopes.  At  a  great  meet 
ing  held  at  Louisville,  the  Honorable 
James  Guthrie,  formerly  Secretary  of 
the  Treasury  of  the  United  States,  and 
Dixon,  once  Governor  of  Kentucky,  elo 
quently  pleaded  the  cause  of  the  Union, 
and  urged  with  success  the  adoption  of 
these  resolutions  : 

"1.  That  as  the  Confederate  States 
have,  by  overt  acts,  commenced  war 
against  the  United  States,  without  con 
sultation  with  Kentucky  and  their  sister 
Southern  States,  Kentucky  reserves  to 
herself  the  right  to  choose  her  own 
position ;  and  that  while  her  natural 
sympathies  are  with  those  who  have  a 
common  interest  in  the  protection  of 
slavery,  she  still  acknowledges  her 
loyalty  and  fealty  to  the  Government  of 
the  United  States,  which  she  will  cheer 
fully  render  until  that  Government  be 
comes  aggressive,  tyrannical,  and  re- 
si 


gardless  of  our  rights  in  slaveholding 
property.  • 

"  4.  That  secession  is  a  remedy  for  no 
evils,  real  or  imaginary,  but  an  aggrava 
tion  and  complication  of  existing  diffi 
culties. 

"  5.  That  the  memories  of  the  past,  the 
interests  of  the  present,  and  the  solemn 
convictions  of  future  duty  and  usefulness 
in  the  hope  of  mediation,  prevent  Ken 
tucky  from  taking  part  with  the  seceding 
States  against  the  General  Government." 

Crittenden,  the  United  States  Senator 
from  Kentucky,  who  had  persisted  so 
devotedly  in  his  well-meant  effort  to 
avert  civil  war  by  conciliation  and  com 
promise,  now  that  he  despaired  of  peace, 
did  not  hesitate  to  take  a  firm  stand  for 
the  Union.  By  this  action  his  house  was 
divided.  One  of  his  sons  had  taken  up 
arms  in  behalf  of  the  Southern  Confeder 
acy,  a  cause  which  his  father  proclaimed 
to  be  unholy,  and  its  promoters  deserv 
ing  of  the  severest  punishment.  Pren- 
tiss,  too,  the  veteran  editor  of  the  Louis 
ville  Journal,  while  manfully  serving  his 
country  with  all  the  power  of  his  vigor 
ous  pen,  was  forced  into  a  conflict  with 
his  own  child,  who  fought  in  the  ranks  of 
the  rebels.  These  are  but  two  illustra 
tions  of  the  effects  of  the  unhappy  civil 
struggle  in  Kentucky,  where  it  had  not 
only  destroyed  political  harmony,  but 
domestic  concord.  "  Thousands  of  other 
examples  might  be  readily  gathered  in 
the  border  States.  Those  at  the  extreme 
North  and  South,  though  they  may  be 
suffering  from  the  ordinary  evils  of  war, 
have  no  conception  of  its  horrors  as 
waged  in  Kentucky  and  Missouri." 


THE   WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


Governor  Magoffin,  resolutely  bent 
upon  maintaining  the  neutrality  of  Ken- 
May  tucky,  issued  a  proclamation  after 

**•  the  adjournment  of  the  Legislature, 
in  which,  declaring  the  State  to  be  neu 
tral,  he  forbade  both  the  Federal  and  the 
Confederate  governments  to  occupy  any 
portion  of  Kentucky  with  their  troops. 
A  convention,  which  met  at  Frankfort 
June  Prcvi°us  to  its  adjournment,  though 

•*•  professing  attachment  to  the  Union, 
gave  in  their  adhesion  to  the  Governor's 
doctrine  of  neutrality.  They  declared,  in 
their  address  to  the  people,  that  "Ken 
tucky  was  right  in  this  position  [of  neu 
trality],  because  from  the  commencement 
of  this  deplorable  controversy  her  voice 
was  for  reconciliation,  compromise,  and 
peace.  *  *  *  *  All  she  asks  is 
permission  to  keep  out  of  this  unnatural 
strife.  When  called  to  take  part  in  it, 
she  believes  there  is  more  honor  in  the 
breach  than  in  the  observance  of  any 
supposed  duty  to  perform  it.  Feeling 
that  she  is  clearly  right  in  this,  and  hav 
ing  announced  her  intention  to  refrain 
from  aggression  upon  others,  she  must 
protest  against  her  soil  being  made  the 
theatre  of  military  operations  by  any  bel 
ligerent.  The  war  must  not  be  trans 
ferred  by  the  warring  sections  from  their 
own  to  her  borders.  Such  unfriendly  ac 
tion  cannot  be  viewed  with  indifference 
by  Kentucky." 

In  order  to  accomplish  his  pet  scheme 
of  neutrality,  the  Governor  of  Kentucky 
dispatched  General  Buckner,  the  in 
spector-general  of  the  State,  to  confer 
with  General  McClellan,  then  at  Cincin- 
i  ;»ti,  in  command  of  the  United  States 


troops  in  the  States  north  of  the  Ohio 
River.  Buckner  reported,  on  his  return, 
that  he  had  entered  into  the  following 

o 

agreement  with  McClellan  : 

"  The  authorities  of  the  State  of  Ken 
tucky  are  to  protect  the  United  jlllie 
States  property  within  the  limits  of  IO> 
the  State,  to  enforce  the  laws  of  the 
United  States  in  accordance  with  the  in 
terpretation  of  the  United  States  Courts, 
as  far  as  these  laws  may  be  applicable 
to  Kentucky,  and  to  enforce  with  all  the 
powers  of  the  State  our  obligations  of 
neutrality  as  against  the  Southern  States, 
as  long  as  the  position  we  have  assumed 
shall  be  respected  by  the  United  States. 
General  McClellan  stipulates  that  the 
territory  of  Kentucky  shall  be  respected 
on  the  part  of  the  United  States,  even 
though  the  Southern  States  should  oc 
cupy  it ;  but  in  the  latter  case  he  will 
call  upon  the  authorities  of  Kentucky  to 
remove  the  Southern  forces  from  our 
territory. 

''  Should  Kentucky  fail  to  accomplish 
this  object  in  a  reasonable  time,  Gene 
ral  McClellan  claims  the  same  right  of 
occupancy  given  to  the  Southern  forces. 
I  have  stipulated  in  that  case  to  advise 
him  of  the  inability  of  Kentucky  to 
comply  with  her  obligations,  and  invite 
him  to  dislodge  the  Southern  forces. 
He  stipulates  that  if  he  is  successful  in 
doing  so,  he  will  withdraw  his  forces 
from  the  territory  of  the  State  as  soon 
as  the  Southern  forces  shall  have  been 
removed.  This,  he  assures  me,  is  the 
policy  which  he  will  adopt  toward  Ken 
tucky. 

"Should     the      administration     here- 


ABUSE  OF  KENTUCKY  NEUTRALITY. 


483 


after  adopt  a  different  policy,  he  is  to 
give  me  timely  notice  of  the  fact.  Should 
the  State  of  Kentucky  hereafter  assume 
a  different  attitude,  he  is  in  like  manner 
to  be  advised  of  the  fact.  The  well- 
known  character  of  General  McClellan  is 
a  sufficient  guaranty  for  the  fulfilment 
of  every  stipulation  on  his  part." 

McClellan  promptly  disavowed  Buck- 
ner's  positive  assertions  in  regard  to  his 
being  a  party  to  this  agreement.  In  a 
letter  to  Captain  Wilson,  of  the  United 
June  States  navy,  dated  Grafton,  Mc- 
2°-  Clellan  wrote  : 

"  My  interview  with  General  Buckner 
was  personal,  not  official.  It  was  so 
licited  by  him  more  than  once.  I  made 
no  stipulation  on  the  part  of  the  Gene 
ral  Government,  and  regarded  his  volun 
tary  promise  to  drive  out  the  Confederate 
troops  as  the  only  result  of  the  interview. 
His  letter  gives  his  own  views,  not  mine." 

In  the  mean  time  the  secessionists  of 
Kentucky  were  mustering  rapidly,  and 
taking  up  arms  under  the  flag  of  the 
Confederacy.  The  Confederate  troops, 
moreover,  had  taken  possession  of  two 
islands  in  the  Mississippi,  below  Colum 
bus,  evidently  with  the  view  of  occupy 
ing  that  important  strategic  position.  As 
this  recruiting  for  the  Confederate  service 
within  the  limits  of  the  State,  and  this 
armed  occupation  of  its  territory,  were 
apparently  unopposed  by  the  civil  au 
thorities  of  Kentucky,  their  professed 
neutrality  seemed  only  an  encourage 
ment  to  the  secessionists,  arid  a  corre 
sponding  disfavor  to  the  Federal  author 
ity. 

General   McClellan    accordingly  sum 


moned  the  Governor  of  Kentucky  to  in 
terpose  his  authority  and  check  this  breach 
of  neutrality.  He  wrote  to  Magoffin  : 

"  1  have  received  information  that  Ten 
nessee  troops  are  under  orders  to  oc-  jline 
cupy  Island  No.  1,  six  miles  below  llt 
Cairo.  In  accordance  with  my  under 
standing  with  General  Buckner,  I  call 
upon  you  to  prevent  this  step.  Do  you 
regard  the  islands  on  the  Mississippi 
River  above  the  Tennessee  line  within 
your  jurisdiction,  and  if  so,  what  ones'?" 

The  people  of  Kentucky  now  began  to 
be  alarmed  lest  their  attempted  neutral 
ity  scheme  should  prove  a  delusion  and 
involve  them  in  war  with  the  United 
States.  They  accordingly  took  care  to 
express  their  aversion  to  hostility  with 
the  Federal  Government,  by  a  large 
vote,  at  their  congressional  and  legisla 
tive  elections,  in  favor  of  the  Union. 
Every  member  of  Congress  elected,  with 
the  exception  of  Mr.  Burnet,  from  the 
western  district  of  the  State,  was  devo 
tedly  loyal.  Of  those  chosen  members  of 
the  State  Legislature,  twenty-eight  Allg> 
Unionists  and  ten  secessionists  were  18' 
returned  to  the  Senate  ;  seventy-five 
Unionists  and  twenty-five  secessionists 
were  elected  members  of  the  House. 

Encouraged  as  it  was  by  this  striking 
demonstration  of  loyalty  on  the  part  of 
the  people  of  Kentucky,  the  Federal 
Government  did  not  now  hesitate  to  as 
sert  its  authority.  A  force  was  organ 
ized  under  the  command  of  General  An 
derson,  of  Fort  Sumter  fame,  and  other 
military  means  used,  to  protect  loyal  cit 
izens  and  secure  the  State  against  in 
vasion. 


484 


THE  WAR  \V1TH  THE  SOUTH. 


Governor  Magoffin,  still  affecting  to 
consider  Kentucky  as  neutral,  sent  two 
commissioners  to  the  President  of  the 


United  States  to  demand  the  removal 
of  the  Federal  troops  from  the  bound 
aries  of  the  State. 


CHAPTER    XLV. 

Instructions  of  the  Commissioners  from  Kentucky. — Answer  of  President  Lincoln. — Letter  of  the  Governor  of  Kentucky 
to  Jefferson  Davis. — A  friendly  Response  from  Davis. — -The  Governor's  Letter  to  Tennessee. — Rejoinder  of  the  Gov 
ernor  of  Tennessee. — Meeting  of  the  Loyal  Legislature  of  Kentucky. — -Message  of  the  Governor. — Partial  Indigna 
tion. — Persistent  advocacy  of  Neutrality. —  Opposition  to  the  action  of  the  Federal  Government. — Loyal  action  of 
the  Legislature. — Hoisting  the  Union  Flag  at  Frankfort. — Reading  of  a  Secession  Address  opposed. — -Occupation  of 
Columbus  by  General  Polk. — Description  of  Columbus. — Polk's  Justification. — General  Grant  occupies  Padueah. — 
Paducah  described. — Anger  of  the  Legislature  at  the  movement  of  Polk. — Expulsion  of  the  Invaders  resolved  on. — 
The  United  States  Troops  excepted  by  a  large  majority. — Magoffin's  Proclamation  summoning  the  Tennessee  Troops 
to  withdraw. — A  mild  Expostulation. — Continued  Loyal  Action  of  the  Legislature. — Adoption  of  Congressional  Tax 
Law  by  a  large  majority. — Occupation  of  Cumberland  Gap  by  Zollicoffer. — His  Justification. — The  Legislature  returns 
to  the  charge  against  the  Invaders. — Strong  Resolution. — -Vetoed  by  the  Governor. — Passed  by  the  House. — Ken 
tucky  for  the  Union. — Once  more  the  "Dark  and  Bloody  Ground."- — The  civil  strife  begun. — Meeting  of  Antago 
nists. — General  Buckner  in  command  of  the  Secessionists. — His  Proclamation. — Affected  regard  for  Neutrality. — • 
Proclamation  of  General  Anderson. — Great  Preparations. — Resignation  of  Anderson. — Appointment  of  Sherman. — 
Unfitness. — Extraordinary  statement. —  Buell  appointed  to  command  in  Kentucky. — Secession  of  Vice-President 
Breckenridge. — His  Life  and  Character. — His  Political  and  Military  Career. — His  action  in  Congress  after  the  break 
ing  out  of  the  Civil  War. 


THE   commissioners,    Messrs.    Dudley 

and  Hunt,  appointed  by  Governor 

Magoffin,  to  demand  of  President 

Lincoln  the  removal  of  the  Federal  troops 

from   Kentucky,  \vere    provided   with   a 

communication   in   which   the   object  of 

their  mission  was  duly  set  forth. 

"  From  the  commencement  of  the 
Aug.  unhappy  hostilities  now  pending  in 
I9t  this  country,"  said  Magoffin,  ad 
dressing  the  President,  "  the  people  of 
Kentucky  have  indicated  an  earnest 
desire  and  purpose,  as  far  as  lay  in  their 
power,  while  maintaining  their  original 
political  status,  to  do  nothing  by  which 
to  involve  themselves  in  the  war  ;  up  to 
this  time  they  have  succeeded  in  secur 
ing  to  themselves  and  to  the  State  peace 


and  tranquillity,  as  the  fruits  of  the 
policy  they  adopted.  My  single  object 
now  is  to  promote  the  continuance  of 
these  blessings  to  the  people  of  this 
State. 

"  Until  within  a  brief  period  the  peo 
ple  of  Kentucky  were  quiet  and  tranquil, 
free  from  domestic  strife,  and  undisturb 
ed  by  internal  commotion.  They  have 
resisted  no  law,  rebelled  against  no  au 
thority,  engaged  in  no  revolution,  but 
constantly  proclaimed  their  firm  determi 
nation  to  pursue  their  peaceful  avoca 
tions,  earnestly  hoping  that  their  own 
soil  would  be  spared  the  presence  of 
armed  troops,  and  that  the  scene  of  con 
flict  would  be  kept  removed  beyond  the 
border  of  their  State.  By  thus  avoiding 


MAGOFFIN  TO  THE   PRESIDENT. 


485 


all  occasions  for  the  introduction  of 
bodies  of  armed  soldiers,  and  offering  no 
provocation  for  the  presence  of  a  mili 
tary  force,  the  people  of  Kentucky  have 
sincerely  striven  to  persevere  in  their 
State  domestic  peace,  and  avert  the  ca 
lamities  of  sanguinary  engagement. 

"Recently  a  large  body  of  soldiers 
have  been  enlisted  m  the  United  States 
army  and  collected  in  military  camps  in 
the  central  portion  of  Kentucky.  This 
movement  was  preceded  by  the  active 
organization  of  companies,  regiments, 
etc.,  consisting  of  men  sworn  into  the 
United  States  service,  under  officers  hold 
ing  commissions  from  yourself.  Ord 
nance,  arms,  munitions  and  supplies  of 
war  are  being  transported  into  the  State, 
and  placed  in  large  quantities  in  these 
camps.  In  a  word,  an  army  is  now  being 
organized  and  quartered  within  the 
State,  supplied  with  all  the  appliances 
of  war,  without  the  consent  or  advice 
of  the  authorities  of  the  State,  and  with 
out  consultation  with  those  most  promi 
nently  known  and  recognized  as  loyal 
citizens.  This  movement  now  imperils 
that  peace  and  tranquillity  which,  from 
the  beginning  of  our  pending  difficulties, 
have  been  the  paramount  desire  of  this 
people,  and  which,  up  to  this  time,  they 
have  so  secured  to  this  State. 

"  With  Kentucky  there  has  been,  and 
is  likely  to  be,  no  occasion  for  the 
presence  of  a  military  force.  The  people 
are  quiet  and  tranquil,  feeling  no  appre 
hension  of  any  occasion  arising  to  invoke 
protection  from  the  Federal  arm.  They 
have  asked  that  their  territory  be  left 
free  from  military  occupation,  and  the  1 


present  tranquillity  of  their  communica 
tion  left  uninvaded  by  soldiers.  They  do 
not  desire  that  Kentucky  shall  be  re 
quired  to  supply  the  battle-field  for  the 
contending  armies,  or  become  the  theatre 
of  war. 

"  Now,  therefore,  as  Governor  of  the 
State  of  Kentucky,  and  in  the  name  of 
the  people  I  have  the  honor  to  represent, 
and  with  the  single  and  earnest  desire  to 
avert  from  their  peaceful  homes  the  hor 
rors  of  war,  I  urge  the  removal  from  the 
limits  of  Kentucky  of  the  military  forces 
now  organized  and  in  camp  within  the 
State.  If  such  action  as  is  hereby  urged 
be  promptly  taken,  I  firmly  believe  the 
peace  of  the  people  of  Kentucky  will  be 
preserved,  and  the  horrors  of  a  bloody 
war  will  be  averted  from  a  people  now 
peaceful  and  tranquil." 

To  this  communication  the  President, 
evidently  with  an  anxious  desire  to  con 
ciliate  the  good-will  of  the  people  of 
Kentucky,  returned  this  calmly  and  ami 
ably  expressed  letter,  with,  however,  a 
rebuke  of  the  Governor  at  the  end  of  it, 
like  a  sting  in  the  tail  of  a  gliding 
serpent : 


"  WASHINGTON, 
Saturday,  August 
"  To  HIS  EXCELLENCY  B.  MAGOFFIN.  GOVERNOR 
OF  THE  STATE  OF  KENTUCKY  : 


>N,  D.  G,      1 
.st  24,  1861.  j 


"  SIR  :  Your  letter  of  the  19th  instant, 
in  which  you  '  urge  the  removal  from 
the  limits  of  Kentucky  of  the  military 
forces  now  organized  and  in  camp  within 
that  State/  is  received.  I  may  not  pos 
sess  full  and  precisely  accurate  knowl 
edge  upon  this  subject,  but  I  believe  it  is 
true  that  there  is  a  military  force  in  camp 


4  si  5 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


within  Kentucky,  acting  by  authority  of 
the  United  States,  which  force  is  not 
very  large,  and  is  not  now  being  aug 
mented.  I  also  believe  that  some  arms 
have  been  furnished  to  this  force  by  the 
United  States.  I  also  believe  this  force 
consists  exclusively  of  Kentuckians,  hav 
ing  their  camp  in  the  immediate  vicinity 
of  their  own  homes,  and  not  assailing  or 
menacing  any  of  the  good  people  of  Ken 
tucky. 

"  In  all  I  have  done  in  the  premises,  I 
have  acted  upon  the  urgent  solicitation  of 
many  Kentuckians,  arid  in  accordance 
with  what  I  believed,  and  still  believe, 
to  be  the  wish  of  a  majority  of  all  the 
Union-loving  people  of  Kentucky.  While 
I  have  conversed  on  this  subject  with 
many  eminent  men  of  Kentucky,  includ 
ing  a  large  majority  of  her  members  of 
Congress,  I  do  not  remember  that  any 
one  of  them,  or  any  other  person,  except 
your  Excellency  and  the  bearers  of  your 
Excellency's  letter,  has  urged  me  to  re 
move  the  military  force  from  Kentucky, 
or  to  disband  it.  One  other  very  worthy 
citizen  of  Kentucky  did  solicit  me  to 
have  the  augmenting  of  the  force  sus 
pended  for  a  time. 

"  Taking  all  the  means  within  my 
reach  to  form  a  judgment,  I  do  not  believe 
it  is  the  popular  wish  of  Kentucky  that 
this  force  shall  be  removed  beyond  her 
limits  ;  and  with  this  impression  I  must 
respectfully  decline  so  to  remove  it.  I 
most  cordially  sympathize  with  your 
Excellency  in  the  wish  to  preserve  the 
peace  of  my  own  native  State,  Kentucky  ; 
but  it  is  with  regret  I  search  and  cannot 
find,  in  your  not  very  short  letter,  any 


declaration  or  intimation  that  you  enter 
tain  any  desire  for  the  preservation  of 
the  Federal  Union. 

"  Your  obedient  servant, 

A.  LINCOLN." 

At  the  same  time  Governor  Magoffin, 
to  give  plausibility  to  his  "neutrality" 
scheme,  addressed  a  letter  to  the  "  Hon. 
Jefferson  Davis."  In  this  communica 
tion  he  informed  the  President  of  the 
Southern  Confederacy  that  he  had  made 
a  demand  upon  the  President  of  the 
United  States  for  the  removal  of  the 
Federal  troops  from  Kentucky,  and  re 
iterated  the  desire  of  the  State  to 
maintain  a  neutral  position.  To  secure 
this,  the  Governor  called  upon  Jefferson 
Davis  to  respect  the  assumed  neutrality 
of  the  State.  The  Governor's  summons 
was  thus  gently  conveyed  and  softened 
by  a  compliment  little  merited,  as  the 
Confederate  troops  had  been  recruiting  in 
Kentucky,  and  were  already  in  possession 
of  a  portion  of  its  domain.  "  Although 
I  have  no  reason  to  presume,"  wrote 
Magoffin,  "  that  the  Government  of  the 
Confederate  States  contemplate  or  have 
ever  proposed  any  invasion  of  the  neutral 
attitude  thus  assumed  by  Kentucky, 
there  seems  to  be  some  uneasiness  felt 
by  the  people  of  some  portion  of  the 
State,  occasioned  by  the  collection  of 
bodies  of  troops  along  their  southern 
frontier.  In  order  to  quiet  this  appre 
hension,  and  to  secure  to  the  people  their 
cherished  object  of  peace,  this  communi 
cation  is  to  represent  these  facts,  and 
elicit  an  authoritative  assurance  that  the 
Government  of  the  Confederate  States 
will  continue  to  respect  and  observe  the 


MAUOFF1N  CORRESPONDENCE. 


487 


position  indicated,  as  assumed  by  Ken 
tucky." 

To  this  kindly  summons  Jefferson  Da 
vis  responded  with  sympathetic  friendli 
ness  :  "  I  lose  no  time  in  assuring  you 
that  the  Government  of  the  Confederate 
States  of  America  neither  intends  nor 
desires  to  disturb  the  neutrality  of  Ken 
tucky.  The  assemblage  of  troops  in 
Tennessee  to  which  you  refer,  had  no 
other  object  than  to  repel  the  lawless  in 
vasion  of  that  State  by  the  forces  of  the 
United  States,  should  their  Government 
attempt  to  approach  it  through  Ken 
tucky,  without  respect  for  its  position  of 
neutrality.  That  such  apprehensions  were 
not  groundless  has  been  proved  by  the 
course  of  that  Government  in  Maryland 
and  Missouri,  and  more  recently  in  Ken 
tucky  itself,  in  which,  as  you  inform  me, 
'  a  military  force  has  been  enlisted  and 
quartered  by  the  United  States  author 
ities/ 

"  The  Government  of  the  Confederate 
States  has  not  only  respected  most  scru 
pulously  the  neutrality  of  Kentucky,  but 
has  continued  to  maintain  the  friendly 
relations  of  trade  and  intercourse  which 
it  has  suspended  with  the  people  of  the 
United  States  generally.  In  view  of  the 
history  of  the  past,  it  can  scarcely  be 
necessary  to  assure  your  Excellency  that 
the  Government  of  the  Confederate 
States  will  continue  to  respect  the  neu 
trality  of  Kentucky  as  long  as  her  people 
will  maintain  it  themselves.  But  neu 
trality,  to  be  entitled  to  respect,  must  be 
strictly  maintained  between  both  parties  ; 
or  if  the  door  be  opened  on  the  other 
side  for  the  airin-essions  of  one  of  the 


belligerent  parties  upon  the  other,  it 
ought  not  to  be  shut  to  the  assailed  when 
they  seek  to  enter  it  for  the  purpose  of 
self-defence. 

"  I  do  not,  however,  believe  that  your 
gallant  State  will  suffer  its  soil  to  be 
used  for  the  purpose  of  giving  an  ad 
vantage  to  those  who  violate  its  neutral 
ity  and  disregard  its  rights,  over  those 
who  respect  them  both/' 

Magoffin  had  already  said,  in  reply  to 
the    Governor    of    the    Confederate  A 
State  of  Tennessee  :  *^* 

"  In  a  few  days  I  hope  to  be  able  to 
inform  your  Excellency  of  the  disbanding 
of  the  organizations  to  which  you  have 
been  pleased  to  call  my  attention.  I  am 
satisfied  a  large  majority  even  of  the 
Union  men  in  Kentucky  are  opposed  to 
any  such  organization  here  by  the  Fed 
eral  Government,  or  the  transportation 
of  arms,  men,  or  munitions  over  our  soil 
to  the  State  of  Tennessee/' 

Whereupon  the  Governor  of  Tennes 
see  rejoined  :  "  We  cannot  believe  that 
Kentucky  will,  at  the  instigation  of  either 
of  the  belligerents,  abandon  the  position 
of  neutrality  so  lately  and  solemnly  as 
sumed,  or  permit  it  to  be  so  used  as  to 
render  a  hollow  peace  more  harassing 
and  dangerous  than  open  war." 

In  the  mean  time  the  Legislature  as 
sembled,  in  the  election  of  which  the 
loyalty  of  the  people  of  Kentucky  had 
so  signally  manifested  itself,  by  return 
ing  a  large  majority  of  Unionists.  The 
Governor  in  his  message  acknowledged 
the  interference  with  his  cherished  pro 
ject  of  neutrality,  by  the  action  of  both 
belligerents,  but  dwelt  with  especial  in- 


488 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


dignation  upon  the  conduct  of  the  Federal 
Government.  He  at  the  same  time  still 
held  to  the  neutral  policy,  declaring  that— 
"In  regard  to  our  national  difficulties, 
my  action,  from  first  to  last,  has  been 
dictated  by  an  earnest  wish  to  preserve 
the  neutrality  and  peace  of  Kentucky. 
I  am  not  conscious  of  any  lack  of  vigi 
lance  or  effort  on  my  part  in  maintaining 
the  peaceful  attitude  of  neutrality  which 
the  people  of  the  State  have  determined 
to  occupy.  The  very  corner-stone  of 
the  theory  of  the  States  Rights  party,  to 
which  I  have  always  adhered,  is  the  right 
of  the  people  of  a  State,  by  a  lawful  ex 
pression  of  a  majority  thereof,  to  deter 
mine  the  policy  and  the  relations  of  the 
commonwealth.  My  functions  are  purely 
executive ;  and  I  am  bound  by  my  oath 
of  office  to  carry  out  the  lawful  will  of 
the  people,  whether  the  policy  they  pre 
fer  accords  with  my  own  views  or  not. 
The  Constitution  is  the  only  barrier  be 
tween  the  people  and  the  Executive  which 
I  recognise.  I  was  elected  governor  by 
a  majority  of  the  people,  who  well  knew 
my  political  sentiments.  Since  my  elec 
tion  great  questions  have  arisen,  which, 
if  contemplated  in  the  canvass,  it  was 
hoped  would  be  settled  by  adjustment 
in  the  councils  of  the  Federal  Govern 
ment  ;  and  these  questions  unhappily  in 
volve  the  external  relations,  the  peace 
and  prosperity  of  Kentucky.  I  deprecate 
the  introduction  of  these  questions,  and 
did  all  I  could  to  avert  the  issues.  No 
man  lives,  or  ever  did  live,  who  more 
honestly  and  earnestly  desires  to'  uphold 
and  perpetuate  the  Union  by  a  faithful 
execution  of  the  Federal  Constitution." 


While  thus  professing  fidelity  to  the 
Union,  the  Governor  took  occasion  to  set 
forth  at  length  his  reasons  for  opposing 
the  action  of  the  Federal  authority. 

The  Legislature  showed  itself  more 
loyal.  The  House  of  Representatives, 
by  the  large  vote  of  seventy-six  to 
twenty,  ordered  the  United  States  flag  to 
be  hoisted  over  the  Capitol  at  Frankfort, 
and  the  Senate  refused,  by  a  vote  of 
twenty-four  to  twelve,  to  listen  to  the 
reading  of  an  address  by  some  supposed 
secessionists.  When  the  loyalty  of  Ken 
tucky  was  thus  clearly  manifested,  Gen 
eral,  the  ci-devant  Bishop,  Polk,  com- 
mander-in-chief  of  the  Confederate  forces 
in  southern  Missouri  and  in  Memphis,  at 
once  took  possession  of  Columbus,  in 
Kentucky.  This  place,  situated  on  the 
Mississippi  about  twenty-two  miles  below 
Cairo,  is  one  of  the  most  important  stra 
tegic  points  in  the  West.  General  Polk 
justified  this  invasion  of  Kentucky  and 
disregard  of  its  neutrality  on  the  score  of 
a  "  military  necessity/'  Jefferson  Davis, 
the  President  of  the  Confederate  States, 
moreover,  sanctioned  the  act  on  the  same 
ground."'"  Polk,  in  this  letter  to  Governor 
Magoffin,  entered  into  a  more  detailed 
exposition  of  the  motives  of  his  conduct : 
"  COLUMBUS,  KENTUCKY,  September  9. 

"  GOVERNOR  13.  MAGOFFIN,  FRANKFORT, 
KENTUCKY  :  I  should  have  dispatched 
you,  immediately  the  troops  under  my 
command  took  possession  of  this  posi 
tion,  the  very  few  words  I  addressed  to 
the  people  here  ;  but  my  duties  since  that 
time  have  so  pressed  me,  that  I  have  but 

*  This  was  denied,  however,  by  certain  delegates  from 
Tennessee  to  the  Confederate  Government. 


FOLK'S  OCCUPATION  OF  COLUMBUS. 


489 


now  the  first  leisure  time  to  communicate 
with  you.  It  will  be  sufficient  for  me  to 
inform  you,  which  my  short  address  here 
will  do,  that  I  had  information  on  which 
I  could  rely,  that  the  Federal  forces  in 
tended  and  were  preparing  to  seize  Co 
lumbus.  I  need  not  describe  the  danger 
resulting  to  west  Tennessee  from  such 
seizure.  *  *  *  In  evidence  of  the  in 
formation  possessed,  I  will  state,  as  the 
Confederate  forces  occupied  this  place, 
the  Federal  troops  were  formed  on  the 
opposite  bank  in  formidable  numbers, 
with  their  cannon  turned  upon  Columbus. 
The  citizens  of  the  town  had  fled  with 
terror,  and  not  a  word  of  assurance  of 
safety  or  protection  had  been  addressed 
to  them.  Since  I  have  taken  possession 
of  this  place,  I  have  been  informed  by 
highly  responsible  citizens  of  your  State, 
that  certain  representatives  of  the  Fed 
eral  Government  are  setting  up  com 
plaint  of  my  act  of  occupying  it,  and  are 
making  it  a  pretence  for  seizing  other 
positions.  Upon  this  course  of  proceed 
ing  I  have  no  comment  to  make,  but  I 
am  prepared  to  say,  that  I  will  agree  to 
withdraw  the  Confederate  troops  from 
Kentucky,  provided  she  will  agree  that 
the  troops  of  the  Federal  Government 
be  withdrawn  simultaneously,  with  a 
guaranty  which  I  will  give  reciprocally 
for  the  Confederate  Government,  that  the 
Federal  troops  shall  not  be  allowed  to 
enter  or  occupy  any  point  in  Kentucky 
in  the  future. 

"  I  have  the  honor  to  be,  your  obedi 
ent  servant,       LEONIDAS  POLK, 

"  Major-General  Commanding." 

As  soon  as  General  Grant,  in  command 

62 


of  the  Federal  troops  at  Cairo,  in  Illi 
nois,  situated  at  the  junction  of  the  Ohio 
and  Mississippi,  discovered  this  move 
ment  of  General  Polk  to  Columbus,  he  did 
not  hesitate  to  disregard  the  delusive 
neutrality  of  Kentucky,  but  took  posses 
sion  of  Paducah.  This  town  is  placed 
at  the  junction  of  the  Ohio  and  Tennes 
see  rivers,  forty-seven  miles  east  of  Cairo. 
Its  position  had  become  of  the  utmost 
importance,  now  that  Kentucky  was  des 
tined  to  be  a  scene  of  conflict.  The 
enemy,  by  the  possession  of  Columbus, 
and  Hickman,  on  the  Mississippi,  and  by 
the  advance  of  troops  from  Tennessee 
into  other  parts  of  Kentucky,  threatened 
to  flank  Cairo,  and  the  movement  of 
General  Grant  became  necessary  for  the 
protection  of  that  important  Federal  post. 

The  Legislature  of  Kentucky  received 
the  announcement  of  the  invasion  of  the 
State  by  General  Polk  with  the  greatest 
anger,  and  denouncing  it  in  these  resolu 
tions,  showed  their  determination  to  ex 
pel  the  invaders  : 

"  Resolved,  That  Kentucky's  peace  and 
neutrality  have  been  wantonly  viola-  §eptt 
ted,  her  soil  has  been  invaded,  and  **• 
the  rights  of  her  citizens  have  been  gross 
ly  infringed  by  the  so-called  Southern 
Confederate  forces.  This  has  been  done 
without  cause,  therefore, 

"  Be  it  resolved  by  the  General  As 
sembly,  of  the  commonwealth  of  Ken 
tucky,  that  the  Governor  be  requested  to 
call  out  the  military  force  of  the  State  to 
expel  and  drive  out  the  invaders. 

"Resolved,  That  the  United  States  be 
invoked  to  give  that  aid  and  assistance, 
that  protection  against  invasion,  which  is 


THE  WAK  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


granted  to  each  one  of  the  States  by  the 
fourth  section  of  the  fourth  article  of  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States. 

"Resolved,  That  General  Robert  An 
derson  be,  and  he  is  hereby  requested, 
to  enter  immediately  upon  the  discharge 
of  his  duties  in  this  military  district. 

"  Resolved,  That  we  appeal  to  the 
people  of  Kentucky,  by  the  ties  of  patri 
otism  and  honor,  by  the  ties  of  common 
interest  and  common  defence,  by  the  re 
membrances  of  the  past  and  by  the  hopes 
of  the  future  national  existence,  to  assist 
in  repelling  and  driving  out  the  wanton 
violators  of  our  peace  and  neutrality,  the 
lawless  invaders  of  our  soil." 

The  loyalty  of  the  Legislature  of  Ken 
tucky  was  emphatically  expressed  by  the 
vote  on  these  resolutions,  W7hich  were 
passed  in  the  House  by  the  majority  of 
seventy-one  to  twenty-six,  and  in  the  Sen 
ate  of  twenty-six  to  eight.  This  loyalty 
was  still  further  manifested  by  the  action 
of  the  Legislature,  which  rejected  an  at 
tempt  to  include  the  Federal  troops  at 
Paducah  in  the  same  category  with  the 
Confederate  force,  and  passed  the  orig 
inal  resolutions  in  spite  of  a  veto  of  the 
Governor.  Magoffin  was  now  reluctantly 
compelled  to  issue  a  proclamation  thus 
mildly  drawn  : 

"  In  obedience  to  the  subjoined  resolu 
tion,  adopted  by  the  General  Assembly  of 
the  commonwealth  of  Kentucky,  the  Gov 
ernment  of  the  Confederate  States,  the 
State  of  Tennessee,  and  all  others  concern 
ed,  are  hereby  informed  that  '  Kentucky 
expects  the  Confederate  or  Tennessee 
troops  to  be  withdrawn  from  her  soil  un- 
conditionallv ' 


"  In  testimony  whereof,  I  have  here 
unto  set  my  name,  and  caused  the  seal 
of  the  commonwealth  to  be  affixed. 
Done  at  Frankfort  this  the  13th  day  of 
September,  A.D.  1861,  and  in  the  seven 
tieth  year  of  the  commonwealth. 

"  B.  MAGOFFIN." 

"  Resolved  by  the  General  Assembly  oj 
the  commonwealth  of  Kentucky,  That  his 
Excellency  Governor  Magoffin  be,  and  he 
is  hereby  instructed,  to  inform  those  con 
cerned,  that  Kentucky  expects  the  Con 
federate  or  Tennessee  troops  to  be  with 
drawn  from  her  soil  unconditionally." 

The  Legislature  of  Kentucky  contin 
ued  to  give  proof  of  its  devotion  to  the 
cause  of  the  Union.  The  chairman  of  the 
committee  on  foreign  relations,  in  his  re 
port,  declared  that  the  tax  law  passed 
by  Congress  was  within  its  constitutional 
powers,  and  should  be  obeyed  by  Ken 
tucky.  His  report,  which  was  adopted  in 
the  House  by  the  majority  of  seventy-two 
to  thirty,  concluded  with  this  emphatic 
expression  of  aversion  to  the  insurgents 
and  loyalty  to  the  United  States  : 

"  The  effort  now  being  made  to  over 
throw  the  Government  is  unspeakably 
wicked.  Kentucky  abhors  that  effort. 
She  will  not  weigh  money  in  the  scales 
against  a  government  which  has  been  her 
boast  and  her  pride,  and  which  she  re 
gards  as  the  vpry  palladium  of  the  liber 
ties  of  the  people." 

A  further  defiance  of  the  authority  of 
Kentucky  and  of  the  Union  sentiment  of 
its  people  came  from  General  Zollicoffer, 
the  Confederate  general  commanding  in 
Tennessee.  He  occupied  the  mountain 
oasses  at  Cumberland  known  as  the 


LOYALTY  OF  THE  KENTUCKY  LEGISLATURE. 


491 


"  Gap,"  and  the  three  long  mountains  in 
Kentucky,  justifying  himself  thus  in  a 
letter  to  Governor  Magoffin  : 

"  For  weeks  I  have  known,"  he  wrote, 
"  that  the  Federal  commander  at  Hoskins' 
Cross  Roads  was  threatening  the  invasion 
of  East  Tennessee,  and  ruthlessly  urging 
our  own  people  to  destroy  their  own  road 
bridge.  I  postponed  this  precautionary 
measure  until  the  despotic  Government 
at  Washington,  refusing  to  recognize  the 
neutrality  of  Kentucky,  has  established 
formidable  camps  in  the  centi'e  and  other 
parts  of  the  State,  with  the  view,  first  to 
subjugate  our  gallant  sister,  then  our 
selves.  Tennessee  feels,  and  has  ever 
felt,  toward  Kentucky  as  a  twin  sister  ; 
their  people  are  as  one  people,  in  kin 
dred,  sympathy,  valor,  and  patriotism  ; 
we  have  felt,  and  still  feel,  a  religious  re 
spect  for  Kentucky's  neutrality  ;  we  will 
respect  it  as  long  as  our  safety  will 
permit.  If  the  Federal  forces  will  now 
withdraw  from  their  menacing  position, 
the  forces  under  my  command  shall  be 
immediately  withdrawn." 

The  loyal  Legislature  of  Kentucky  re 
turned  to  the  charge  against  its  invaders 
with  these  stringent  resolutions  : 

"  Whereas  Kentucky  has  been  invaded 
by  the  so-called  Confederate  States,  and 
their  commanders  so  invading  the  State 

O 

have  insolently  prescribed  the  conditions 
upon  which  they  will  withdraw,  thus 
insulting  the  dignity  of  the  State  by  de 
manding  terms  to  which  Kentucky  can 
not  listen  without  dishonor  ;  therefore 

"  Be  it  resolved,  That  the  invaders  must 
be  expelled,  inasmuch  as  there  are  Fed 
eral  troops  assembled  in  Kentucky  for 


the  purpose  of  preserving  the  tranquillity 
of  the  State  and  defending  the  people  of 
Kentucky  in  the  peaceful  enjoyment  of 
their  lives  and  property  ;  it  is  further 

"Resolved,  That  General  Robert  An 
derson,  a  native  of  Kentucky,  who  has 
been  appointed  to  the  command  of  the 
department  of  Cumberland,  be  requested 
to  take  instant  command,  with  authority 
and  power  from  the  commonwealth  to 
call  out  a  volunteer  force  in  Kentucky 
for  the  purpose  of  repelling  the  invaders 
from  our  soil. 

"Resolved,  That  in  using  the  means 
which  duty  and  honor  require  shall  be 
used  to  expel  the  invader  from  the  soil 
of  Kentucky,  no  citizen  shall  be  molested 
on  account  of  his  political  opinions ;  that 
no  citizen's  property  shall  be  taken  or 
confiscated  because  of  such  opinions,  nor 
shall  any  slave  be  set  free  by  any  military 
commander ;  and  that  all  peaceable  citi 
zens  and  their  families  are  entitled  to  and 
shall  receive  the  fullest  protection  of  the 
Government  in  the  enjoyment  of  their 
lives,  their  liberties,  and  their  property. 

"  Resolved,  That  his  Excellency  the 
Governor  of  the  commonwealth  of  Ken 
tucky  be  requested  to  give  all  the  aid  in 
his  power  to  accomplish  the  end  of  these 
resolutions,  and  that  he  call  out  so  much 
of  the  military  force  of  the  State  under 
his  command  as  may  be  necessary  there 
for,  and  that  he  place  the  same  under 
the  command  of  General  Thomas  L. 
Crittenden. 

"  Resolved,  That  the  patriotism  of  every 
Kentuckian  is  invoked,  and  is  confidently 
relied  upon,  to  give  active  aid  in  the  de- 
.  fence  of  the  commonwealth."' 


492 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


Sent 


These  patriotic  resolutions,  though 
passed  in  the  Senate  by  the  significant 
majority  of  twenty  -five  to  nine,  were  ve 
toed  by  the  Governor.  The  House,  how 
ever,  in  spite  of  the  veto,  took  them  up 
and  triumphantly  passed  them  by  a  ma 
jority  of  sixty-eight  to  twenty-two. 

Kentucky  had  thus  deliberately  as  a 
State  taken  its  stand  for  the  Union. 
Its  people,  however,  were  greatly 
divided  in  sentiment,  and  it  soon  became 
evident  that  by  a  horrid  fraticidal  war 
their  State  was  destined  to  illustrate  once 
more  the  tragic  meaning  of  its  Indian 
name,  the  "  Dark  and  Bloody  Ground." 

Those  Kentuckians  opposed  to  the  ac 
tion  of  the  Legislature  at  once  mustered 
in  arms  to  resist  it  arid  make  common 
cause  with  the  Confederate  States. 
Buckner,  the  former  inspector-general, 
and  a  native  of  Kentucky,  commissioned 
a  brigadier-general  of  the  Confederate 
army,  took  possession  of  Bowling  Green 
and  openly  defied  the  constituted  author- 
Sept.  ^es  °^  ^s  State.  Issuing  a  procla- 
18>  mation  to  his  fellow-citizens,  he 
denounced  the  Legislature  as  "faithless 
to  the  will  of  the  people."  "  They  have 
endeavoured,"  he  declared,  "  to  make 
your  gallant  State  a  fortress  in  which, 
under  the  guise  of  neutrality,  the  armed 
forces  of  the  United  States  might  se 
cretly  prepare  to  subjugate  alike  the 
people  of  Kentucky  and  the  Southern 
States. 

"  It  was  not  until  after  months  of 
covert  and  open  violation  of  your  neu 
trality,  with  large  encampments  of  Fede 
ral  troops  on  your  territory,  and  a  recent 
official  declaration  of  the  President  of 


the  United  States  not  to  regard  your 
neutral  position,  coupled  with  a  well-pre 
pared  scheme  to  seize  an  additional  point 
in  your  territory,  which  was  of  vital  im 
portance  to  the  safety  and  defence  of 
Tennessee,  that  the  troops  of  the  South 
ern  Confederacy,  on  the  invitation  of  the 
people  of  Kentucky,  occupied  a  defensive 
position  in  your  State.  In  doing  so,  the 
commander  announced  his  purpose  to 
evacuate  your  territory  simultaneously 
with  a  similar  movement  on  the  part  of 
the  Federal  forces,  whenever  the  Legis 
lature  of  Kentucky  shall  undertake  to 
enforce  against  the  belligerents  the  strict 
neutrality  which  they  have  so  often  de 
clared.  I  return  among  you,  citizens  of 
Kentucky,  at  the  head  of  a  force  the 
advance  of  which  is  composed  entirely 
of  Kentuckians.  We  do  not  come  to 
molest  any  citizen,  whatever  may  be  his 
political  opinions.  Unlike  the  agents 
of  the  Northern  despotism,  who  seek  to 
reduce  us  to  the  condition  of  dependent 
vassals,  we  believe  that  the  recognition 
of  the  civil  rights  of  citizens  is  the  foun 
dation  of  constitutional  liberty,  and  that 
the  claim  of  the  President  of  the  United 
States  to  declare  martial  law,  to  suspend 
the  privilege  of  the  writ  of  habeas  cor 
pus,  and  to  convert  every  barrack  and 
prison  in  the  land  into  a  bastile,  is  noth 
ing  but  the  claim  which  other  tyrants 
have  assumed  to  subjugate  a  free  peo 
ple.  The  Confederate  States  occupjl 
Bowling  Green  as  a  defensive  position." 

After  this  severe  tirade  against  the 
United  States,  to  which  Kentucky  had 
solemnly  renewed  its  pledge  of  fidelity 
and  zealous  defence  of  the  illegal  inva- 


ANDERSON  IN  KENTUCKY. 


493 


sion  of  the  State  by  the  Confederates, 
this  insurrectionary  general,  while  bear- 
in  <>•  the  commission  of  the  enemy,  still 
affected  a  regard  for  the  neutrality  of 
Kentucky.  "I  renew,"  he  said,  "the 
pledges  of  commanders  of  other  columns 
of  Confederate  troops  to  retire  from  the 
territory  of  Kentucky,  on  the  same  con 
ditions  which  will  govern  their  move 
ments.  I  further  give  you,"  he  added, 
"  my  own  assurance,  that  the  force 
under  my  command  will  be  used  as  an 
aid  to  the  Government  of  Kentucky  in 
carrying  out  the  strict  neutrality  de 
sired  by  its  people,  whenever  they  un 
dertake  to  enforce  it  against  the  two 
belligerents  alike." 

The  Federal  commander  in  Kentucky, 
General  Anderson,  of  Sumter  fame,  met 
this  plausible  manifesto  of  the  disloyal 
Buckner  with  a  counter-proclamation. 
"  Called,"  he  declared,  "  by  the  Legisla 
ture  of  this,  my  native  State,  I  hereby 
assume  command  of  this  department.  I 
come  to  enforce,  not  to  make  laws,  and, 
God  willing,  to  protect  your  property  and 
lives.  The  enemies  of  the  country  have 
dared  to  invade  our  soil.  Kentucky  is 
in  danger.  She  has  vainly  striven  to 
keep  peace  with  her  neighbors.  Our 
State  is  now  invaded  by  those  who  pro 
fessed  to  be  her  friends,  but  who  now  seek 
to  conquer  her.  No  true  son  of  Kentucky 
can  longer  hesitate  as  to  his  duty  to  his 
State  and  country.  The  invaders  must, 
and,  God  willing,  will  be  expelled.  The 
leader  of  the  hostile  forces  who  now  ap 
proaches  is,  I  regret  to  say,  a  Kentuck- 
ian,  making  war  on  Kentucky  and  Ken- 
tuckians.  Let  all  x>ast  differences  of 


opinion  be  overlooked.  Every  one  who 
now  rallies  to  the  support  of  our  Union 
and  our  State  is  a  friend.  Rally,  then, 
my  countrymen,  around  the  flag  our 
fathers  loved,  and  which  has  shielded  us 
so  long.  I  call  you  to  arms  for  self-de 
fence  and  for  the  protection  of  all  that  is 
dear  to  freemen.  Let  us  trust  in  God, 
and  do  our  duty  as  did  our  fathers." 

Great  preparations  were  now  made 
for  the  coming  conflict,  which  it  was  evi 
dent  was  about  to  assume  in  Kentucky, 
from  its  position  as  a  border  State,  and 
the  divided  sentiment  of  its  people,  the 
character  of  a  severe  and  protracted  civil 
struggle.  Troops  poured  in  from  the 
Northern  free  States  of  Illinois,  Indiana, 
and  Ohio,  and  combining  with  the  loyal 
men  of  Kentucky,  soon  formed  a  for 
midable  Federal  force  prepared  to  sus 
tain  the  cause  of  the  Union.  Their  gene 
ral,  Anderson,  being  a  Kentuckian  by 
birth,  having  proved  his  fidelity  to  the 
Union  in  his  gallant  defence  of  Fort 
Sumter,  and  expressed  his  patriotism  so 
emphatically  in  his  spirited  proclamation, 
was  thought  to  be  especially  the  man  for 
the  occasion.  Great  hopes  were  enter 
tained  of  his  successful  leadership,  when 
they  were  suddenly  extinguished  by  his 
resignation  on  the  score  of  ill  health. 
General  Sherman  was  appointed  to  suc 
ceed  him,  but  he,  also,  depressed  by  dis 
ease  or  overwhelmed  by  the  responsi 
bilities  of  his  position,  was  found  to  be 
wanting.  This  was  revealed  by  that 
notable  detective  visit  of  the  Secretary 
of  War  to  the  West,  and  on  the  publica 
tion  of  that  remarkable  diary  of  Adju 
tant-General  Thomas,  in  which  General 


494 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


Sherman  is  reputed  to  have  confidentially 
declared  that  all  the  younc:  men  of  Ken- 

\J  C2 

tucky  were  secessionists,  that  the  old 
ones  who  were  loyal  were  indisposed  to 
take  up  arms  against  them,  and  that  it 
would  require  two  hundred  thousand 
men  from  the  other  States  to  keep  Ken 
tucky  within  the  Union.  After  such  a 
confession  on  the  part  of  General  Sher 
man  he  was  removed,  and  General  Buell 
appointed  his  successor  in  the  command 
of  the  Department  of  Kentucky.  It  was 
hoped  that  now  the  great  State  of  Ken 
tucky,  however  beset  by  the  machina 
tions  and  assaults  of  the  enemy,  would 
finally  be  saved  to  the  Union.  Zealous 
patriots  everywhere  hoped  for  this  re 
sult,  though  many  judicious  observers 
failed  not  to  see  that  it  would  not  be 
without  a  desperate  struggle. 

In  the  mean  time,  the  men  loyal  to  the 
Union  and  the  partisans  of  the  Confed 
erate  States  were  daily  manifesting  more 
openly  their  mutual  hostility.  Some  of 
the  more  notable  men  of  the  State  did 
not  hesitate  to  array  themselves  on  the 
side  of  the  enemy.  Ex-Governor  More- 
head  was  arrested  in  Louisville,  charged 
with  treason,  and  Senator  Breckenridge, 
formerly  the  Vice-President  of  the  United 
Sept.  States,  fled  from  Frankfort  to  avoid 
81«  the  same  fate,  and  joined  the  Con 
federate  army. 

John  C.  Breckenridge  was  born  near 
Lexington,  Kentucky,  on  the  21st  of 
January,  1821.  He  is  the  grandson  of 
John  Breckenridge,  who  was  attorney- 
general  under  Jefferson,  and  a  United 
States  senator  from  Kentucky  in  1801. 
His  uncle  is  the  famous  Presbyterian  di 


vine,  John  Breckenridge,  D.D.,  a  man 
remarkable  for  his  controversial  skill, 
and  who,  although  a  strenuous  opponent 
of  the  abolition  propagandists,  has,  dur 
ing  the  present  civil  conflict,  manfully 
sustained  the  cause  of  the  Union.  His 
nephew,  after  a  collegiate  and  legal  edu 
cation,  removed  to  Iowa  to  practice  law  ; 
but  soon  returned  to  his  native  State, 
where,  after  marrying  a  Miss  Birch,  of 
Georgetown,  he  established  himself  as  a 
lawyer  in  Lexington,  and  acquired  an  em 
inent  position  in  his  profession. 

On  the  breaking  out  of  the  war  with 
Mexico,  Breckenridge  was  chosen  a  ma 
jor  of  Kentucky  volunteers,  but  had  lit 
tle  opportunity  of  seeing  active  service, 
though  his  legal  ability  was  called  into 
requisition  as  a  defender  of  General  Pil 
low  ir.  the  course  of  the  numerous  court- 
martials  to  which  that  litigious  officer 
became  a  party,  in  consequence  of  dis 
putes  with  his  superiors  and  subordin 
ates.  After  the  war,  Mr.  Breckenridge 
was  elected  a  member  of  Congress  from 
Kentucky,  and  displayed  remarkable 
aptitude  as  a  debater.  In  1851  he  was 
again  elected,  after  a  severe  electioneer 
ing  contest  with  General  Leslie  Coombs. 
At  the  next  election,  his  perseverance 
and  tact  as  a  candidate  for  popular  suf 
frage  were  still  more  tried,  but  with  the 
same  success,  resulting  in  a  triumph  over 
his  competitor,  Governor  Robert  Letcher, 
after  a  violent  struggle. 

On  the  accession  of  President  Pierce, 
Mr.  Breckenridge  was  offered  the  ap 
pointment  of  minister  to  Spain,  which  he 
declined,  and  Mr.  Pierre  Soule,  of  Louis 
iana,  was  chosen.  In  1856  he  was  elect- 


LIFE  OF  ItOSECRANS. 


495 


ed  Vice-President  of  the  United  States, 
the  youngest  man  who  had  ever  been 
chosen,  and  entered  upon  his  office  on  the 
4th  of  March,  1857.  As  president  of 
the  Senate  he  gave  general  satisfaction 
by  the  impartiality  and  dignity  with 
which  he  ruled  over  that  august  body. 
During  the  last  year  of  his  Vice-Presi 
dency  he  was  nominated,  by  the  South 
ern  faction  of  the  Democratic  party,  a 
candidate  for  the  Presidency.  On  the 
inauguration  of  Lincoln,  Breckenridge 
returned  to  Kentucky  and  was  elected 
senator  of  the  United  States.  After  serv 
ing  during  the  extra  session  of  Congress, 
called  by  President  Lincoln,  when  he  evi 
dently  strove,  by  factious  opposition,  to 
embarrass  the  Federal  Government  in  the 


conduct  of  the  war,  he,  while  still  a  sen 
ator,  openly  defied  the  national  author 
ity  by  joining  the  ranks  of  its  enemies. 

"  Breckenridge  is  an  active  and  shrewd 
politician,  a  vigorous  and  plausible  de 
bater,  and  a  showy  rhetorician.  His 
eulogy  on  Henry  Clay,  to  whom  he  was 
politically  opposed,  was  much  admired 
for  its  brilliancy  of  expression  and  im 
partiality  of  spirit.  Mr.  Breckenridge, 
though  he  has  had  no  great  opportunity 
as  yet  of  exhibiting  his  daring  on  the 
battle-field,  showed  himself  ready  to  meet 
an  opponent  in  deadly  encounter,  by 
challenging  a  fellow-member  of  Congress 
to  the  duello.  The  fight  did  not  take 
place,  owing  to  the  discretion  of  his 
antagonist." 


CHAPTER    XLVI. 

Western  Virginia. — General  Rosecrans  successor  to  General  McClellan. — Life  and  Character  of  Rosecrans. — Military 
Career.- — Service  at  West  Point. — Resigns  and  turns  Manufacturer. — Offers  his  services  for  the  War. — Accepted  and 
appointed  to  a  Command. — -At  Carnifex  Ferry. — The  Enemy  on  the  Gauley  River. — General  Floyd. — His  Life  and 
Character. — His  official  career. — Abuse  of  trust. — General  calamity. — Advance  of  the  Unionists. — Strength  of  their 
Force. — The  March. — Its  difficulties  and  trials. — A  terra  incoijnita. — Scaling  the  mountains. — Muddlety  Bottoms. — • 
Sight  of  the  Enemy. — Close  at  their  heels. —  A  deserted  Camp. — Cautious  Advance. — Scattering  of  the  Enemy's 
Skirmishers. — Exact  intelligence  at  last. — The  Battle  of  Carnifex  Ferry. — A  long  struggle.  —  Rosecrans'  official 
Report. — Comparative  Strength  and  Losses  on  both  sides.- — Retreat  of  the  Enemy  across  the  river. — Enemy's  account. 
— Strength  of  the  Position  abandoned  by  the  Enemy. — Description  of  their  Intrenchments  on  the  Gauley  River. — 
Cheat  Mountain  Pass. — Its  strength. — Description  of  the  Federal  Position  there. —  General  Lee  determines  to  try  an 
Assault. — Repulsed  by  General  Reynolds. — Reynolds'  official  Report. 


ON  the  appointment  of  General  Mc- 
Clellan  to  the  command  of  the  Fed- 
*  eral  forces  on  the  Potomac,  Gene 
ral  Rosecrans   became  his    successor  in 
July  Western  Virginia.  William  S.  Rose- 
*%•    crans,  if  not  born,  spent  his  child 
hood  and  youth  in  the  State  of  Ohio.     He 


entered  the  military  academy  at  West 
Point  in  1838,  and  after  the  usual  four 
years'  study,  graduated  with  distinction 
in  July,  1842.  In  accordance  with  his 
merit,  he  was  admitted  at  once  to  the 
rank  of  second  lieutenant  of  that  corps 
d'elite,  the  Engineers.  He  was  soon 


496 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


after  appointed,  one  of  the  teachers  in 
the  academy  at  West  Point,  where  he 
had  passed  so  creditable  a  career  as  a 
student.  For  four  years  he  continued 
in  this  position,  having  been  successive 
ly  Assistant  Professor  of  Engineering 
from  September,  1843,  to  August,  1844  ; 
Assistant  Professor  of  Natural  and  Ex 
perimental  Philosophy  from  August, 
1844,  to  August,  1845,  and  again  of  Engi 
neering  for  the  two  years  from  the  latter 
date  to  August,  1847.  In  March,  1853, 
he  received  the  commission  of  first  lieu 
tenant,  but  averse  to  the  comparative  in 
activity  to  which  a  soldier's  life  was  doom 
ed  in  those  piping  times  of  peace,  he 
sought  in  civil  occupation  a  more  stirring- 
sphere  for  his  active  energies.  He  be 
came  a  manufacturer  of  oil  in  the  West, 
and  was  thus  engaged  when  the  civil  war 
broke  out.  He  now  offered  his  services  to 
the  Government,  which  gladly  accepted 
them,  and  appointed  him  to  an  important 
command  under  General  McClellan,  in 
Western  Virginia.  His  good  and  effective 
conduct  as  a  subordinate  has  been  al 
ready  recorded.  His  services  as  a  com 
manding  general  in  that  department, 
where  the  Federal  arms  hitherto  had 
been  illustrated  by  the  wisest  manage 
ment  and  greatest  success,  now  claim 
notice. 

The  enemy,  supposed  to  be  five  or  six 
thousand  strong,  were  intrenched  at 
Carnifex  Ferry,  on  the  right  bank  of 
the  Gauley  River,  a  tributary  stream  of 
the  Great  Kanawha,  situated  in  Western 
Virginia  about  seven  or  eight  miles  south 
of  Summerville.  The  commander-in- 
chief  of  the  secession  force  was  General 


John  B.  Floyd,  secretary  of  war  of  the 
United  States  under  Buchanan. 

John  Buchanan  Floyd  wa^  born  in 
Montgomery,  Pulaski  County,  Virginia, 
in  1805.  Educated  at  the  University  of 
South  Carolina  in  Columbia,  subsequent 
ly  studying  law,  and  admitted  to  the  bar 
in  1828,  he  removed  in  1836  to  Arkan 
sas,  where  he  practised  his  profession  for 
several  years.  He  aftenvards  returned 
to  Virginia,  and  lived  in  Washington 
County  of  that  State.  In  1847  he  was 
elected  a  member  of  the  lower  house  of 
the  Virginia  Legislature,  and  was  re- 
chosen  in  1849.  In  December  of  that 
year  he  was  elected,  by  the  General  As 
sembly,  Governor  of  Virginia.  After  the 
expiration  of  his  term  of  office  in  Janu 
ary,  1853,  he  remained  for  a  time  in  pri 
vate  life,  but  was  again  elected  to  the 
Legislature  in  1855.  In  1856,  having 
been  chosen  a  Presidential  elector,  he 
cast  his  vote  for  Buchanan,  for  whose 
nomination  he  had  been  a  strenuous  ad 
vocate  in  the  Democratic  convention  at 
Cincinnati,  and  whose  election  he  fur 
thered  by  every  possible  effort.  Buchan 
an,  on  his  accession  to  the  Presidency, 
rewarded  his  faithful  adherent  by  ap 
pointing  Floyd  secretary  of  war.  llis 
administration  of  this  office  was  directed, 
as  is  now  evident,  to  the  single  purpose 
of  weakening  the  Federal  Government 
and  strengthening  its  enemies.  His  con 
trol  of  the  war  department  gave  him 
the  opportunity,  of  which  he  freely 
availed  himself,  of  preparing  the  seces 
sionists,  by  an  artful  distribution  in  tluir 
favor  of  the  munitions  of  war,  for  the 
armed  assault  upon  the  Union,  whu;h  he, 


LIFE  OF  FLOYD. 


497 


doubtless,  as  one  of  the  main  conspira 
tors  against  the  Government,  had  long- 
contemplated.  Toward  the  close  of  Bu 
chanan's  administration,  when  the  seces 
sion  plot  was  fully  ripe  for  execution, 
Floyd  resigned  the  secretaryship  of  war, 
and  openly  joining  the  insurgents  was 
appointed  by  them  one  of  their  brigadier- 
generals.  No  public  official  in  the  Unit 
ed  States  ever  incurred  greater  contume 
ly  for  abuse  of  trust.  His  name  is  never 
uttered  without  a  prefix  to  it,  branding 
him  as  the  vilest  criminal,  and  charges 
are  made  not  only  imputing  to  him  ad 
ministrative  perversion  in  the  interests 
of  secession,  but  private  peculation  for 
personal  advantage  Such  is  the  history 
of  the  General  Floyd  in  command  of  the 
Confederate  troops  at  Carnifex  Ferry, 
whom  General  Rosecrans  had  resolved 
upon  advancing  to  meet  and  drive  from 
their  stronghold  in  Western  Virginia. 

o  o 

The  Federal  force  numbered  only 
4,500  men,  but  though  thus  inferior  in 
strength  to  the  enemy,  who,  moreover, 
had  the  advantage  of  a  strongly  intrench 
ed  position,  the  resolute  Rosecrans  de 
termined  to  advance  against  them.  A 
long  march  over  a  wild  and  mountainous 
country,  of  which  little  was  known  or 
could  bo  learned,  lay  before  him.  He, 
however,  led  his  column  steadily  on  day 
and  night,  crossing  mountains  and  wad 
ing  through  the  same  tortuous  streams 
auain  and  again.  After  passing  over 
Kreitz's  Mountain,  a  spur  of  the  Alle- 
ghany  range,  the  weary  soldiers  sought 
a  camping  place  at  the  base,  but  such 
were  the  inclination  and  irregularity  of 
the  ground,  that  there  was  not  a  spot 

63 


where  man  or  beast  could  find  rest  or 
safety  in  sleep.  On  pushing  into  the 
valley,  the  main  body  was  at  last  enabled 
to  bivouac,  while  the  scouts  were  scour 
ing  the  neighboring  mountains  and  gorges 
for  the  enemy,  whose  mounted  skirmish 
ers  began  now  to  show  themselves. 

The  country,  as  the  column  advanced, 
became  more  and  more  difficult  and  dan 
gerous  to  penetrate.  It  was  "  seamed 
with  by-roads,  blind  paths,  and  mountain 
passes.  It  was  also  infested  with  bush-- 
wackers,  and,  in  order,'"'  says  a  campaign 
er,  "  to  stop  up  all  avenues  by  which  it 
could  be  possible  for  the  enemy  to  strike 
our  lines  in  the  rear  or  centre,  the  Gene 
ral  and  his  engineering  corps  found  it 
necessary  to  make  minute  reconnois- 
sances." 

Finally,  Powell  Mountain,  the  loftiest 
summit  in  Western  Virginia,  was  scaled, 
and  traces  of  the  enemy  became  more 
.distinct.-  Upon  the  highest  ridge  the 
remains  of  a  deserted  camp  were  discov 
ered,  showing  that  a  considerable  body 
of  men  had  been  there,  and  the  informa 
tion  was  extorted  from  some  women,  at 
a  house  on  the  roadside,  that  the  enemy 
in  large  force  were  intrenched  on  the 
Gauley  River.  Persons  occasionally  met 
were  generally  either  indisposed  to  give 
information  or  too  ignorant  to  convey  it 
intelligibly,  and  the  General  and  his  offi 
cers  were  greatly  perplexed  in  the  wild 
country. 

The  advance  guard,  however,  moved 
cautiously  forward  into  "  Muddlety  Bot 
toms,"  scattering  before  them  several 
hundred  of  the  enemy,  who  disappeared 
as  they  caught  sight  of  our  troops.  The 


408 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


main  body  followed  the  advance,  and  en 
camping  for  the  night  in  the  meadows, 
in  the  expectation  of  an  early  march  to 
battle  on  the  morrow,  slept  upon  their 
arms. 

The  advance  guard  was  again  in  mo- 


Sept. 


tion  at  four  o'clock  next  morning, 


1<J>  and  was  soon  followed  by  the  whole 
column.  On  approaching  Summerville, 
after  a  march  of  eight  miles,  a  troop  of 
the  enemy's  cavalry  was  seen  scamper 
ing  out  of  the  village,  and  it  was  learned 
that  a  Virginia  regiment  had  retreated 
to  the  camp  at  Gauley  river,  only  six 
hours  before.  The  march  was  now  con 
tinued  with  the  greatest  caution,  as  our 
troops  were  nearing  the  enemy's  posi 
tion,  and  there  was  danger  of  masked 
batteries  and  ambuscades.  Skirmishers 
were  pushed  forward  on  either  flank  of 
the  column,  and  scouts  were  sent  for 
ward  to  scour  the  woods  and  thickets. 
After  passing  some  six  miles  beyond 
Summerville,  a  small  force  of  dragoons 
and  infantry  was  dispatched  through  the 
woods  to  the  bank  of  the  Gauley  River 
in  order  to  destroy  a  ferry-boat.  As 
they  approached,  however,  they  were 
met  by  a  fire  from  the  opposite  side  of 
the  river.  A  small  detachment  was  sent 
to  the  succor  of  our  men,  which  succeed 
ed  in  scattering  the  enemy's  skirmishers, 
who  had  hid  themselves  among  the 

O 

rocks. 

"From  thence,"  says  the  campaigner* 
already  quoted,  "not  a  bridle-path,  ra 
vine,  nor  neighboring  cliff  was  passed 
without  a  thorough  examination  in  ad 
vance.  At  about  one  o'clock  the  column 


New  York  Daily  Times. 


halted  at  the  forks  of  the  road,  one  branch 
leading  to  Cross  Lanes  and  Gauley  Bridge, 
the  other  to  Lewisburgh,  via  Carnifex 
Ferry.  An  hour  before  halting  here, 
the  Commander-in-chief  had  no  know 
ledge  of  the  geographical  position  of 
Floyd,  but  an  intelligent  mountaineer 
lad,  who  had  been  in  the  rebel  camp, 
opportunely  made  his  appearance  to  en 
lighten  him.  Most  of  us  had  labored 
under  an  erroneous  supposition  that  the 
enemy  was  fortified  below  Cross  Lanes, 
and  it  was  confirmed  by  ignorant  or 
treacherous  inhabitants,  but  the  lad  re 
lieved  us  from  our  anxious  embarrass 
ment.  From  him  we  learned  that  Floyd 
was  on  the  cliffs  overlooking  Carnifex 
Ferry,  and  that  a  mile  farther  up  the 
road  approaching  him  there  was  another 
fork  leading  among  the  hills  to  Cross 
Lanes.  He  innocently  suggested  its  im 
portance  in  a  military  point  of  view,  and 
it  was  deemed  important  to  make  a  thor 
ough  reconnoissance  of  the  premises. 
Heavy  columns  were  immediately  de 
ployed  in  line  of  battle  on  the  rear,  and 
strong  columns  of  skirmishers  enveloped 
the  ridges  in  front,  when  General  Ben- 
ham  was  ordered  to  move  on  down  the 
road.  Nearly  two  hours  were  thus  oc 
cupied,  when  Benham  sent  back  word 
that  the  reconnoissance  was  effected  to 
the  point  desired,  and  the  track  was  clear. 
General  Rosecrans  immediately  went  to 
the  front  to  make  inquiries  as  to  sharp 
firing  heard  in  the  direction  of  the  ferry. 
It  turned  out  that  our  skirmishers  had 
driven  in  the  rebel  pickets,  and  in  the 
chase  had  disturbed  a  considerable  body 
of  the  enemy  under  Colonel  Reynolds, 


MARCH  TO  THE  GAULEY  RIVER. 


499 


who  were  encamped  on  the  hill,  not  a 
mile  and  a  half  from  the  forks  of  the 
road  where  we  had  been  halting  so  long. 
The  news  was  communicated  to  the  troops, 
who  received*  it  with  inspiriting  shouts. 
It  was  now  perfectly  obvious  to  all  that 
we  were  about  to  engage  the  enemy. 
The  men  braced  themselves  manfully  for 
it,  and  displayed  splendid  spirit.  The 
Irish  regiment,  under  Colonel  Lytle,  who 
have  the  right  of  the  column,  having  al 
ready  snuffed  the  enemy,  pressed  on  with 
fiery  zeal,  with  the  gallant  Smith  and 
his  Thirteenth  Ohio  on  their  heels.  The 
remainder  of  Benham's  brigade,  the 
Twelfth  Ohio,  under  Colonel  Lowe,  was 
halted  at  the  foot  of  the  hill  to  guard  the 
cross  road,  while  McCook  and  Scammon 
were  moving  their  columns  toward  the 
front  by  another  route  over  the  ridges. 

<{  General  Benham  now  asked  permis 
sion  to  press  upon  the  enemy  with  his 
brigade,  and  General  Kosecrans  gave  his 
consent  to  a  demonstration  for  reconnois- 
sance.  *  *  *  Intense  excitement  pre 
vailed. 

"It  was  precisely  3.45  o'clock  in  the 
afternoon  when  the  Commander-in-chief 
rode  to  the  top  of  an  adjacent  hill  to 
make  an  observation.  His  staff  were 
clustered  about  him  waiting  orders,  and 
our  artillery  was  laboring  up  the  hill, 
when  our  attention  was  attracted  by 
quick,  sharp  firing  in  the  forests,  just 
ahead  of  us.  Almost  simultaneously, 
and  before  we  could  interchange  re 
marks,  our  very  souls  were  thrilled  by 
a  terrific  and  prolonged  roar  of  musk 
etry.  Suspicion  flashed  through  our 
minds  that  the  gallant  1st  brigade  had 


fallen  into  an  ambuscade  or  masked  bat 
tery. 

"  *  *  We  were  all  in  an  agony  of 
suspense.  But  scarce  an  instant  elapsed 
when,  with  a  long  sigh  of  grateful  relief, 
we  heard  the  swift  volleys  of  our  own 
gallant  lads.  *  *  *  We  could  see 
nothing  of  the  battle,  not  even  smoke, 
but  we  knew  by  the  infernal  din  that 
our  battalions  were  swarming  about  the 

o 

enemy.  Only  the  10th  and  8th  com 
panies  of  the  Thirteenth  Regiment  had 
yet  gone  forward.  Lowe's  Twelfth  Ohio 
had  been  ordered  up  by  General  Hose- 
crans,  arid  it  now  came  charging  up  the 
road  at  double  quick,  its  brave  colonel 
at  the  head ;  and  as  the  lads  raised  the 
crest  of  the  hill  they  saluted  the  Gen 
eral,  who  was  waiting  to  direct  their 
commander,  with  a  splendid  volley  of 
cheers.  The  Twelfth  plunged  into  the 
jungle  on  the  left,  Adjutant-General 
Hartsuif  leading  Lowe  toward  his  posi 
tion.  As  the  bold  fellows  rushed  into 
the  woods,  they  flung  knapsacks  and 
blankets  desperately  into  the  field,  and 
pitched  forward  to  regain  their  places. 
Hartsuff  now  came  back,  and  by  order 
of  the  General,  sent  forward  McMul- 
len's  howitzers  and  Snyder's  two  field- 
pieces. 

"No  tidings  came  up  from  the  field. 
General  Kosecrans,  having  made  all  nec 
essary  disposition  to  protect  his  rear, 
advanced  to  the  front.  Pushing  down 
the  ferry  road,  which  was  densely  shaded 
by  masses  of  undergrowth  and  heavy 
forests,  we  still  saw  no  battle ;  but  the 
terrific  uproar,  which  seemed  almost 
within  the  cast  of  a  pebble,  and  the 


500 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


hurtling  bullets  cutting  the  twigs  over 
head,  were  proof  that  the  enemy  was 
close  at  hand.  Directly  a  gleam  of  light 
from  a  clearing  in  front,  with  a  long 
stream  of  fire  blazing  along  the  works 
of  the  enemy,  showed  where  they  were. 
The  General  took  position  near  the  bat 
tery,  but  from  that  time  until  the  last 
column  groped  out  of  the  woods  in 
thick  darkness,  he  was  in  the  midst  of 
the  combat,  directing  the  general  move 
ments  of  the  division.  Benham  was 
also  in  the  front  of  battle,  watching  his 
brigade  with  reckless  exposure  of  his 
person,  encouraging  and  emboldening 
the  men  by  his  fearlessness. 

"  Meantime  McCook's  brigade  of  Ger 
mans  had  formed  in  line  of  battle  on  the 
crest  of  Rebel  Hill,  and  Scammon's  little 
brigade  was  marching  in  to  form  behind 
him  to  protect  our  left.  I  had  returned 
from  the  front  with  an  order  to  Scam- 
mon  to  send  a  detachment  to  try  the 
enemy's  rig] it,  and  Major  R.  B.  Hayes, 
of  the  Twenty-third  Ohio,  dashed  off 
through  the  forest  with  four  companies. 

"  The  wounded  were  now  being  rap 
idly  brought  in.  It  was,  perhaps,  six 
o'clock  when  Colonel  Lowe  was  an 
nounced  among  the  killed.  The  firing 
continued  with  intensified  violence  on 
our  side,  but  it  appeared  to  slacken  on 
the  part  of  the  enemy.  But  the  din 
was  still  terrific,  showing  that  the  rebels 
intended  to  make  us  pay  for  victory. 
The  sun  was  rapidly  sinking  when  orders 
arrived  to  forward  the  Dutoh  Brigade. 

o 

It  was  my  grand  satisfaction  to  be  pres 
ent  and  witness  the  magnificent  recep 
tion  of  the  order.  Colonel  R.  L.  Mc- 


Cook,  acting  brigadier,  in  his  citizen's 
dress,  stood  in  his  stirrups,  and  snatch 
ing  his  slouched  hat  from  his  head, 
roared  out,  '  Forward,  my  bully  Dutch  ! 
We'll  go  over  their  d—  — d  intrench- 
ments  if  every  man  dies  on  the  other 
side.'  The  usually  phlegmatic  Teutons, 
inflamed  witli  passionate  excitement, 
exploded  with  terrific  cheers.  * 

"  As  the  column  deployed  into  the 
road,  Captain  Hartsnff  volunteered  to 
lead  the  column  into  position,  when  three 
thousand  Dutchmen  again  yelled  them 
selves  hoarse,  and  McCook  spurred  on 
ward  to  the  front  to  reconnoitre  his  post. 
The  brigade  was  not  permitted  to  storm, 
but  the  Nintli  Ohio,  McCook's  own  regi 
ment,  and  Colonel  Moore's  Twenty- 
eighth,  had  opportunity  to  show  their 
steadiness  under  a  galling  fire.  The 
Third  German  Regiment  was  detained 
in  the  rear,  and  did  not  get  into  action 
at  all,  but  its  Colonel,  Porschner,  went 
into  the  storm  of  bullets  to  see  how  the 
battle  raged. 

"  As  darkness  approached,  the  fire 
slackened.  The  rebels  seemed  to  be 
getting  weary,  or  out  of  ammunition, 
and  our  officers  were  endeavoring  to 
get  their  men  into  a  position  for  a  gen 
eral  assault.  But  profound  darkness 
set  in  before  arrangements  were  com 
pleted,  and  it  became  absolutely  neces 
sary  to  withdraw  our  troops.  It  was 
nine  o'clock  at  night,  however,  before 
we  retired  to  bivouac,  under  the  very 
batteries  of  the  rebels,  intending  to  carry 
them  by  storm  before  sunrise  next  morn 
ing.  But  the  enemy  did  not  wait  for  us, 
and  our  triumph  was  only  half  a  victory. 


BATTLE  OF  CARNIFEX  FERRY. 


"  We  will  now  return  to  detail  the  en 
gagement  more  minutely.  When  Gen 
eral  Henham  went  to  the  front,  an  armed 
reconnoissance  of  the  rebel  position,  not 
a  general  action,  was  intended.  We 
knew  nothing  of  the  position — not  even 
where  it  was  located,  nor  anything  of  the 
topographical  features  of  the  massively 
broken  mountains  about  it.  Besides, 
the  men  had  marched  seventeen  miles 
and  a  half,  and  many  of  them  were  Jhar- 
assed  and  wearied  with  scouting  and 
skirmishing  all  day  over  the  hills.  The 
whole  column,  in  fact,  had  been  astir 
since  three  o'clock  in  the  morning,  and 
were  obviously  unfit  for  battle.  Captain 
Hartsuff  strenuously  objected  to  a  gen 
eral  engagement,  and  earnestly  recom 
mended  that  the  army  should  go  into 
camp  and  refresh  themselves  with  food 
and  sleep — with  the  understanding  that 
an  immediate  reconnoissance  was  imper 
atively  necessary. 

"  General  Benham  pushed  onward 
with  this  understanding,  when  the  en 
emy's  inside  pickets  were  driven  in  by 
the  Irish  skirmishers.  A  few  moments 
afterward  the  rebels,  hearing  his  men  in 
the  ravine  under  their  guns,  let  drive  at 
them  their  first  infernal  volley  along 
their  whole  line  on  the  rujht.  It  is  be- 

O 

lieved  the  rebels  did  not  see  our  men  at 
all,  but  fired  at  a  venture  into  the  jungle, 
at  a  range  at  which  they  bad  manifestly 
practiced.  But  not  a  man  of  ours  wTas 
hurt,  and  Floyd's  precipitation  had  ex 
posed  his  lines.  General  Benham,  Colo 
nel  Lytle, -and  Colonel  Smith,  however, 
were  keeping  a  sharp  look-out  for  sur 
prises,  the  old  General  saving  he  would 


never  be  caught  by  a  masked  battery. 
The  way  was  now  described  by  rebel 
bullets,  and  the  Tenth  was  deployed  up 
the  hill  to  the  right,  and  the  Thirteenth 
down  the  hill  into  the  ravine  to  the  left 
—Lytle  and  Smith  each  at  the  head  of 
their  regiments.  Our  batteries  were 
still  behind,  and  Lowe's  Twelfth  Ohio 
was  some  distance  in  the  rear  coming 
up  slowly,  so  that  the  Tenth  and  Thir 
teenth  had  to  support  the  enemy's  fire 
a  long  time  without  assistance.  But 
they  did  it  gallantly,  and  continued  to 
advance  until  they  got  to  the  edge  of 
the  abattis  in  front  of  the  enemy,  where 
they  stood  near  the  verge  of  the  forest. 
In  consequence  of  the  rugged  and  im 
practicable  nature  of  the  ground,  the 
line  of  the  Tenth  was  broken,  and  the 
right  wing  was  separated  from  the 
centre.  Colonel  Lytle  could  not  see 
this  on  account  of  the  jungle,  and  Gene 
ral  Benham  was  directing  a  movement 
on  the  extreme  left,  when  Lytle  ordered 
the  colors  forward,  and  shouting,  '  Fol 
low,  Tenth  ! '  he  made  a  dash  up  the 
road,  intended  to  charge  the  battery, 
and  succeeded  in  getting  within  little 
more  than  a  hundred  yards  of  the  rebel 
parapets  before  he  was  discovered.  A 
terrific  fire  opened  upon  him,  and  his 
four  gallant  companies,  who  followed 
him  with  frantic  cheers,  suffered  severely. 
A  ball  went  through  his  left  leg  and 
wounded  his  horse,  which  became  un 
manageable  and  threw  him.  The  horse 
dashed  over  the  rebel  intrenchments  and 
was  killed,  and  the  gallant  Lytle  him 
self  was  assisted  into  a  house  not  a  hund 
red  feet  off,  and  heard  the  crash  of  can- 


502 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


non-balls  through  it  and  over  it  until 
the  battle  ended.  Color- sergeant  Fitz- 
gibbons,  who  was  behind  the  Colonel 
when  he  fell,  had  his  right  hand  shat 
tered,  but,  gathering  the  Stars  and 
Stripes  in  his  left,  he  waved  them  again 
enthusiastically,  and  was  torn  to  pieces 
by  a  round  shot.  Sergeant  O'Connor 
snatched  the  falling  colors  and  again 
held  them  aloft,  when  he  was  also  struck 
by  a  ball  in  his  left  hand  ;  but  he 
dropped  behind  a  log  and  kept  the  colors 
flying  until  exhaustion  compelled  him  to 
drop  them.  His  captain,  Stephen  Mc- 
Groarty,  as  gallant  a  fellow  as  ever  wore 
sword,  snatched  them  up  a^ain,  and 
while  rolling  them  up,  ordered  his  men 
to  retire  to  cover,  and  in  bringing  up  the 
rear  a  ball  struck  him  in  the  right  breast, 
ind  went  through  him  without  disabling 

o  O 

him,  until  after  he  got  out  of  the  field 
with  his  flag.  Every  man  of  his  com 
pany  stuck  to  him  with  unswerving 
fidelity.  *  *  *  * 

"  The  Twelfth  Ohio  had  found  their 
route  impracticable,  and  their  brave 
colonel  carried  them  over  a  rugged 
route  squarely  into  the  front  of  the 
battle,  and  gave  them  an  opportunity  to 
do  their  share  of  duty.  Colonel  Lowe 
was  encouraging  and  directing  them  in 
front,  when  he  was  struck  by  a  shot 
fairly  in  the  centre  of  his  forehead,  and 
he  fell  without  a  groan.  A  moment 
afterward  a  charge  of  grape  mangled 
both  his  legs.  *  *  *  * 

"Snyder's  two  rifled  six-pounders 
and  McMullen's  batteries  were  planted 
in  the  road  about  two  hundred  yards  in 
front  of  the  rebel  main  batterv,  and  were 


served  rapidly  and  with  considerable 
effect.  Subsequently,  part  of  each  was 
removed  to  the  right.  * 

"At  dusk,  McCook's  brigade  was  or 
dered  into  position.  The  Ninth  was 
carried  around  to  the  left  of  the  rebel 
battery  by  Captain  Hartsuff,  to  make  a 
rush  upon  it  under  a  flanking  battery, 
which  had  been  discovered  in  the  woods, 
on  their  extreme  left,  but  which  had 
not  been  served  during  the  engagement. 
The  bold  fellows,  under  their  colonel, 
pushed  forward  under  a  galling  storm  of 
musketry,  and  were  about  to  dash  head 
long  at  the  enemy  under  cover  of  dark 
ness,  when  they  were  ordered  back,  after 
suffering  a  loss  of  one  killed  and  ten 
wounded.  The  four  companies  under 
Major  Hayes,  after  infinite  difficulty  scal 
ing  precipices  and  forcing  their  way 
through  dense  thickets  of  laurel  and 
blackberry  bushes,  had  been  halted  in 
a  ravine  in  front  of  the  centre  of  the 
rebels'  right  wing,  and  they  were  after 
ward  supported  by  the  Twenty-eighth, 
under  Colonel  Moor.  The  former  met 
with  no  casualties,  though  under  fire. 
The  latter  pushed  across  the  ravine,  and 
extended  the  line  up  a  precipitous  hii-l, 
until  the  whole  of  the  main  front  of  the 
enemy  wras  enveloped  by  our  lines.  He 
lost  two  killed  and  thirty-one  wounded. 

"It  was  now  pitchy  dark.  It  was  im 
possible  to  distinguish  an  object  a  yard 
from  your  eyes,  and  it  was  so  obviously 
unwise  to  storm  the  works  in  such  dense 
obscurity,  that  the  General  was  com 
pelled  to  withdraw  the  troops.  They 
retired  slowly  and  mad  at  their  disap 
pointment,  and  bivouacked  wearied  and 


ROSECRANS'  REPORT. 


503 


supperless  within  musket  range  of  the 
rebel  front.  It  was  nine  o'clock  at  night 
when  they  got  out  of  the  forest  where 
they  had  labored  and  fought  unflinch 
ingly  for  five  hours." 

General  Rosecrans  thus  briefly  de 
scribes,  in  his  official  report,  the  severe 
and  long  engagement  at  Carnifex  Ferry  : 

"  HEADQUARTERS,  ARMY  OF  VIRGINIA,  | 
CAMP  SCOTT,  Sept.  11,  p.  M.  j 

To  COLONEL  E.  D.  TOWNSEND  : 

"  We  yesterday  marched  seventeen 
and  a  half  miles,  reached  the  enemy's 
intrenched  position  in  front  of  Carnifex 
Ferry,  driving  his  advanced  outposts 
and  pickets  before  us.  We  found  him 
occupying  a  strongly  intrenched  position, 
covered  by  a  forest  too  dense  to  admit 
of  its  being  seen  at  a  distance  of  three 
hundred  yards.  His  force  was  five  regi 
ments,  besides  the  one  driven  in.  He 
had  probably  sixteen  pieces  of  artillery. 
At  three  o'clock  we  began  a  strong  re- 
connoissance,  which  proceeded  to  such  a 
length  that  we  were  about  to  assault  the 
position  on  the  flank  and  front,  when 
night  coming  on  and  our  troops  being 
completely  exhausted,  I  drew  them  out 
of  the  woods  and  posted  them  in  the 
order  of  battle  behind  ridges  immedi 
ately  in  front  of  the  enemy's  position, 
where  they  rested  on  their  arms  till 
morning. 

"  Shortly  after  daylight  a  runaway  con 
traband  came  in  and  reported  that  the 
enemy  had  crossed  the  Gauley  during 
the  night  by  means  of  the  ferry,  and  a 
bridge  which  they  had  completed.  Colo 
nel  Ewing  was  ordered  to  take  posses 
sion  of  the  camp,  which  he  did  at  about 


seven  o'clock,  capturing  a  few  prisoners, 
two  stand  of  colors,  a  considerable  quan 
tity  of  arms,  with  quartermaster's  stores, 
messing  and  camp  equipage. 

"  The  enemy  have  destroyed  the  bridge 
across  the  Gauley,  which  there  rushes 
through  a  deep  gorge,  and  our  troops 
being  still  much  fatigued,  and  having  no 
material  for  immediately  replacing  the 
bridge,  it  was  thought  prudent  to  en 
camp  the  troops  and  occupy  the  ferry 
and  captured  camp,  sending  a  few  rifle 
cannon  shots  at  the  enemy  to  produce  a 
moral  effect.  Our  loss  will  probably 
amount  to  twenty  killed  and  one  hun 
dred  wounded.  The  enemy's  loss  had 
not  been  ascertained,  but  from  report  it 
must  have  been  considerable 

"  H.  S.  ROSECRANS." 

The  enemy  reported  themselves  only 
1,700  strong,  and  boasted  of  having  re 
pelled  their  assailants  several  times,  who, 
however,  they  confessed,  fought  witli 
"  terrible  fury."  Our  force,  according  to 
their  account,  consisted  of  nine  regiments 
with  six  pieces  of  artillery.  In  conse 
quence  of  those  superior  numbers,  as  they 
declared,  and  the  prospect  of  reinforce 
ment  of  the  Federal  force,  it  was  deter 
mined  by  General  Floyd  to  retreat  and  not 
hazard  another  battle.  He  consequently 
crossed  the  river  Gauley  and  fell  back 
about  fifteen  miles  from  Gauley  Bridge, 
on  the  main  Charleston  road,  within  a 
short  distance  of  the  encampment  of 
General  Wise  at  Dogwood  and  Hawk's 
Nest.  The  enemy  made  a  great  boast 
of  their  successful  retreat.  "  I  think," 
says  one  of  their  officers,  "  that  the 
public  and  all  military  men  will  agree 


504 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


that  both  our  fight  and  our  fall  back  to 
the  side  of  the  river  are  among  the  most 
remarkable  incidents  in  the  history  of 
war.  Seventeen  hundred  men,  with  six 
inferior  pieces  of  artillery,  fought  back 
four  times  their  number,  with  much 
superior  artillery,  for  more  than  four 
long  hours,  repulsed  them  three  times, 
and  remained  masters  of  the  ground. 
They  then  retired  with  their  baggage, 
stores,  and  more  than  two  hundred  sick 
and  wounded,  across  the  river,  from  ten 
p.  M.  to  four  A.  M.,  along  one  of  the 
steepest  and  worst  single-track  roads 
that  ever  horse's  hoof  trod  or  man  ever 
saw.  At  four  o'clock  they  were  three 
miles  from  the  enemy,  with  their  newly 
constructed  bridge  destroyed  and  their 
boats  sunk  behind  them.  I  think  these 
facts  show  a  generalship  seldom  exhib 
ited  anywhere."  * 

The  enemy,  however,  were  forced 
from  a  position  which  they  believed 
they  could  sustain  "  even  against  such 
terrific  odds"  as  in  their  imaginations 
thev  credited  the  Federal  general  with 

«/ 

possessing.  Their  camp  on  the  Gauley 
River,  which  they  were  compelled  to 
abandon,  was  very  favorably  situated 
for  defence,  and  had  been  elaborately 
strengthened  by  artificial  works,  which 
embraced  almost  a  square  mile  of  ground. 
There  was  a  large  battery  flanked  by 
breast-works  of  logs,  which  extended  to 
the  cliffs  which  rose  above  the  river 
some  three  hundred  and  fifty  feet  high. 
The  intrenched  camp  of  the  enemy  wras 
within  a  basin  of  the  mountain,  protected 
from  all  missiles  but  shells.  The  river 

*  Lynchburg  (Va.)  Republican. 


flowred  deep  in  the  rear,  where  it  was 
crossed  by  the  ferry,  but  above  and  be 
low  there  were  dangerous  rapids.  In 
front  of  the  camp  was  a  ravine,  thickly 
grown  with  forest  wood  and  thicket, 
which  so  concealed  the  position  that  it 
could  hardly  be  seen  from  without  until 
it  was  reached.  On  the  right  were  strong 
works  which  stretched  over  the  rocks 
to  the  very  edge  of  their  precipices. 
The  left  was  the  only  portion  of  the 
works  tolerably  accessible.  That  the 
enemy,  therefore,  should  have  retired 
from  such  a  position  was  in  itself  a 
tribute  to  the  gallantry  of  their  assail 
ants,  and  a  victorious  result  of  which 
General  Rosecrans  could  justly  boast. 

While    the    Federalists    under    Rose- 
crans  were  thus  successful  in   assailing 

O 

the  enemy's  intrenchments  on  the  Gauley 
River,  another  portion  of  our  army,  in 
Western  Virginia,  was  proving  itself 
equally  capable  of  acting  on  the  defensive. 
After  General  McClellan  had  driven  the 
enemy  out  of  the  Cheat  River  Valley, 
he  took  possession  of  the  Cheat  Mount 
ain  Pass,  which  leads  from  Central  into 
Western  Virginia,  over  the  main  chain 
of  the  Alleghanies.  Here  fortifications 
had  been  erected  to  add  to  the  great 
natural  strength  of  the  position,  which 
one*  of  the  enemy  had  testified  to  be 
"  a  defence  almost  impregnable.  Some 
of  our  men,"  he  wrote,  "  Colonel  Rust 
himself  among  them,  have  approached 
it  so  nearly  as  to  look  over  into  it  and 
see  all  that  was  going  on  in  it,  and  also 
the  exact  nature  of  the  fortification.  It 
is  built  on  the  summit  of  Cheat  Mount- 

*  A  writer  in  the  Richmond  Dispatch. 


THE  CHEAT  MOUNTAIN  FASTNESS. 


505 


ain,  in  Randolph  County,  just  where 
the  road  crosses  upon  a  hill  which  has 
no  level  land  upon  its  top,  but  suddenly 
descends  on  both  sides.  The  forest 
along  the  road  at  this  point,  as  for 
many  miles  of  the  adjacent  country, 
consists  of  white  pines,  which  are  tall 
and  stand  close  together,  while  the  un 
dergrowth  is  almost  wholly  mountain 
laurel,  so  dense  and  interlocked  as  to  be 
almost  impenetrable.  Here  the  enemy 
cleared  several  acres  on  each  side  of  the 
road.  On  the  outer  boundary  they 
placed  the  tall  pines  they  had  cut  down, 
partially  trimmed  and  skinned,  with 
their  tops  outward,  presenting  to  any 
one  approaching  a  mass  of  sharp  points, 
raised  to  a  considerable  height,  and 
strongly  interlocked.  Inside  of  this  they 
built  a  wall  of  logs  and  cut  a  deep  ditch. 
In  the  road  they  built  up,  in  line  with 
the  fortification,  breast-works  of  great 
strength,  and  mounted  them  with  pivot 
ffuns.  while  in  the  centre  thev  erected 

«/ 

a  block-hoifee,  pierced  and  armed  also 
with  cannon.  On  the  east  side  from  the 
fort  to  the  Cheat  River,  one  mile  and 
a  quarter  distant,  they  cleared  the  road 
for  some  distance  on  both  sides,  and  this 
can  be  all  the  way  swept  by  the  cannon. 
The  same  is  the  case  on  the  road  west 
ward  ly  for  some  distance. 

"Recurring  to  the  remarkable  fort  on 
Cheat  Mountain,  while  it  is  creditable  to 
the  ingenuity  of  the  enemy,  it  induces  a 
very  earnest  regret  that  we  ourselves 
had  not  held  that  position  when  we  had 
it.  But  if  it  cannot  be  taken,  of  course 
it  can  and  will  be  turned.  General  Lee 
has,  indeed,  already  turned  it,  but  he 

64 


had  still  some  hope  of  taking  it,  which, 
we  suppose,  this  expedition  will  induce 
him  to  abandon.  It  is  defended  by 
1,200  men,  who  are  good,  with  their 
protection,  against  probably  as  many 
thousand.  But  if  our  forces  march  on 
beyond  it,  the  position  is  useless  to  the 
enemy,  and  will  have  to  be  abandoned." 
Lee,  of  Arlington  House,  Va. — the  de 
scendant  of  Major  Lee,  of  Revolu- 
tionary  fame,  and  the  husband  of  1?J 
a  descendant  of  Mrs.  Washington — once 
an  esteemed  officer  of  the  United  States, 
now  a  Confederate  general,  with  a  large 
force,  computed  to  amount  to  eight  or 
nine  thousand  men,  determined,  not 
withstanding  the  formidable  strength  of 
this  position  at  Cheat  Mountain  Pass,  to 
assail  it.  His  rash  attempt,  however, 
was  signally  defeated  by  General  Rey 
nolds,  the  Federal  officer  in  command, 
who  gave  this  official  report  of  the  re 
sult  : 

"  HEADQUARTERS,  FIRST  BRIGADE,  I.  V.  M.,  ) 
ELK  WATER,  September  17,  1861.  J 

"To  GEO.   L.   HARTSUFF,  ASSISTANT  ADJUTANT- 
GENERAL,  DEPARTMENT  OF  OHIO  : 

"  SIR  :  The  operations  of  this  brigade 
for  the  past  few  days  may  be  summed 
up  as  follows  :  On  the  12th  instant,  the 
enemy,  9,000  strong,  with  eight  to 
twelve  pieces  of  artillery,  under  com 
mand  of  General  R.  E.  Lee,  advanced 
on  this  position  by  the  Huntersville 
pike.  Our  advanced  pickets — portions 
of  the  Fifteenth  Indiana  and  Sixth  Ohio 
—gradually  fell  back  to  our  main  picket 
station,  two  companies  of  the  Seven 
teenth  Indiana,  under  Colonel  Hascall, 
checking  the  enemy's  advance  at  the 


506 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE   SOUTH. 


Point  Mountain  turnpike,  and  then  fall 
ing  back  on  the  regiment,  which  occu 
pied  a  very  advanced  position  on'  our 
right  front,  and  which  was  now  ordered 
in.  The  enemy  threw  into  the  woods 
on  our  left  front  three  regiments,  who 
made  their  way  to  the  right  and  rear 
of  Cheat  Mountain,  took  a  position  on 
the  road  leading  to  Huttonsville,  broke 
the  telegraph  wire  and  cut  off  our  com 
munication  with  Colonel  Kimball's  Four 
teenth  Indiana  cavalry  on  Cheat  Summit. 
Simultaneously  another  force  of  the  en 
emy,  of  about  equal  strength,  advanced 
by  the  Stan  ton  pike  on  the  front  of 
Cheat  Mountain  and  threw  two  regi 
ments  to  the  right  and  rear  of  Cheat 
Mountain,  which  united  with  the  three 
regiments  from  the  other  column  of  the 
enemy.  The  two  posts,  Cheat  Summit 
and  Elk  Water,  are  seven  miles  apart 
by  a  bridle  path,  over  the  mountains, 
and  eighteen  by  the  wagon  road  via 
Huttonville,  Cheat  Mountain  Pass,  the 
former  headquarters  of  the  brigade  be 
ing  at  the  foot  of  the  mountain,  ten 
miles  from  the  summit.  The  enemy, 
advancing  toward  the  pass,  by  which 
he  might  possibly  have  obtained  the 
rear  or  left  of  Elk  Water,  was  met 
there  by  three  companies  of  the  Thir 
teenth  Indiana,  ordered  up  for  that 
purpose,  and  by  one  company  of  the 
Fourteenth  Indiana,  from  the  summit. 
These  four  companies  engaged  and  gal 
lantly  held  in  check  greatly  superior 
numbers  of  the  enemy,  foiled  him  in  his 
attempt  to  obtain  the  rear  or  left  of  Elk 
Water,  and  threw  him  into  the  rear  and 
right  of  Cheat  Mountain — the  compa 


nies  retiring  to  the  pass  at  the  foot  of 
the  mountain. 

"  The  enemy,  about  5,000  strong, 
were  closed  in  on  Cheat  Summit,  and 
became  engaged  with  detachments  of 
the  Fourteenth  Indiana  and  Twenty- 
fourth  and  Twenty-fifth  Ohio,  from  the 
summit,  in  all  about  three  hundred, 
who,  deployed  in  the  wood,  held  in 
check  and  killed  many  of  the  enemy, 
who  did  not  at  any  time  succeed  in 
getting  sufficiently  near  the  field  re 
doubt  to  give  Dunn's  battery  an  oppor 
tunity  of  firing  into  him.  So  matters 
rested  at  dark  on  the  12th,  with  heavy 
forces  in  front  and  in  plain  sight  of  both 
posts,  communication  cut  off,  and  the 
supply  train  for  the  mountain,  loaded 
with  provisions  which  were  needed, 
waiting  for  an  opportunity  to  pass  up 
the  hill. 

"  Determined  to  force  a  communica 
tion  with  Cheat,  I  ordered  the  Thir 
teenth  Indiana,  under  Colonel  Sullivan, 
to  cut  their  way,  if  necessary,  by  the 
mail  road,  and  the  greater  part  of  the 
Third  Ohio  and  Second  Virginia,  under 
Colonels  Morrow  and, Moss  respectively, 
I  to  do  the  same  by  the  path,  the  two 
!  commands  starting  at  three  o'clock  A.  M. 
on  the  13th,  the  former  from  Cheat 
Mountain  Pass  and  the  latter  from  Elk 
Water,  so  as  to  fall  upon  the  enemy,  if 
possible,  simultaneously.  Early  on  the 
13th  the  small  force  of  about  three 
hundred  from  the  summit  engaged  the 
enemy,  and  with  such  effect  that,  not 
withstanding  his  greatly  superior  num 
bers,  he  retired  in  great  haste  and  dis 
order,  leaving  large  quantities  of  cloth- 


REPULSE  AT  CHEAT  MOUNTAIN. 


507 


ing'  and  equipments  on  the  ground  ;  and 
our  relieving  forces  failing  to  catch  the 
enemy,  marched  to  the  summit,  secur 
ing  the  provision  train  and  reopening 
our  communication.  While  this  was 
taking  place  on  the  mountain,  and  as 
yet  unknown  to  us,  the  enemy,  under 
Lee,  advanced  on  Elk  Water,  apparently 
for  a  general  attack.  One  rifled  ten- 
pounder  Parrott  gun,  from  Loomis'  bat 
tery,  was  run  to  the  front  three-fourths 
of  a  mile,  and  delivered  a  few  shots  at 
t\\e  enemy,  doing  fine  execution,  caus 
ing  him  to  withdraw  out  of  convenient 
range.  Our  relative  positions  remained 
unchanged  until  near  dark,  when  we 
learned  the  result  of  the  movement  on 
the  mountain,  as  above  stated,  and  the 
enemy  retired  somewhat  for  the  nv-^ht. 

On  the  14th,  early,  the  enemy  was 
again  in  position  in  front  of  Elk  Wacer, 
and  a  few  rounds,  supported  by  a  com 
pany  of  the  Fifteenth  Indiana,  were 
again  administered,  which  caused  him 
to  withdraw  as  before.  The  forces  that 
had  been  repulsed  from  Cheat  returned, 
and  were  again  driven  back  by  a  com 
paratively  small  force  from  the  mount 
ain.  The  Seventeenth  Indiana  was 
ordered  up  the  path  to  open  commu 
nication  and  make  way  for  another 
supply  train,  but,  as  before,  found  the 
little  band  from  the  summit  had  already 


done  the  work.  During  the  afternoon 
of  the  14th  the  enemy  withdrew  from 
before  Elk  Water,  arid  is  now  princi 
pally  concentrated  some  ten  miles  from 
this  post,  at  or  near  his  main  camp. 
On  the  15th  he  appeared  in  stronger 
force  than  at  any  previous  time  in  front 
of  Cheat,  and  attempted  a  flank  move 
ment  by  the  left,  but  was  driven  back 
by  the  ever  vigilant  and  gallant  garrison 
of  the  field  redoubt  on  the  summit.  To 
day  the  enemy  has  also  retired  from  the 
front  of  Cheat,  but  to  what  precise  posi 
tion  I  am  not  yet  informed.  The  re 
sults  of  these  affairs  are,  that  we  have 
killed  near  one  hundred  of  the  enemy, 
including  Colonel  John  A.  Washington, 
aid-de-camp  to  General  Lee,  and  have 
taken  about  twenty  prisoners.  We  have 
lost  nine,  killed,  including  Lieutenant 
Junod,  Fourteenth  Indiana,  two  miss 
ing,  and  about  sixty  prisoners,  including 
Captain  James  Bense  and  Lieutenants 
Gilman  and  Shaffer  of  the  Sixth  Ohio, 
and  Lieutenant  Merrill  of  the  Engineers. 
I  append  the  reports  of  Colonel  Kimball, 
Fourteenth  Indiana,  Captain  Higgins, 
Twenty-fourth  Ohio,  and  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  Owen  and  Colonel  Wagner  of 
the  Fifteenth  Indiana. 

"  J.  J.  HEYNOLDS, 
"Brig.-Gen.  Com'g  First  Brigade. 
"  GEO.  S.  Ross,  Assistant  Acyutant-General." 


508 


THE  WAli  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


CHAPTER    XLVII. 


General  Reynolds'  Reconnoissance  in  Western  Virginia. — The  Enemy  on  Greenbrier  River. — An  Engagement. — Rey 
nolds'  Official  Account  of  the  affair. — -A  forced  March  and  a  heavy  Fire. — A  successful  Enterprise. — The  Enemy's 

account. Contradictory  statements.— The  Enemy  boast  a  victory. — Rout  and  Confusion. — Comparative   Losses. — 

Kelley  a  Brigadier-General. — Recovered  from  his  wound. — Again  active. — March  to  Romney. — Capture  of  Roniney. 
— A  brief  Official  Report. — Exaggeration  of  the  P^nemy. —  Palliation  of  Defeat. — An  Apologist. — Surprise  of  Guy- 
andotte. — -Treachery  and  Barbarity. — Suddenness  of  Attack. — Carelessness  of  the  Unionists. — Fury  of  the  Seces 
sionists. — Flight  of  the  Secessionists. — Arrival  of  a  Federal  Force  from  Ohio. — The  criminal  Connivance  of  the  In 
habitants  of  Guyandotte. — Excitement  and  Exasperation  of  the  Federal  Troops. — Burning  of  Guyandotte. — 
Terrible  Retribution. — No  Pity. — General  Rosecrans  on  the  Gauley  River. — Floyd  and  his  Force. — Batteries  of  the 
Enemy. — Fire  across  the  river. — Rosecrans'  plan  for  a  Surprise. — March  of  the  several  Divisions  of  the  Federal 
Forces. — Failure  of  the  Enterprise. — Escape  of  Floyd. —  His  retreat. — Benham  held  responsible. — Arrest. — Couit- 
martial  postponed. — The  end  of  the  Campaign  in  Western  Virginia. — How  the  Federal  Troops  were  distributed.— 
The  new  State  of  Kanawha  established. 


1801. 


GENERAL  REYNOLDS,  who  had  so  suc 
cessfully  resisted,  with  his  meagre 
force  in  his  stronghold  at  Cheat 
Mountain  Pass,  the  large  numbers  with 
which  the  Confederate  general,  Lee,  had 
assailed  him,  now  ventured  to  assume 
the  offensive  against  the  enemy.  Rey 
nolds  started  out  with  a  detachment  of 
Oct.  5,000  men  on  what  he  was  pleased 
'*•  to  term  merely  a  reconnoissauce  of 
the  enemy's  intrenched  position  on  the 
Greenbrier  River,  twelve  miles  from  his 
own  encampment.  His  official  report 
is  the  best  account  of  the  affair,  which 
became  quite  a  serious  engagement. 

"HEADQUARTERS  FIRST  BRIGADE,  ARMY) 
OF  OCCUPATION,  WESTERN  VIRGINIA,  > 
ELKWATER,  Oct.  4,  1861. 

"  GEORGE    S.    HARTSUFF,  ASSISTANT  ADJUTANT- 
GENERAL  : 

SIR  :  On  the  night  of  the  2d  of  Oc 
tober,  at  twelve  o'clock,  I  started  from 
the  summit  of  Cheat  Mountain  to  make 
an  armed  reconnoissance  of  the  enemy's 


position  on  the  Greenbrier  River,  twelve 
miles  in  advance.  Our  force  consisted 
of  Howe's  battery,  Fourth  Regular  Ar 
tillery,  Loomis'  battery,  Michigan  Vol 
unteer  Artillery,  part  of  Daum's  battery, 
Virginia  Volunteer  Artillery,  Twenty- 
fourth,  Twenty-fifth,  and  Thirty-second 
Ohio  regiments,  Seventh,  Ninth,  Thir 
teenth,  Fourteenth,  Fifteenth,  and  Sev 
enteenth  Indiana  regiments  (the  last 
four  being  reduced  by  continuous  hard 
service  and  sickness  to  about  half  regi 
ments),  parts  of  Robinson's  company  of 
Ohio,  Greenfield's  reserve,  and  Brack 
en's  Indiana  cavalry — in  all  about  5,000. 
Milroy's  Ninth  Indiana  Regiment  drove 
in  the  enemy's  advanced  pickets,  and 
deployed  to  our  right,  driving  the  enemy 
on  that  flank  into  his  in  trench  ments. 
Kimball's  Fourteenth  Indiana  was  ad 
vanced  directly  to  the  enemy's  front  and 
right,  to  drive  his  advanced  regiments 
from  a  position  suitable  for  our  artillery  ; 
this  was  soon  done  in  gallant  style,  and 


REYNOLDS'  11ECONNOISSANCE. 


509 


our  batteries  took  their  position  within 
about  700  yards  of  the  intrenchments 
and  opened  fire.  Some  of  the  enemy's 
guns  were  visible,  and  others  concealed. 
"We  disabled  three  of  his  guns,  made  a 
thorough  reconrioissance,  and  after  hav 
ing  fully  and  successfully  accomplished 
the  object  of  the  expedition,  retired 
leisurely  and  in  good  order  to  Cheat 
Mountain,  arriving  at  sundown,  having 
marched  twenty-four  miles,  and  been 
under  the  enemy's  fire  four  hours.  The 
enemy's  force  was  about  9,000,  and  we 
distinctly  saw  heavy  reinforcements  of 
infantry  and  artillery  arrive  while  we 
were  in  front  of  the  works. 

'"We  took  thirteen  prisoners.  The 
number  of  killed  and  wounded  could 
not  be  accurately  ascertained,  but  from 
those  actually  counted  in  the  field,  and 
estimated  in  the  trenches  which  could 
be  seen  from  the  heights,  it  is  believed 
the  number  reached  at  least  300.  Our 
loss  was  surprisingly  small — 8  killed  and 
82  wounded,  most  of  them  slightly — the 
proximity  of  our  batteries  to  the  in 
trenchments  causing  many  shots  to  pass 
over  us.  Very  respectfully,  etc. 

"  J.  J.  REYNOLDS, 
"  Brigadier-General  Commanding. 

CT1  G 

"  GEN.  S.  ROSE,  Adjutant-General." 

The  enemy's  account  materially  dif 
fered  from  that  of  General  Reynolds. 
The  Confederate  general  in  his  report 
boastingly  declared  that  our  troops  were 
driven  back  in  such  disorder  that  their 
officers  failed,  "  with  words  of  mingled 
command,  remonstrance,  and  entreaty," 
to  rally  them  again  to  the  charge. 
"Ilavudly  and  in  disorder  ther  retired," 


continues  the  Confederate  general  in  his 
official  report,  "  into  the  turnpike,  and 
soon  thereafter  the  entire  force  of  the 
enemy— artillery,  infantry,  and  cavalry 
—retreated  in  confusion  along  the  road 
and  adjacent  fields,  leaving  behind  them, 
at  different  points,  numbers  of  their 
killed,  guns,  knapsacks,  canteens,  etc'. 
Among  other  trophies  taken  were  a 
stand  of  United  States  colors,  which  are 
held  subject  to  the  order  of  the  com 
manding  general.  This  engagement 
lasted  from  seven  in  the  morning  to 
half-past  two  in  the  afternoon,  at  which 
time  the  enemy — who  had  come  with 
artillery  to  bombard  and  demoralize  us, 
with  infantry  to  storm  our  camp,  with 
cavalry  to  rout  and  destroy  us,  and  with 
four  days'  rations  cooked  in  his  haver 
sack  to  prosecute  a  rapid  march  either 
toward  Stanton  or  toward  Huntersville 
—was  in  precipitate  retreat  back  to  his 
Cheat  Mountain  fastness.  His  loss  in 
killed  and  wounded  is  estimated  at  from 
250  to  300  ;  among  them  an  officer  of 
superior  rank.  Our  own,  I  am  happy 
to  say,  was  very  inconsiderable,  not  ex 
ceeding  fifty  in  all." 

Kelley,  who  had  distinguished  himself 
at  the  commencement  of  the  campaign 
in  Western  Virginia,  and  been  rewarded 
for  his  gallantry  with  promotion  to  a 
brigadier-generalship,  having  now  re 
covered  from  his  wound  received  at  the 
battle  of  Philippi,  was  again  doing  good 
service  for  the  Federal  cause.  Starting 
from  his  camp  at  New  Creek,  Oc^ 
Hampshire  County,  with  an  Ohio  *^5* 
regiment,  six  companies  of  the  Seventh, 
and  one  company  of  the  Third  Virginia 


510 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


regiments,  and  three  pieces  of  artillery, 
he  pushed  on  toward  Romney  with  the 
view  of  driving  out  the  enemy,  who  oc 
cupied  that  place.  Within  about  six 
miles  his  advance  met  the  enemy's  picket 
guards  and  drove  them  back  upon  the 
town.  Kelly  now  followed  with  his 
whole  force,  and  after  a  two  hours'  en 
gagement  completely  routed  the  enemy 
and  took  possession  of  Romney.  He 
thus  briefly  reported  his  success : 

"  ROMNEY,  VA.,  Saturday,  Oct.  26,  p.  M. 

"  In  obedience  to  your  orders,  I  moved 
on  this  place  at  twelve  o'clock  last  night, 
attacked  the  enemy  at  three  o'clock  this 
afternoon,  and  drove  in  their  outposts, 
and  after  a  brilliant  action  of  two  hours 
completely  routed  them,  taking  all  their 
cannon  and  much  of  their  camp  equi 
page,  and  many  prisoners.  Our  loss  is 
but  trifling,  but  cannot  say  to  what  ex 
tent. 

"BRIG.-GEN.  B.  F.  KELLEY,  Com'g." 

The  enemy  could  not  conceal  their 
mortification  at  the  loss  of  Romney,  but 
strove  to  palliate  it  by  exaggerating  the 
strength  of  the  Federal  force  and  the 
weakness  of  their  own.* 

*  Richmond  Enquirer.  This  was  one  of  their  accounts 
of  the  affair : 

"An  engagement  took  place  yesterday  (October  25),  be 
tween  Colonel  Angus  McDonald's  cavalry,  200  in  number, 
and  about  200  militia,  under  Colonel  Munroe,  and  a  body 
of  Yankee  troops,  variously  estimated  at  from  3,000  to 
5,000.  Our  little  force  was  obliged  to  retreat  before 
superior  numbers.  The  fight  commenced  three  or  four 
miles  from  Romney,  whither  our  troops  had  gone  to  meet 
the  enemy.  After  fighting  some  time,  it  was  found  that 
they  could  not  keep  back  the  Hessians,  and  a  retreat  to 
ward  Romney  followed,  the  enemy  pursuing.  Our  army 
wagons  blocked  up  the  road,  and  the  artillery  could  not 
pass,  and  it  was  consequently  captured,  with  wagons, 
tents,  baggage,  etc. ;  and  we  regret  to  add  that  Colonel 
McDonald,  it  is  believed,  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  pur- 


The  surprise,  by  the  secessionists  of 
Guyandotte — a  town  situated  at  the  •Nov^ 
confluence  of  the  Guyandotte  and  lo> 
Ohio  rivers,  at  the  extreme  west  of 
Virginia  near  its  Kentucky  and  Ohio 
frontiers — accompanied,  as  it  was  reput 
ed  to  be,  with  treachery  and  barbarity, 
greatly  excited  the  indignation  of  the 
Unionists,  who  took  dreadful  revenge  by 
burning  the  town  to  ashes.* 

suers.  When  last  seen  he  was  on  horseback,  with  the 
enemy  but  a  short  distance  in  the  rear.  Some  of  his 
friends  fear  that  he  has  been  killed,  as  the  Hessians,  it 
has  been  stated,  exhibited  no  disposition  to  take  prisoners, 
but  rode  up  to  teamsters  and  killed  them  with  their 
sabres.  Major  0.  R.  Funster  escaped.  He  was  thrown 
from  a  horse,  but  was  carried  off  in  a  carriage,  and  has 
reached  this  place  in  a  bruised  condition.  Some  twenty 
or  thirty  of  the  cavalry  have  reached  Winchester,  fr,orn 
whom  we  obtain  these  particulars. 

'•  Although  directly  from  the  scene  of  the  engagement, 
they  bring  reports  containing  discrepancies  as  to  details. 
I  aim  to  give  what  I  believe  to  be  the  most  reliable.  It 
is  believed  we  had  about  twenty  killed,  and  a  number 
wounded.  A  large  number  of  the  enemy  were  killed,  the 
artilleiy  making  roads  through  them. 

"  The  enemy  are,  no  doubt,  once  more  in  Romney, 
and  some  of  our  citizens  fear  they  may  extend  their  visit 
to  Winchester — forty-two  miles  being  the  distance — but  I 
have  no  such  fears. 

"A  militia  force  left  here  this  morning  in  the  direction 
of  Romney,  to  check  them  if  they  should  have  the 
temerity  to  advance  in  this  direction.  The  cars  have 
gone  to  Charlestown  to  bring  some  troops  from  that  place, 
to  go  also  toward  Romney.  Of  course  our  people  regret 
that  the  enemy  have,  for  once,  'stolen  a  inarch  on  our 
men,'  and  given  the  invaders  some  cause  to  '  crow.' " 

*  The  following,  from  the  Ironton  R  (jis1.tr  (Ohio),  in 
the  absence  of  any  official  account,  is  the  most  authentic 
record  of  these  transactions  at  present  attainable  : 

"Colonel  R.  V.  Whaley,  of  Wayne  County,  Va.,  was 
forming  the  Ninth  Virginia  Regiment  with  his  camp  at 
Guyandotte.  He  had  altogether  about  150  men,  but 
many  were  absent  on  furlough  last  Sunday.  On  Saturday, 
November  9th,  thirty-five  men  of  the  cavalry  of  Colonel 
Zeigler's  Fifth  Virginia,  under  Lieutenants  Feazzel  and 
Shanley,  joined  him  ;  and  probably  Colonel  Whaley  had 
on  Sunday  night,  when  attacked,  not  to  exceed  135  or  140 
men  under  his  command,  in  Guyandotte.  Eighteen  were 
in  the  hospital,  mostly  with  the  measles.  The  attack  was 
sudden  and  entirely  unexpected,  and  his  men  were,  some 
at  church,  some  sauntering  about  town,  some  asleep  in 


GUYANDOTTE  BURNT  TO  ASHES. 


511 


Both  parties  seem  to  have  displayed 
in  this  affair  an  unusual  degree  of  feroc 
ity.  One  of  the  Federal  fugitives  hav 
ing  surrendered  to  the  secessionists  and 
begged  his  life,  received  for  answer  :  "  We 

their  quarters,  and  only  a  '  camp  guard,'  but  no  '  pickets  ' 
out.  In  short,  they  were  in  a  criminally  careless  condi 
tion.  About  eight  o'clock  in  the  evening  the  rebel 
guerilla  cavalry  of  Colonel  Jenkins,  in  force  estimated 
from  400  to  800 — very  good  authority  puts  it  at  800,  but 
probably  400  is  nearer  the  actual  number — suddenly  fell 
upon  Colonel  Whaley,  from  different  directions.  '  Rally  ! ' 
was  instantly  the  word  in  Whaley's  camp  ;  the  men 
gathered  in  squads,  sheltering  themselves  behind  build 
ings,  embankments,  and  from  the  darkness  of  their  vari 
ous  places  of  making  stands,  made  a  gallant  resistance  of 
over  an  hour,  pouring  a  dreadful  fire  upon  their  assailants 
in  the  streets.  From  their  scattered  condition  at  the  out- 
Bet,  probably  not  many  over  one  hundred  Union  men  got 
to  their  guns — Enfield  rifles — but  those  that  did,  fought 
desperately  against  four  to  one,  and  they  only  gave  up 
the  fight  at  last  when  overwhelmed  by  superior  numbers. 

"  There  was  a  sanguinary  struggle  at  the  bridge  over 
the  Guyandotte  River,  and  those  who  have  since  visited 
the  bridge  report  it  covered  with  blood,  as  in  a  slauguter- 
house.  Some  of  the  Federal  troops  were  killed  here,  and 
their  bodies  are  said  to  have  been  thrown  off  the  bridge 
into  the  river  by  their  rebel  antagonists.  A  reliable 
man,  who  was  in  the  fight,  tells  us  that  one  wounded 
man  begged  not  to  be  thrown  over,  but  he  says — '  I  heard 
a  splash  ! '  Three  of  our  men  attempted  to  swim  the  Guy 
andotte  River  ;  two  of  them  are  reported  shot ;  one  did 
swim  the  river,  but  he  received  a  bullet  in  the  leg.  One 
man  was  pulled  out  from  under  a  house.  Another,  con 
cealed  near,  says  :  '  I  heard  an  officer  yell,  ''  Here,  shoot 
this  il — d  Yankee  !  "  '  William  Wilson,  of  Marion,  in  this 
county,  is  said  to  have  been  thrown  from  the  bridge.  He 
Ewam  out,  concealed  himself,  and  after  daylight  the  next 
morning,  he,  with  another  man,  having  passed  up  the 
bank  of  the  Ohio,  was  shot  from  the  house  of  Robert 
Stewart,  a  notorious  rebel,  just  above  Guyandotte,  and 
wounded  severely  in  the  thigh.  Wilson  was  lying  at 
Fuller's  in  Quaker  Bottom,  Monday  night.  Yells  of  the 
infuriated  rebels  were  often  heard,  such  as:  'Don't  let  a 
man  escape  ! '  '  Give  'em  hell  ! '  '  Take  no  prisoners  ! ' 
and  language  not  best  to  repeat.  There  are  reports  of  fir 
ing  on  our  men  from  the  windows  in  town — so  men  in 
the  fight  say. 

"  The  rebels  pursued  the  squads,  charging  upon  them 
around  the  corners,  running  down  individuals,  killing 
some,  wounding  others,  taking  others  prisoners,  and  after 
the  fight  was  over  they  hauled  many  from  places  where 
they  had  attempted  to  conceal  themselves.  The  rebel 


do  not  take  prisoners,"  and  had  his  throat 
immediately  cut  from  ear  to  ear. 

To  complete  the  history  of  the  cam 
paign  in  Western  Virginia,  it  is  ne 
cessary  to  recur  to  the  operations  of 

troops  held  possession  of  the  town  until  about  eight 
o'clock  Monday  morning,  when  they  left  just  as  the 
steamer  Boston,  with  a  portion  of  the  Fifth  Virginia, 
under  command  of  Colonel  Zeigler,  was  about  arriving, 
and  other  Union  soldiers  were  gathering  in  from  the 
country  for  thirty  miles  above  and  thirty  below. 

"  The  rebels  captured  about  two  hundred  Enfield  rifles, 
thirty-eight  cavalry  horses,  and  all  the  saddles  and  horse 
equipments  which  had  not  been  received,  and  were  new  ; 
also  they  took  some  commissary  stores.  When  they  first 
made  the  attack,  a  strong  party  went  directly  to  the  stables 
where  our  men  had  their  horses,  in  the  manner  showing 
that  they  had  been  fully  'posted.'  Several  of  their 
horses  were  killed. 

"  There  is  no  doubt  that  the  rebels  in  town  had  accu 
rately  informed  the  rebel  troops  of  the  condition  of  all 
things  there,  and  that  the  rebel  people  of  that  place  were 
expecting  the  attack  at  the  very  time  it  was  made,  and 
had  governed  themselves  accordingly.  One  of  our  con 
cealed  men,  who  escaped,  heard  the  rapturous  congratur 
lations  between  Colonel  Jenkins  and  John  W.  Hite,  a 
notorious  secession  citizen,  on  Monday  morning.  A  rebel 
family  under  whose  house  one  of  our  escaped  men  was 
hidden,  heard  them  over  his  head,  getting  an  '  early 
breakfast '  for  a  squad  of  the  victors,  and  heard  the  women 
of  the  house  laugh  and  carry  on  in  great  glee  about  the 
whipped  Yankees. 

"  About  nine  o'clock  Monday  morning,  Colonel  Zeigler, 
of  the  Fifth  Virginia  Regiment,  arrived  at  Guyandotte 
from  Ceredo,  with  a  force  of  Union  troops— the  last  of  the 
rebel  troops  leaving  as  he  arrived.  Stories  of  the  night 
before  were  heard  ;  the  general  rebel  conduct  of  Guyan 
dotte  through  the  nine  months  past  was  recollected ; 
Guyandotte  as  the  headquarters  of  rebel  spies,  and  as  a 
nest  of  traitors,  called  by  many  '  vipers  and  rattlesnakes,' 
was  thought;  of;  there  was  much  excitement  and  exas 
peration,  and  soon — the  town  was  inflames!  The  compact 
part  of  the  town — all  the  business  portion — was  committed 
to  the  '  devouring  element.'  The  flouring-mill  at  the 
upper  part  of  the  town  was  also  burnt.  Robert  Stewart's 
fine  residence,  above  town,  from  which  Wilson  was  shot 
in  the  morning,  also  his  stables,  went  the  same  way.  As 
near  as  we  can  judge,  from  one-half  to  two-thirds  of  the 
houses  in  town  were  burnt,  probably,  safe  to  say,  over  one 
hundred  houses. 

"  This  tragic  narrative  closes  with  the  severe  sentence, 
'No  pity  is  due  the  rebels  there — the  men,  and  some  of 
the  women — for  their  hard  fate. 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


General  Rosecrans.  It  will  be  recol 
lected  that  this  energetic  commander, 
after  forcing  General  Flovd  to  cross  the 

o  */ 

Gauley  River,  took  possession  of  the  en 
emy's  deserted  camp  on  the  banks  of 
that  stream. 

Floyd  having  thrown  his  force  over 
to  the  west  side  of  New  River — which 
by  confluence  with  the  Gauley  forms 
the  Great  Kanawha — had  erected  three 
batteries  of  two  guns  each,  one  oppo 
site  General  Rosecrans'  headquarters  at 
Tornpkins'  farm,  five  miles  above  the 
town  of  Gaule}7,  another  opposite  the 
Kanawha  Falls,  a  mile  and  a  half  below 
the  town,  and  a  third  opposite  the  mouth 
of  the  Gauley,  where  the  town  itself  is 
situated.  By  these  batteries  the  enemy 
were  enabled  so  to  command  the  road 
ovor  which  Rosecrans'  supply  trains  from 
the  Falls  to  his  headquarters  were  oblig 
ed  to  pass — a  distance  of  six  miles  — 
that  the  wagons  could  only  proceed  in 
the  night-time.  During  the  day,  Floyd 
kept  up  a  fire  of  shells  across  the  river 
upon  the  Federal  encampments,  but  did 
little  damage,  wounding  only  two  men 
and  killing  a  few  horses.  Rosecrans  had 
in  the  mean  time  got  some  cannon  in 
position,  by  which  he  succeeded  in  silenc 
ing  the  enemy's  most  telling  battery,  op 
posite  the  mouth  of  the  Gauley  River. 
A  battery  of  ten  Parrott  guns  had  also 
been  received  by  Rosecrans,  which  he 
was  posting  with  the  view  of  responding 
effectually  to  that  battery  of  the  enemy 
which  bore  upon  the  Kanawha  Falls. 

While  thus  meeting  Floyd  in  front, 
Rosecrans  was  planning  to  take  him  on 
the  flank  and  in  the  rear,  with  the  hope 


of  surrounding  his  whole  force  and  com 
pelling  it  to  surrender.  One  who  was 
following  our  army  has  thus  reported 
the  result : 

"  It  was  extremely  desirable,"  says 
he,  "  to  turn  Floyd's  position  and  get 
into  his  rear  if  possible,  and  for  this 
purpose  Major  Crawford,  of  the  United 
States  Army,  a  member  of  General 
Rosecrans'  staff,  was  directed  to  make 
an  examination  of  the  slope  of  the  moun 
tain  toward  a  deserted  ferry,  known  as 
Townsend's  Ferry,  and  from  which,  after 
crossing  the  river  and  ascending  the  op 
posite  mountain,  a  road  led  directly  to 
the  town  of  Fayette,  in  the  rear  of 
Floyd's  position.  After  incredible  labor 
a  road  was  made  down  the  mountain  the 
distance  of  one  mile,  and  over  rocks  and 
down  ravines  Major  Crawford,  with  his 
force  of  pioneers,  passed  several  boats 
and  two  large  floats  capable  of  contain 
ing  ninety  or  one  hundred  men.  The 
enemy  were  not  watching  the  ferry  on 
the  opposite  side,  and  by  Monday  night 
all  was  ready.  Schenck's  brigade  was 
to  have  crossed  at  this  ferry.  The 
boats  were  in  the  river,  and  the  move 
ment  about  to  be  made,  when  the 
river  suddenly  rose,  and  in  a  short  time 
became  a  dashing  torrent.  To  attempt 
to  cross  would  have  hazarded  the  lives 
of  the  men.  But  one  thing  was  to  be 
done — as  we  could  not  strike  them  in 
the  rear,  we  could  reach  their  flank,  and 
the  order  was  given  to  the  brigade  to 
cross  below  the  entrance  of  New  River 
into  the  Kanawha. 

"Meantime  the  first  Kentucky  Regi 
ment  had  been  ordered  across,  under 


FLIGHT  AND  ESCAPE  OF  FLOYD. 


513 


Major  Leeper,  to  attack  them  on  the 
hill  [Cotton  Hill]  opposite  Gauley. 
This  was  done,  and  the  hill  taken, 
with  a  loss  of  four  men  killed,  five 
wounded,  and  six  missing.  Twenty  of 
the  enemy  were  killed  and  wounded. 
Five  miles  down  the  river  General 
Benham  had  crossed  with  his  entire 
brigade,  and  was  coming  up  rapidly. 
The  enemy  fell  back  toward  a  line  of 
intrenchments  they  had  constructed  at 
Dickerson's  farm,  on  the  road  from 
Gauley  to  Fayette.  Fearing  that  they 
would  retreat,  General  Rosecrans  sent 
orders  to  General  Benham  to  pusli  for 
ward  at  once  a  large  force  to  Cassiday's 
mill,  the  key-point  of  the  position.  A 
road  led  from  this  mill  directly  to  the 
road  running  from  Fayette  to  Raleigh, 
over  which  the  enemy  must  pass  should 
he  determine  to  retire.  It  was  the  in 
tention  of  General  Rosecrans  that  this 
force  should  have  been  thrown  upon  the 
flank  of  the  retreating  army,  while 
Schenck's  and  Benham's  brigades  push 
ed  them  in  the  rear.  By  some  strange 
mismanagement  upon  the  part  of  Gen 
eral  Benham,  the  force  at  the  mill  was 
ordered  by  him  to  rejoin  his  command 
by  another  road.  The  enemy,  knowing 
that  we  would  outflank  him  by  the  very 
road  from  Cassiday's  mill,  made  no 
stand  at  his  intrenchments,  and  hastily 
retreated.  The  road  was  strewn  with 
tents,  tent  poles,  cooking  utensils,  and 
ammunition,  as  he  lighted  his  wagons 
in  his  flight.  Benham  now  pressed  his 
rear  through  Fayette  and  along  the 
Raleigh  road,  and  came  up  with  his  rear 
imard  about  two  miles  from  the  town. 


He  attacked  this  force,  consisting  of  four 
hundred  cavalry  and  several  regiments 
of  infantry,  killing  Colonel  Croghan,  who 
commanded  the  cavalry,  and  several 
others.  He  brought  up  his  artillery  and 
opened  fire  upon  them  with  effect. 
Again  they  retreated,  closely  pursued 
until  nightfall,  when,  from  the  exhaus 
tion  of  our  men,  who  were  without  food 
or  blankets,  a  halt  was  ordered,  and 
shortly  afterwards  an  order  from  the 
commanding  general  arrived  directing  a 
return  of  our  forces." 

Floyd  was  reported  to  have  had  a 
force  of  5.000  men  and  a  train  of  300 
wagons.  His  escape  was  a  great  dis 
appointment  to  General  Rosecrans,  who, 
holding  General  Benham  responsible  for 
having  failed  to  cut  off  the  retreat,  or 
dered  his  arrest.  The  commander-in- 
chief,  General  McClellan,  however,  re 
leased  Benhain,  and  postponed  the  court- 
martial. 

The  flight  of  Floyd  put  an  end  to 
the  campaign  in  Western  Virginia.  The 
Confederate  commander,  Lee,  had  al 
ready  been  withdiawn  to  command  in 
South  Carolina  and  superintend  the  de 
fences  of  the  Southern  coast,  threatened 
by  the  naval  expeditions.  Floyd  re 
turned  a  disappointed  man  after  his  in 
glorious  campaign  in  Western  Virginia, 
and  was  subsequently  sent  to  Ken 
tucky.  General  \Vise  was  still  more 
dispirited,  and  was  believed  to  have 
sought  for  a  time  in  obscure  retirement 
a  refuge  from  the  scorn  excited  by  his 
unskilful  generalship. 

Our  troops  were  variously  distributed. 
General  Reynolds  continued  t:>  hold, 


514 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


with  a  small  force,  the  important  pass 
of  Cheat  Mountain,  the  greater  portion 
of  his  Western  regiments  having  been 
sent  to  Kentucky  or  to  join  General 
Kelley,  at  Romney,  with  the  view  of 
being  ready  to  co-operate  in  probable 
movements  on  the  Potomac.  General 
Rosecrans  established  his  winter-quar 
ters  at  Wheeling.  Thus  ended  the  cam 
paign  in  Western  Virginia,  which  though 
not  illustrated  by  any  very  brilliant  feat 


of  arms,  except  at  the  commencement, 
proved  to  be  the  most  successful  since 
the  civil  war  began. 

In  the  mean  time,  the  inhabitants  of 
Western  Virginia  had  adopted,  by  an 
immense  majority,  the  ordinance  for 
dividing  the  old  commonwealth  of  Vir 
ginia  and  establishing  a  new  State,  call 
ed  Kanawha,  to  be  composed  of  the 
counties  west  of  the  Alleghany  Mount 
ains. 


CHAPTER    XLVIII. 

AJarm  at  the  North  about  Southern  Privateers. — Action  of  European  Powers  on  the  subject. — Its  effect  upon  Southern 
Privateering.— Effect  of  the  Blockade. — Mitigation  of  feeling  at  the  North. — Inquietude  of  the  Federal  Govern 
ment. — Proposition  of  the  Secretary  of  State  to  the  European  Powers. — The  Congress  of  Paris. — Its  Articles. — Why 
not  agreed  to  by  the  United  States. — Eagerness  of  Secretary  Seward. — Imprudent  Concessions. — A  Fortunate  Dis 
appointment. — Europe  unwilling  to  appV  the  principles  of  the  Congress  of  Paris  to  the  Southern  Confederacy. — 
Reasons. — Jeff.  Davis'  Government  acknowledged  a  Belligerent. — Seward  withdraws  his  Proposition. — The  C'om- 
m:iv,e  of  the  Slave  States.— Commercial  Marine. — War  Vessels  and  Privateers. — Bold  adventurers. — The  first  Priva 
teer.- — The  Savannah. — -Description. — Her  fate. — Trial  of  her  officers  and  crew  at  New  York. — Disagreement  of  the 
Jury. — Excitement  at  the  South. — -Threatened  Retaliation. — Victims  selected. — The  fatal  Lot. — Prisoners  sent  to 
Charleston. — Treated  as  criminals. — Change  of  sentiment  at  the  North. — Necessity  of  treating  the  Southern  Con 
federacy  as  a  Belligerent. — Rebels  on  sea  like  Rebels  on  land. — The  number  of  Prizes  captured  by  the  Enemy.— 
Cruise  of  the  Jeff.  D.ivis. — Description  of  the  Vessel. — Her  Prizes. —  Itecapture  of  one  of  her  Prizes. — A  tragic  Deed. 
— The  Negro  hero  Tillman. — Public  curiosity. — History  and  Description  of  Tillman.— Wreck  of  the  Jeff.  Davis.— 
Re-capture  of  the  Cuba. — The  story  simply  told. — The  young  Prize-master. — His  account  of  the  affair. 


ISG1. 


THE  alarm  produced  at  the  North,  by 
the  issue  of  letters  of  marque  on  the 
part  of  the  Southern  Confederacy, 
was  much  greater  than  has  been  hitherto 
justified  by  the  result.  The  action  of  the 
great  powers  of  Europe,  restricting  the 
privileges  of  armed  vessels  of  the  "  bellig 
erents  "  to  the  delay  of  twenty-four  hours 
in  their  various  ports,  refusing  them  the 
opportunity  of  selling  prizes,  adding  to 
their  armaments  and  stores,  or  of  refitting, 

*  r5* 


except  in  cases  of  absolute  necessity, 
pressed  with  especial  weight  upon  South 
ern  privateering,  and  greatly  diminished 
its  power  for  evil ;  while  the  Federal 
blockade  of  Southern  ports,  becoming 
daily  more  stringent,  has  rendered  the 
enterprise  of  sailing  under  letters  of 
marque  extremely  hazardous. 

Though  privateering  was  denounced 
by  President  Lincoln  in  his  proclamation 
as  piracy,  and  those  taken  in  the  act 


SEWARD'S  PROPOSITION  OX  PRIVATEERING. 


515 


threatened  with  the  retribution  due  to 
that  crime,  there  has  been  a  growing 
tendency  at  the  North,  on  the  score  of 
policy,  to  mitigate  the  severe  punish 
ment  which  the  privateers  of  the  South 
ern  Confederacy  were  formerly  declared 
to  have  merited.  The  early  inquietude 
of  the  Federal  Government  is  clearly 
revealed  in  the  hasty,  and  perhaps  ill- 
advised,  proposition  of  the  Secretary  of 
State  to  the  powers  of  Europe  who 
were  parties  to  the  agreement  at  the 
Congress  of  Paris,  in  1856,  to  concur 
with  them  in  the  abolition  of  privateering. 
The  assent  of  our  Government,  it  will 
be  recollected,  was  refused  to  the  action 
of  the  Congress  of  Paris,  because  to  its 
articles  of  agreement — abolishing  priva 
teering,  granting  enemy's  goods,  with  the 
exception  of  contraband  of  war,  immu 
nity  from  seizure  under  a  neutral  flag, 
giving  neutrals'  goods,  with  the  same  ex 
ception,  protection  under  the  enemy's 
flaj?,  and  declaring  that  blockades  to  be 

o  *  o 

valid  must  be  effective — there  was  not 
added  the  exemption  from  seizure  of  pri 
vate  property  on  the  sea,  under  all  cir 
cumstances,  as  on  land.  The  Secretary 
of  State,  in  his  eagerness  to  prevent  the 
evil  of  Southern  privateering,  which,  at 
tlje  time,  appeared  so  formidable,  hur 
ried  to  give  in  his  adhesion  to  the  propo 
sitions  of  the  Congress  of  Paris,  without 
insisting,  like  the  astute  Marcy,  on  the  ex 
emption  of  private  property  from  seizure 
on  the  sea.  He  thus  waived  a  privilege 
of  immense  importance,  without  asking 
for  that  compensation  which  alone  could 
repay  the  United  States — with  a  large 
commercial  marine  and  comparatively 


small  naval  power — for  the  loss  of  its  pe 
culiarly  effective  arm  of  offence,  the  pri 
vateer. 

Fortunately,  perhaps,  for  the  United 
States,  the  proposition  of  Secretary  Sew- 
ard  was  met  by  England  and  France 
with  the  condition  that  the  principles 
laid  down  by  the  Congress  of  Paris 
should  not  be  applicable  to  the  Southern 
Confederacy.  These  European  powers 
had  already  committed  themselves  to 
the  recognition  of  the  Confederacy  as  a 
belligerent,  and  therefore  were  bound  in 
honor  to  concede  to  it  the  privileges  be 
longing  to  that  character.  The  Govern 
ment  of  Jefferson  Davis  was  held  by 
France  and  England  as  possessed  of  all 
the  ordinary  international  rights  of  a 
war  power,  and  of  course  entitled  to 
issue  letters  of  marque,  until  by  its  own 
free  wul  it  had  given  up  the  privilege. 
With  this  condition  attached  to  the  ac 
ceptance  of  his  proposition  to  make  the 
United  States  a  party  to  the  agreement 
of  -the  Congress  of  Paris  abolishing  pri 
vateering,  Seward  found  himself  frus 
trated  in  his  object  of  weakening  the 
Southern  Confederacy,  and  withdrew  his 
offer  of  concurrence. 

The  slave  States  having,  in  comparison 
with  the  free,  an  insignificant  commercial 
marine,  had,  although  possessed  of  an 
extensive  sea-coast,  but  a  small  number 
of  vessels  armed  or  manned  by  their 
own  people.  Their  commerce  was  chiefly 
carried  on  in  Northern  bottoms  and  by 
Northern  sailors.  On  the  breaking  out 
of  the  civil  war,  however,  they  seized, 
without  scruple,  those  vessels  belonging 
to  the  Government  and  private  persons 


516 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


which  happened  to  be  lying  in  their  har 
bors.  They  were  thus  enabled  to  obtain 
a  considerable  fleet  of  sailing  vessels  and 
steamers,  though  mostly  of  small  tonnage, 
writh  the  exception  of  those  which  fell 
into  their  hands  on  the  abandonment  of 
the  Norfolk  Navy  Yard.  Of  these  latter 
they  made  effective  use,  having  restored 
some  of  them,  among  which  was  the 
Merrimac,  that  became  such  a  formidable 
machine  of  destruction.'"" 

Many  of  the  vessels  thus  surrepti 
tiously  obtained  were  converted  into  pri 
vateers,  and  have  met  with  various  fates, 
which  it  is  now  proposed  to  record. 

*  The  following  list  of  vessels  in  the  service  of  the  Con 
federates  is  obtained  from  the  New  York  Herald  of  No 
vember  19,  1861,  and  is  probably  as  nearly  accurate  as  is 
now  possible  : 

LIST  OF  PRIVATEERS. 

Name.                             Class.                Commander.       Guns.  Tons. 

Alice Schooner... 

Antonio Schooner... A.  0.  Murphy —  — 

Beauregard Capt.  Libby —  — 

Bonita Brig 276 

Bradford Steamer  . . . 

Cotton  Plant Steamer  ...Capt.  Lynch —  — - 

Coffee Steamer...                                     2  — 

Calhoun Steamer  ...Geo.  N.  Hollins...   3  1,058 

Curtis  Peck. Steamer...  —  —         

Curlew Steamer  ...Capt.  Hunter 1  — 

Dixie Schooner... T.  J.  Moore 1  150 

Dodge i Schooner...                              .       1  100 

Everglade Steamer  ...J.  Mclntosh  Kell.. —  — 

Gordon Steamer  ...Capt.  Lockwood...   2  500 

Geo.  Page Steamer...  1         

Geo.  B.  Baker Schooner...              —                 —  — 

Huntress Steamer  ...  —  1         

Ivy Steamer...                                     2  200 

James  Grey Propeller...  —  1         

Jackson Steamer  ...Capt.  Gwaltemey..  2  200 

Jeff.  Davis Brig Capt.  Coxetter 5  — 

Judith Schooner...           ••. —                   5  250 

John  A.  Moore Steamer  ...  

Lady  Davia Steamer  ...T.  B.  Hager 2         

Lewis  Cass Schooner...              —                    2  100 

McRae Steamer  ...                                   6  500 

McClellan Schooner. .. J.  G.  Breshwood...  5  145 

Merrimac Steamer  ...  _  Q        


Amongthose  persons  engaged  in  the  coast 
ing  trade,  of  whom  not  a  few  were  North 
ern  men,  and  the  large  number  of  naval 
officers  who  had  deserted  the  United 
States  flag  and  adopted  that  of  the  Con 
federacy,  it  was  not  difficult  to  find  bold 
adventurers  and  competent  officers  to 
command  these  vessels,  many  of  which 
have  been  handled  with  rare  skill  and 
daring.  While  some  have  fallen  an 
easy  prey,  others  have  eluded  the  vigi 
lance  of  our  blockading  fleets  and  es 
caped  from  the  pursuit  of  our  swiftest 
cruisers. 

The  first  privateer   commissioned    by 


Commander. 


Guns.  Tons. 
2          . 


1 


Name.  Class. 

Manassas Steamer  ... 

Masanon Steamer  ... 

Marion Steamer  . . . 

Mystic Steamer  . . . 

Music Steamer  . . . 

Northampton Steamer  ...Capt.  Hicks... 

Nina Steamer  ... 

Nashville Steamer  ... 

Nelins Steamer  ... 

Neva Schooner. . . 

Pickens Schooner . . . 

Petrel Schooner. ..Wm.  Perry 1 

Patrick  Henry Steamer  ... 

Richmond Steamer  ...Capt.  Kennedy.... — 

Sumter Steamer  ...R.  Semmes — 

Sallie Schooner... Capt.  Libby 1 

Savannah Schooner. ..T.  H.  Baker 1 

Screamer Steam  er  . . . 

Sallust Schooner... 

South  Carolina Steamer  ...Capt.  Coxetter — 

St.  Nicholas Steamer  ... 

Tuscarora Steamer  ...  2 

Vixen Steamer  ...  1 

Washington Schooner...  1 

Wm.  H.  Webb Steamer  ... 

York Schooner... 

York  town Steamer  ...Capt.  Parrish 

RECAPITULATION. 

Steamers 36       Uncertain 1 

Schooners ..16 

Brigs 2  Total 55 

In  addition  to  the  above  list,  the  Southerners  have  at 
their  disposal  some  very  large  steamers,  that  could  upon 


g         

90 


140 
54 


8    1,400 


SOUTHERN  PRIVATEERS. 


517 


the  President  of  the  Confederate  States 
was  captured.     This  was  the  Savannah, 

Among  them 


emergency  be  converted  into  vessels  of  war. 
are  the  following  : 

Name.  Tons, 

Atlantic 623 

Amerrca 372 

General  Miramon 296 

G al veston 945 

Mexico 1,059 

Magnolia 843 


Name.  Tons. 

Suwanee 494 

Star  of  the  West 1,172 

Tennessee 1,179 

Texas 1,125 

W.  G.  Hughes 1,100 

Matagorda 425 


And  the  following  vessels  are  at  present  in  use  by  the 
rebels,  as  transports  : 

Prince  of  Wales.              Cheeney.  Louisville, 

Kentucky.                       Tucker.  Sovereign. 

Victoria.                           Little  Rock.  Admiral. 

John  Walsh.                    Chester  Ashley.  Nebraska. 

Ingomar.                          Belfast.  F.  Nortrebe. 

John  Simmons.              Alonzo  Childs.  Arkansas. 

General  Pike.                 E.  H.  Mears.  Equality. 
Mary  Patterson. 

RECAPITULATION. 

Privateers 55 

Steamers  under  the  rebel  control,  not  in  use 12 

Transports 22 


Total. 


OFFICERS  IN  THE  REBEL  SERVICE. 

CAPTAINS. 

Lawrence  Rousseau,  of  Louisiana. 
Josiah  Tattnall,  of  Georgia. 
Victor  M.  Randolph,  of  Alabama. 

D.  N.  Ingraham,  of  South  Carolina. 
French  Forrest,  of  Virginia. 
George  N.  Hollins,  of  Maryland. 
Samuel  Barron,  of  Virginia. 
William  F.  Lynch,  of  Virginia. 
Isaac  F.  Sterett,  of  Maryland. 

COMMANDERS. 

E.  Favana,  of  Florida. 
Thomas  W.  Brent,  of  Florida. 
Raphael  Semmes,  of  Alabama. 
Henry  J.  Hartstene,  of  South  Carolina. 
Sidney  Smith  Lee,  of  Virginia. 
William  G.  Whittle,  of  Virginia. 
Robert  D.  Thornton,  of  Virginia. 
Robert  J.  llobb,  of  Virginia. 
Murray  Mason,  of  Virginia. 

Jliain  W.  Hunter,  of  Virginia. 
Archibald  B.  Fairfax,  of  Virginia. 
William  McBlair,  of  Maryland. 
Richard  L.  Page,  of  Virginia. 
Frederick  Chatard,  of  Maryland. 


made  memorable  by  the  trial  of  her  cap 
tain  and  crew  for  piracy.     She  was  a  small 

Arthur  Sinclair,  of  Virginia. 
Charles  A.  Kennedy,  of  North  Carolina. 
Matthew  F.  Maury,  of  Tennessee. 
John  R.  Tucker,  of  Virginia. 
Robert  F.  Pinckney,  of  Maryland. 
Thomas  R.  Rootes,  of  Georgia. 
James  L.  Henderson,  of  Virginia. 
William  S.  Muir,  of  North  Carolina. 
Thomas  F.  Hunter,  of  Virginia. 
Charles  F.  Mclntosh,  of  Virginia. 
William  S.  Muse,  of  North  Carolina. 

LIEUTENANTS. 

F.  B.  Renshaw,  of  Pennsylvania. 
James  H.  North,  of  South  Carolina. 
Thomas  B.  Huger,  of  South  Carolina. 
John  Rutledge,  of  South  Carolina. 
C.  M.  Morris,  of  South  Carolina. 
A.  F.  Warley,  of  South  Carolina. 
John  Kell,  of  Georgia. 
Joseph  Fry,  of  Georgia. 
J.  R  f.Hamilton,  of  Soufli  Carolina. 
J.  R.  Eggleston,  of  Mississippi. 
R.  S.  Chapman,  of  Alabama. 
Thomas  P.  Pelot,  of  South  Carolina. 
William  G.  Doxier,  of  South  Carolina. 
Maurice  Simons,  of  South  Carolina. 

C.  L.  Say  re,  of  Alabama. 

J.  M.  Stribling,  of  South  Carolina. 
Philip  Porcher,  of  South  Carolina. 
P.  U.  Murphy,  of  North  Carolina. 
W.  N.  E.  Boudiuot,  of  North  Carolina. 
Thomas  M.  Crosson,  of  North  Carolina. 
William  W.  Roberts,  of  North  Carolina. 
David  Coleman,  of  North  Carolina. 
R.  C.  Duval,  of  North  Carolina. 
Crosson,  of  North  Carolina. 

MIDSHIPMEN. 

W.  T.  Moore,  of  North  Carolina. 

John  Grimball,  of . 

Henry  H.  Tyson,  of  Maryland. 
Leroy  H.  Washington,  of  Georgia. 
W.  B.  Hart,  of  Georgia. 
Barron  Carter,  of  Georgia. 

SURGEONS. 

W.  A.  W.  Spotswood,  of  Virginia. 
Edward  Wonders,  of  North  Carolina. 
William  F.  Carrington,  of  Virginia. 
Wyatt  M.  Brown,  of  North  Carolina. 
Arthur  M.  Lynch,  of  South  Carolina. 

D.  B.  Phillips,  of  —     — . 

Charles  E.  Lining,  of  South  Carolina. 


518 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


schooner  of  only  fifty  tons  measurement, 
and  was  originally  used  as  a  pilot-boat 
in  the  harbor  of  Charleston,  but,  having 
been  condemned  as  unserviceable,  had 
been  laid  up.  Though  old,  she  was  a  fast 
sailer.  Having  been  refitted,  armed  with 
an  eigh teen-pounder  which  was  mounted 
on  a  swivel  midships,  well  supplied  with 
ammunition,  stores,  and  water  for  a 
long  voyage,  and  manned  with  a  crew 
June  °f  twenty  men,  the  Savannah  set 
*•  sail  from  Charleston. 
Her  cruise  and  subsequent  fate  were 

PAYMASTERS. 

W.  W.  J.  Bell,  of  Florida. 
Henry  Meyers,  of  Georgia. 
John  Johnston,  of  North  Carolina. 

CHIEF    ENGINEER. 

Samuel  Archibald,  of  Maryland. 
J.  W.  Parks,  of  North  Carolina. 

FIRST   ASSISTANT   ENGINEEK. 

John  H.  Loper. 

NAVAL    AGENTS. 

Oliver  S.  Dewey,  of  North  Carolina. 
Marshall  P.  Farks,  of  Virginia. 

MARINES. 

COLONEL. 

Lloyd  J.  Bell,  of  Maryland. 

LIEUTENANT    COLONEL. 

Henry  B.  Tyler,  of  Virginia. 

MAJOR. 
George  H.  Terry,  of  Virginia. 

CAPTAINS. 

Israel  Green,  of  Virginia. 
George  Holmes,  of  Florida. 

SECOND    LIEUTENANTS. 

James  R.  Y.  Fenack,  of  Georgia. 
Wilber  F.  Johnson,  of  Georgia. 
Edmund  J.  Lloyd,  of  Virginia. 

RECAPITULATION. 

Captains 9  Navy  Agents 2 

Commanders 25  Colonel  of  Marines 1 

Lieutenants 24  Lieut.-Col.  of  Marines....  1 

Midshipmen 6  Major  of  Marines 1 

Surgeons 7  Captains  of  Marines 2 

Paymasters 3  Second  Lieuis.  of  Marines  3 

Chief  Engineer 1 

First  Assistant  Engineer  1  Total...  ...87 


thus   told   in   one  of  the  daily  newspa 
pers  :  * 

"  The  Savannah  went  to  sea  on  Sun 
day,  2d  of  June,  and  the  next  day  fell 
in   with   the   brig  Joseph,  of  Kockland, 
Maine,    from    Cardenas,    Cuba,    with    a 
cargo  of  sugar  consigned  to  Welch  &  Co., 
Philadelphia.     The  pirate  set  her  colors 
so    as    to   deceive   the  Joseph,   and   the 
latter    hove   to    and    her    captain    went 
aboard  the  piratical  craft,  under  the  im 
pression   that  she   was  in  distress.     No 
sooner  had  he  done  so  than  the  captain 
of  the    privateer   said,    '  Your    vessel  is 
taken    as    a    prize   under   the    authority 
of  the  Confederate  States.'     Eight  men 
were  put  aboard  the  Joseph,  and   they 
were  directed  to  take  her  and  the  crew 
to  the  nearest  port,   which  was  that  of 
Georgetown,  S.  C.     This  occurred  about 
the  middle  of  the  afternoon.     Soon  after 
the  Savannah  and  Joseph  parted  com 
pany,  the  brig  Perry,  a  man-of-war,  hove 
in  sight,  a  little  north  of  the  Hole  in  the 
Wall  ;  but  as  her  guns  were  run  back, 
her    port-holes    closed,    and    the    vessel 
otherwise  purposely   disguised,  she  was 
mistaken  for  a  merchantman,    arid   the 
pirates,  flushed  with  their  recent  success, 
and  with  so  inviting  a  prospect  of  plunder 
before  them,  full  of  great  expectations, 
made    all    sail    for  the    supposed    prize. 
They  had  got  within  a  mile  of  the  brig 
before    they    discovered    their    blunder, 
when  they  put  about,  more  anxious  to 
escape   than   they    had    been    before    to 
make  the   seizure.     The   Perry  at  once 
gave  chase,  and  fired  several  shots,  four 
of  which  were  returned  by  the  eighteen- 

*  New  York  Tribune. 


CONFEDERATE  PRIVATEERS. 


519 


pounder  of  the  Savannah.  Two  of  the 
shots  from  the  Perry  went  through  the 
foresail  of  the  pilot-boat ;  the  shots  of 
the  Savannah  did  not  take  effect.,  The 
next  occurrence  was  the  surrender  of  the 
pirates,  who  were  taken  on  board  the 
Perry,  and  were  subsequently  trans 
ferred  to  the  Minnesota,  lying  off  Charles 
ton,  where  the}'  were  put  in  irons." 

The  officers  and  crew  of  the  Savannah 
were  subsequently  sent  to  New  York, 
where  they  were  placed  in  the  custody 
of  the  United  States  marshal  and  con 
fined  in  the  City  Prison,  to  take  their  trial 
for  piracy.  They  were  accordingly  duly 
arraigned  and  tried  for  this  crime,  but 
the  jury  having  failed  to  agree,  the 
privateersmen  were  re-committed  to 
prison  to  await  future  action.  About  the 
same  time  a  trial  of  some  men  similarly 
charged  took  place  in  Philadelphia,  which 
resulted  in  their  conviction  of  piracy. 
Meanwhile  the  Southern  Confederacy 
was  greatly  excited  on  the  score  of  these 
trials,  and  the  threatened  punishment  of 
the  captured  privatearsmen  as  pirates. 
Jefferson  Davis  officially  declared  that, 
in  case  of  their  execution,  he  would  re 
taliate  upon  the  Federal  prisoners  who 
had  fallen  into  his  hands  ;  and  to  prove 
the  fixedness  of  his  resolve  he  immedi 
ately  gave  orders  for  the  selection  by  lot 
among  the  principal  captives  then  at 
Richmond,  of  those  who  were  to  answer 
with  their  lives  for  the  privateersmen 
who  should  be  executed  by  the  United 
States  Government.  The  enemy,  prin 
cipally  by  their  successes  at  Bull  Run, 
had  become  possessed  of  a  large  number 
of  prisoners,,  many  of  whom  were  officers 


of  high  rank,  and  the  fatal  chance  fell  to 
some  of  the  principal  of  them,  of  whom 
Colonel  Corcoran,  the  commander  of 
the  Sixty-ninth  Irish  Regiment,  of  New 
York,  who  had  acquitted  himself  with 
rare  gallantry  before  Manassas,  is  the 
best  known.  He  and  the  other  victims 
of  the  fatal  lot  were  transferred  from 
Richmond  to  Charleston,  where  they 
were  closely  imprisoned  and  treated  with 
the  harshness  used  only  toward  criminals ; 
and  where  they  long  remained,  with  their 
lives  in  suspense,  awaiting  the  action  of 
the  Federal  Government  in  regard  to  the 
captured  privateersmen. 

In  the  progress,  however,  of  the  civil 
war,  there  has  been  a  manifest  change 
of  sentiment  in  the  North.  As  the 
strength  of  the  Southern  insurgents  has 
become  more  apparent,  there  has  been 
an  increasing  willingness  to  consider  them 
as  belligerents,  and  to  award  them  all  the 
privileges  which  belong  to  that  charac 
ter.  Though  at  the  commencement  of 
the  conflict  the  Federal  Government  res 
olutely  refused  to  treat  with  the  enemy 
in  regard  to  it,  the  exchange  of  prison 
ers  is  now  effected  with  the  formalities 
usual  between  belligerents  in  regular 
war.  With  this  concession,  the  natural 
result  of  the  severity  and  prolongation 
of  the  struggle,  the  conviction  has  been 
growing,  that  policy  requires  that  pris 
oners  taken  on  sea  must  be  treated  in 
every  respect  like  those  captured  on  the 
land.  It  is  therefore  probable  that  Con 
federate  privateersmen  are  in  no  more 
danger  of  the  yard-arm  than  prisoners 
of  war  are  of  the  gallows. 

It   is    impossible    to   give   the    exact 


520 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


number  of  prizes  taken  by  the  privateers 
Jan.  °f  ^ne  enem)T>  but,  to  this  date,  the 
***•  whole  would  hardly  amount  to  half 
a  hundred.  The  recapture  of  several  of 
the  prizes  by  their  original  crews  has 
supplied  some  of  the  most  startling  and 
'  tragic  incidents  of  the  war.  The  "  Jeff. 
Davis"  had  proved  herself  one  of  the 
most  audacious  of  the  Southern  priva 
teers,  and  the  most  successful  in  her  ad 
venturous  enterprise.  She  was  formerly 
known  as  the  slaver  Echo,  and  having 
been  captured  while  engaged  in  that 
cruel  traffic  on  the  coast  of  Africa,  was 
taken  into  the  harbor  of  Charleston  and 
condemned.  She  was  rkrsred  as  a  brio;, 

wO  O* 

and  not  having  the  "low,  black"  look 
of  the  traditional  corsair,  but  the  rusty 
and  substantial  appearance  of  the  ordin 
ary  merchantman,  was  especially  calcu 
lated  to  deceive  the  unwary.  Havino- 
been  mounted  with  a  thirty-two-pounder, 
placed  on  a  pivot  amidships,  and  on  each 
side  with  a  thirty-two  pounder,  and  a 
twelve-pounder,  she  sailed  out  of  Savan 
nah  on  a  cruise.  Her  commander  was 
Captain  Coxetter,  said  to  be  of  Dutch 
origin  ;  her  first  lieutenant  was  one  Por- 
chal,  formerly  a  midshipman  in  the  United 
States  navy  ;  and  her  crew  consisted  of 
about  sixty  men,  of  all  nations.  Her 
cruise,  boldly  pushed  even  to  Nantucket 
Shoals,  was  very  successful,  arid  alarm 
ing  to  the  commerce  of  New  England. 
Among  her  prizes  was  the  schooner  S. 
J.  Waring,  recaptured  by  her  ne<»ro 
cook,  William  Tillman.* 


*  The  following  is  the  narrative  of  a  passenger  : 
"The  privateer,"  he  says,  after  describing  the  capture 
of    the  Waring   by  the   Jeff.   Davis,    "took  some  of  our 


The  Jeff.  Davis,  after  her  adven-  A 
turous  cruise,  was  wrecked  on  the     1Y< 

charts,  coasting  books,  a  sextant,  some  plates,  coffee  cups, 
a  lot  of  table  cloths,  a  quantity  of  flour,  several  oil-cans, 
a  tub  of  butter,  some  cases  of  preserved  lobster,  and  other 
articles,  together  with  all  the  fire-arms  which  they  could 
find,  except  a  single-barrelled  pistol  belonging  to  myself, 
aud  another  owned  by  William  Stedding,  one  of  our  crew. 
"  Having  sent  their  boat  load  of  stuff  off,  they  returned 
with  a  prize  crew,  consisting  of  a  prize  master,  mate,  and 
second  mate,  and  two  men,  taking  in  exchange  for  them 
Captain  Smith,  of  Brooklyn;  T.  J.  Smith,  first  mate,  of 
New  York  ;  T.  Davidson,  second  mate,  and  two  seamen. 
The  prize  crew  consisted  of  Montague  Amiel,  a  Charleston 
pilot,  prize-master ;  Stephens,  mate,  an  Irishman,  who 
had  been  in  this  country  about  ten  years  ago,  but  had  been 
at  sea  until  nine  months  since,  when  he  returned,  and 
three  sailors,  one  of  whom  acted  as  second  mate  and  slept 
in  the  cabin  ;  the  other  two  were  hands,  whose  names  are 
James  Milnor,  of  South  Carolina,  and  James  Dorsey,  of 
Pt.  Pleasant,  N.  J.  There  were,  therefore,  on  the  schooner 
the  prize  crew  of  five;  William  Tillrnan,  the  coloured  stew 
ard  ;  William  Stedding  and  Daniel  McLeod,  seamen,  and 
myself  ;  of  the  original  party  four — nine  persons  in  all. 

"  The  schooner  was  headed  for  Charleston,  or  some  inlet 
on  the  coast  near  that  port.  We  were  not  put  in  irons, 
but  were  treated  with  as  much  kindness  as  we  could  ex 
pect  The  steward  continued  to  cook  and  provide  for  us, 
and  our  men  worked  the  vessel.  I  became  quite  intimate 
with  t'.ie  officers,  and  expected  soon  to  be  a  prisoner  of  war 
in  Charleston,  though  we  had  hoped  that  we  might  fall  iu 
with  a  United  States  vessel,  and  be  rescued  from  our  cap 
tors.  Thus  we  got  along  quietly  ou  our  way  southward, 
till  Tuesday,  the  10th  inst.,  when  we  were  fifty  miles  south 
and  one  hundred  miles  east  of  that  port,  and  thought  we 
might  get  in  the  next  day. 

"  What  followed,  I  did  not  anticipate.  It  is  true  that, 
now,  when  I  look  back,  I  remember  that  Amiel  had  con- 
gratulated  himself  upon  a  valuable  prize  that  he  had 
found  in  the  steward,  whom  he  vowed  was  worth  a  cool 
thousand  on  Meeting  Street,  Charleston.  And  I  further 
remember  that  on  several  occasions  Tillman,  the  steward, 
shook  his  head  and  muttered,  'Dern  fo'ks  nebber  git  to 
Charls'n;'  but  I  supposed  then  that  he  was  expecting,  like 
the  rest  of  us,  to  meet  with  a  friend  in  one  of  Uncle  Sam's 
cruisers. 

"  It  was  a  bright  moonlight  night,  that  of  Tuesday,  so 
pleasant  that  I  remained  on  deck  till  eleven  P.M.,  later  than 
I  usually  did.  The  steward  had  turned  in  at  eight,  as  was 
his  habit.  Our  trunk  cabin  projected  about  three  feet 
above  the  main  deck,  and  was  entered  by  a  companion-way 
in  the  middle  of  the  forward  end.  When  I  went  down, 
the  mate  was  nodding  on  the  cabin  roof,  just  in  front  of 
the  wheel,  in  a  half  recumbent  position.  Behind  him 
stood  William  Stedding,  one  of  our  old  crow,  at  the  wheel. 


VrilECK  OF  THE  JEFF.  DAVIS. 


521 


bar  outside  of  St.  Augustine,  in  Florida, 
while  attempting  to  make  a  harbor. 

Milnor,  the  South  Carolinian,  lay  asleep  on  a  pile  of  sails 
at  the  foot  of  the  foremast.  McLeod,  another  of  our  men, 
with  Dorsey,  the  Jerseyiuan,  were  asleep  in  the  forecastle. 
The  cabin  lamp  was  burning  on  the  table  when  I  went  be 
low,  and  Captain  Aniiel  lay  snoring  in  his  berth,  sound 
asleep  in  his  state-room.  In  the  state-room  on  the  other 
side  of  the  cabin  slept  the  steward  and  second  mate,  the 
former  on  top,  the  latter  in  the  second  berth,  the  third  and 
lowest  sleeping-place  being  unoccupied. 

"  The  weather  being  sultry,  the  doors  of  the  state-rooms 
had  been  taken  off,  so  that  not  only  were  the  rooms  open 
from  the  cabin,  but  my  room,  in  the  rear  of  the  captain's, 
opened  into  his,  the  door  between  being  also  down.  I 
took  my  coat  and  vest  off  very  leisurely,  and  swallowed  a 
draught  of  cherry  brandy  before  getting  into  bed.  so  that 
I  should  think  it  was  eleven  when  I  retired.  It  could  not 
have  been  more  than  ten  minutes  later  when  I  was  awak 
ened  from  a  light  sleep  by  a  peculiar  sound  in  the  captain's 
room,  which  I  knew  instinctively  could  only  have  been 
produced  by  an  axe  cleaving  Amiel's  skull.  No  sooner 
did  the  '  tkusli'  strike  upon  my  ear  than  I  leaped  out  of 
bed,  and  Laning  against  the  door-casing  in  the  partition, 
saw  the  steward  dart  through  the  twilight — for  he  had 
extingui^hrd  the  light,  noiseless  as  a  cat — across  the  cabin, 
toward  the  serond  mate's  room.  I  also  saw,  at  the  same 
glance,  Captain  Amiel  rise  from  his  berth  and  attempt 
to  follow  him  ;  but  the  blood  blinded  him,  and  he  fell  to 
the  floor  with  a  horrid  gurgling  sound  in  his  throat.  All 
this  was  the  work  of  a  second.  The  cleaving  of  the  skull, 
like  the  flash  from  a  gun  preceding  the  report,  was  fol 
lowed  by  a  weak,  faint  cry,  like  that  of  a  sick  child,  and 
the  gurgling  in  the  throat.  I  knew  then  that  his  wound 
was  mortal.  Stooping  sideways,  the  steward  entered  the 
second  mate's  cabin,  and  once  more  swung  his  axe,  but 
not  so  effectively. 

"  The  mate  started  up  with  a  '  G — d  d — n  you,  don't 
strike  me  again,"  and  clutched  at  the  steward's  breast  ; 
but  eluding  the  wounded  man,  he  ran  on  deck  to  where 
the  man  was  lying  near  the  wheel-house,  and  keeping  his 
axe  behind  him,  demanded  '  what  all  this  noise  was  about? ' 
The  mate,  who  had  been  aroused  by  the  outcries  of  the 
captain  and  second  mate,  had  raised  himself  up  on  his 
elbow  and  stared  at  the  steward  in  a  half  stupid,  half 
fascinated  way,  not  seeing  the  pistol  which  Stedding,  the 
man  at  the  helm,  had  pointed  at  him  for  use  in  case  of 
necessity.  As  he  turned  his  face  toward  the  steward,  the 
latter  drove  his  weapon  home  into  the  base  of  his  skull. 
Steddirg  and  the  steward  then  tumbled  him  overboard. 
He  rose  on  the  wave  with  a  hoarse  cry,  when  about  two 
lengths  astern,  the  water  having  raised  him  ;  but  he  must 
have  soon  gone  down  to  his  long  account. 

"  Then  the  steward  came  down  to  the  cabin,  where  I 
still  was,  while  Stedding  stood,  pistol  in  hand,  guarding 
the  deck.  The  captain  cried  faintly-  twice  to  me  by  name, 


She  proved,  notwithstanding  every  at 
tempt  to  save  her,  a  total  loss. 

'Help  me — help  me;'  but  he  was  past  help.  Another 
swishing  blow  of  the  axe,  and  he  did  not  repeat  the  cry. 
Then  the  steward  returned  to  the  second  mate's  cabin, 
where,  seated  on  a  pile  of  starch  boxes,  his  legs  drawn  up 
and  his  head  between  his  knees,  was  the  half-stupefied 
man.  Again  and  again  the  axe  fell,  and  again  and  again 
the  cry,  'Don't  do  that,'  fell  on  my  ear,  each  time  fainter 
than  the  last.  Stedding  now  came  down,  and  the  steward 
and  he  took  the  corpse  of  the  captain  by  the  feet,  and 
dragging  it  up  the  companion-way,  tossed  it  overboard. 
Meantime  I  had  got  some  irons  out,  hoping  to  intercede  to 
save  bloodshed.  Stedding  and  the  steward  once  more 
came  down,  and  each  taking  the  second  mate  by  the 
shoulder,  led  him  out  from  the  place  where  he  had 
crouched  on  the  starch  boxes.  He  seemed  to  walk  with 
their  assistance,  as  they  went  up  the  companion-way,  but 
his  head  lay  a  pulpy  mass  upon  his  shoulder,  and  a  mo 
ment  after  a  splash  alongside  told  the  fate  of  another  of 
the  privateers. 

"  There  were  three  persons  on  board  who  knew  nothing 
of  all  this — the  two  privateer  sailors,  and  Donald  McLeod, 
one  of  our  sailors,  whom  I  subsequently  learned  would 
not  join  the  steward  and  Stedding  in  the  attempt  to  re 
capture  the  vessel.  Handing  me  his  pistol,  Stedding  went 
forward  and  roused  Milnor,  the  South  Carolinian,  a  young 
man  of  two  or  three-and-twenty,  from  his  sleep  at  the  foot 
of  the  mainmast,  and  called  him  aft.  Not  seeing  his 
comrades  when  he  came  into  the  cabin,  he  was  much 
frightened  and  begged  for  life.  The  steward  told  him  he 
would  not  kill  him  but  iron  him,  and  his  fate  must  depend 
upon  his  good  behavior  ;  he  wanted  to  spill  as  little  blood 
as  possible.  He  willingly  held  out  his  wrists  for  the  irons. 
They  then  went  forward  to  the  forecastle  and  called  the 
other  privateer,  Dorsey.  Upon  learning  the  condition  of 
affairs  he  begged  for  his  life,  which  they  promised  to  spare 
if  he  would  assist  in  working  the  ship  and  be  true  and 
faithful  ;  to  all  of  which  he  agreed. 

"  The  steward  now  took  command,  and  the  schooner 
headed  for  the  north,  with  a  fair  wind.  None  of  us  knew 
anything  of  navigation,  but  we  trusted  to  good  fortune 
and  the  land  to  enable  us  to  make  out  our  course.  The 
South  Carolinian  was  released  from  irons  the  next  morning, 
and  proved  a  very  useful  and  willing  fellow  in  working  the 
ship.  On  Friday  the  19th,  at  eight  o'clock  in  the  morn 
ing,  we  made  the  land,  which  became  quite  distinct  by 
noon,  and  we  kept  on  our  way  with  good  weather,  sound 
ing  our  way  as  we  went.  Of  course,  we  had  to  be  vigilant. 

"Two  of  our  hands  might  turn  upon  us  at  any  mo 
ment,  and  McLeod  was  not  faithful;  for  three  days  before 
we  got  in,  therefore,  the  teward  went  forward  and  slept 
with  them  in  the  forecastle.  Stedding,  Tilhnan,  and  I 
managed  it  so  that  two  of  us  were  on  deck  all  the  while, 
and  always  aft  of  the  other  three.  The  two  men  on  watch 
carried  the  two  pistols,  and  the  one  that  slept  always  kept 


522 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


With  the  S.  J.  Waring,  there  came  on 
the  same  day  into  the  harbor  of  New 
York  the  brig  Cuba,  which  had  been 


one  eye  open,  lest  we  might  be  attacked.  On  Sunday 
morning,  July  21st,  at  nine  o'clock,  we  got  a  pilot  oft'  Sandy 
Houk,  and  soon  after  hired  a  tug  for  $60  to  tow  us  up  to 
New  York,  where  we  arrived  about  four  P.M.,  truly  thank 
ful  for  our  great  deliverance." 

Tillman,  the  negro  steward,  became  the  hero  of  the  day, 
and  his  history,  personal  appearance,  and  character  were 
minutely  investigated.  He  was  described  as  "  of  medium 
height,  rather  strongly  built,  crisp  hair,  of  nearly  unmixed 
negro  blood,  and  bearing  in  his  countenance  an  expression 
of  honesty  and  strong  common  sense,  with  some  touches 
of  hnmor."  His  age  was  given  as  "  twenty-seven 
last  birthday,"  and  his  early  history  thus  detailed  :  "  He 
was  born  of  free  colored  parents  in  Milford,  Delaware. 
His  parents  moved  to  Providence,  Rhode  Island,  when  he 
was  fourteen  years  old,  and  he  has  since  called  that  place 
his  home.  He  has  followed  the  sea  for  years,  and  has 
been  in  the  employ  of  Jonas  Smith  &  Co.,  No.  227  Front 
Street  (New  York),  by  whom  the  Waring  was  owned,  for 
the  last  three  years." 

*  The  following  account  is  derived  from  the  log  of  Cap 
tain  Strout : 

"  Sailed  from  Trinidad  de  Cuba  for  London  on  July  2, 
with  a  cargo  of  sugar  and  molasses.  On  the  morning  of 
July  4,  in  latitude  21°  10',  longitude  73°  15',  on  the  south 
side  of  Cuba,  was  brought  to  by  a  shot  from  the  privateer 
steamer  Suinter,  formerly  the  Marquis  de  la  Habana,  and 
on  heaving  to  was  boarded  by  a  boat  from  her,  and  or 
dered  to  come  on  board  the  steamer  and  bring  my  ship's 
papers.  The  steamer  at  the  time  had  the  Stars  and  Stripes 
flying  from  her  peak,  which  were  afterward  taken  down 
and  the  secession  flag  hoisted.  On  arriving  on  board  I 
was  ordered  below  in  the  cabin,  and  delivered  my  papers 
to  the  captain,  who,  after  examining  them,  destroyed 
them,  saying  that  I  was  a  prisoner,  and  that  the  brig 
should  be  taken  into  port  and  sold.  At  this  time  Captain 
Shoppy,  of  the  brig  Machias,  of  Machias,  came  on  board, 
and  after  presenting  his  ship's  papers,  which  were  destroyed, 
we  were  told  to  go  on  board  our  vessels,  and  that  they 
would  be  towed  to  some  port  in  Cuba. 

"  Hawsers  were  then  got  out,  and  the  two  brigs  were 
taken  in  tow  ;  this  was  about  twelve  o'clock,  4th  July,  and 
the  brigs  continued  in  tow  until  four  A.M.,  July  5th,  when 
the  hawser  of  the  Machias  parted  ;  the  Cuba  was  towed 
some  ten  miles  farther,  when  she  was  let  off  and  search 


re-captured  by  her  original  captain  and 
crew  under  similar  circumstances.* 


made  for  the  Machias.  On  coming  up  again,  they  conld 
not  get  near  enough  to  our  brig  to  get  the  hawser,  on  ac 
count  of  the  heavy  sea,  when  she  proceeded  on  with  the 
Machias.  All  sail  was  then  made  for  Cuba,  and  she  was 
headed  in  for  land,  having  received  a  prize  crew  of  five 
men,  consisting  of  one  midshipman,  two  sailors,  and  two 
marines,  who  threatened,  '  in  case  Captain  Strout  and  his 
men  refused  to  work  the  vessel,  they  would  shoot  them.' 
Continued  working  the  vessel  in  toward  the  eastward  until 
the  7th,  when  the  officer  concluded  to  keep  her  off  for  some 
Southern  port,  where  he  could  run  her  in  or  on  shore." 

On  the  night  of  the  8th  Captain  Strout  succeeded,  after 
a  desperate  resistance  on  the  part  of  the  sailors  and  ma 
rines  in  regaining  possession  of  his  vessel. 

On  the  14th  of  July  the  midshipman  managed  to  get 
possession  of  a  pistol,  by  breaking  open  a  chest  while  all 
hands  were  engaged  in  working  the  ship,  and  with  it  went 
up  to  the  maintop.  Captain  Strout  coming  on  deck,  and 
seeing  the  pistol  in  his  hand,  turned  to  go  below  for  arms, 
when  the  midshipman  threatened  to  shoot  him  if  he  did. 
The  captain,  however,  went  below,  procured  a  revolver, 
and  ordered  him  down  on  the  deck.  On  his  refusal  two 
shots  were  fired  at  him,  one  of  which  taking  effect  in  his 
shoulder,  he  came  down. 

The  young  prize  officer  had  been  a  United  States  mid 
shipman,  and  was  a  graduate  of  the  Naval  School  at  An 
napolis.  He  gave  the  following  account  of  his  capture  : 

"  I  tried  to  work  the  ship  with  Captain  Strout's  crew, 
and  had  given  positive  orders  to  the  men  to  keep  their 
arms  on,  and  help  to  work,  whether  seamen  or  not,  where- 
ever  it  was  possible.  The  men  neglected  it ;  and  I,  for  the 
first  tjtne  in  four  days  and  nights  had  left  mine  off,  they 
being  in  the  bunk  below  at  the  time  of  Captain  Strout's 
movement.  I  had  laid  myself  down  on  deck  and  gone 
asleep.  When  I  awoke  I  found  all  the  men  aft,  without 
arms,  and  six  men,  Captain  Strout,  his  mate,  and  five  nien, 
ranged  opposite  and  around  me,  with  arms  in  their  hands. 
I  immediately  went  below,  having  been  permitted  to  pass 
them,  with  the  intention  of  getting  my  arms,  but  I  found 
them  gone  ;  and  when  I  returned  on  deck  I  met  the  cap 
tain  and  his  mate  facing  me,  with  my  pistols.  The  cap 
tain  demanded  my  surrender,  and  said  he  had  my  arms. 

"As  soon  as  I  got  up  to  him  he  ordered  me  forward,  and 
said  everything  should  be  done  fairly  with  us,  etc.  He 
put  us  in  irons,  but  not  having  sufficient  he  tied  several 
of  the  men  with  ropes.  He  took  my  irons  off  an  hour 
after;  but  I  was  watched,  and  afterward  locked  up." 


THE  SUMTER. 


523 


CHAPTER    XLIX. 

The  Privateer  Sumter. — Hor  History  and  Construction. — Armament  and  Officers. — Her  escape  from  New  Orleans. — 
An  eventful  Cruise. — Arrival  at  Gibraltar.— The  Privateer  Petrel.— Her  Destruction  by  the  St.  Lawrence.— The 
Dixie  and  her  triumphs. — Tlie  mystery  of  Privateering. — The  seizure  of  the  St.  Nicholas. — An  "  Artful  Dodger." 
—  His  capture  at  last. — Cutting  out  of  Schooner  Judah.— A  formidable  attempt  of  New  Orleans.— The  Enemy's 
Flotilla. — A  Strain  Ram. — Its  Construction. — Commodore  Hollins. — The  United  States  Fleet. — Hollins'  Attack. — 
A  Jubilant  Bulletin. — The  other  side. — The  Breaking  of  the  Blockade. — Voyage  of  the  Bermuda. — Arrival  of  the 
Nashville  in  England. 


1S01. 


THE  most  adventurous  of  the  Con 
federate  privateers,  and  the  most 
successful,  as  she  so  long  eluded  the 
constant  pursuit  of  the  Federal  cruisers, 
was  the  Sumter.  She  was  first  called 
the  Colon,  and  subsequently  the  Marquis 
de  la  Habana.  She  was  an  iron  screw- 
steamer,  built  at  Montreal,  and  was  for 
a  time  engaged  in  the  packet  service  be 
tween  New  Orleans  and  Havana.  Hav 
ing  made  the  passage  between  these  two 
ports  in  less  time  than  any  other,  she 
had  the  reputation  of  being  a  remark 
ably  fast  sailer.  Originally  owned  by 
Spanish  Americans,  she  was  chartered 
by  the  faction  of  Miramon,  claiming  the 
Government  of  Mexico,  and  being  cap 
tured  by  a  United  States  squadron  off 
Vera  Cruz,  was  sent  to  New  Orleans  for 
adjudication.  After  being  subjected  to 
a  trial  for  piracy,  the  vessel  was  returned 
to  her  original  owners. 

She  was  now  purchased  by  some  citi 
zens  of  New  Orleans,  and  thoroughly 
overhauled.  Her  old  engines  and  boilers 
were  taken  out  and  new  ones  put  in  be 
low  the  water-line.  Her  upper  works, 
with  her  cabins  for  passengers,  were  re 


moved,  and  a  clear  deck,  fore  and  aft,  thus 
secured.  She  was  pierced  for  four  guns 
on  each  side.  She  was  armed  with  a 
rifled  eighty-two  pounder,  mounted  on, 
a  swivel  amidship,  and  eight  thirty-two 
pounders.  The  bulwarks  were  so  ar 
ranged,  that  this  extensive  armament 
might  be  concealed  from  passing  vessels. 
The  lame  swivel  <run  was  hidden  from 

o  o 

view  by  means  of  a  wooden  structure 
which  had  the  appearance  of  a  perma 
nent  galley,  but  which  could  be  taken  to 
pieces  in  a  few  minutes.  The  vessel  was 
thoroughly  braced  and  strengthened  in 
every  part,  and  well-manned  and  equip 
ped.  Her  crew,  consisting  of  sixty-five 
sailors  and  twenty-five  marines,  were 
picked  men,  and  her  captain  and  officers 
remarkable  for  their  skill  and  enterprise. 
The  look  of  the  Sumter  would  seem  to 
have  been  by  no  means  attractive.  She 
is  described  as  an  "  awkwardly  rigged 
bark,  having  the  appearance  of  being  half 
merchantman,  half  man-of-war.  Her 
masts  appear  strongly  set,  and  her  sails 
are  much  too  small  for  a  vessel  of  her 
build.  She  carries  three  trysails,  all 
of  them  beinir  much  larger  than  those 


524 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


usually  carried  by  a  sailing  vessel  (we 
say  sailing  vessel,  because  it  is  a  trick 
of  the  captain  to  take  down  the  smoke 
stack  and  pass  himself  as  a  sailing  ves 
sel,  a  ruse  that  has  been  successful). 
She  has  a  fore  staysail  and  jib.  She  has 
two  large  quarter  boats,  and  one  hang 
ing  at  the  stern.  She  also  carries  top 
gallant  sails.  Her  courses  are  deep, 
particularly  the  mainsail,  and  her  top 
sails  bear  the  appearance  of  having  a 
reef  in  them.  A  vessel  of  good  sailing 
qualities  can  find  no  difficulty  in  run 
ning  away  from  her,  provided  such  a 
course  is  deemed  advisable.  The  range 
of  her  largest  gun  is  2,000  yards,  at 
high  elevation ;  but  the  execution  is 
small  at  a  greater  distance  than  1,500 
yards.  Her  other  guns  have  been  sup 
plied  from  the  Norfolk  Navy  Yard."* 

Closely  watched  by  the  sloop-of-war 
Brooklyn,  blockading  the  mouths  of  the 
Mississippi,  the  Sumter  made  several 
ineffectual  attempts  to  elude  her  vigi- 
j,,ly  lance,  but  finally  succeeded  in  mak- 
^  ing  her  escape  after  being  chased 
four  hours.  "  With  three  cheers  for  the 

*  Captain  and  officers  of  the  privateer  Sumter  : 

COMMANDER. — Raphael  Semines. 

LIEUTENANTS.— John  M.  Kells,  R.  F.  Chapman,  W.  E. 
Kvans,  J.  M.  Stribling. 

PAYMASTER. — Henry  Myers. 

PASSED  ASSISTANT  SURGEON.— Francis  I.  Golt. 

LIEUTENANT  OF  MARINES. — Beckett  K.  Howell. 

MIDSHIPMEN.— R.  F.  Armstrong,  Wm.  A.  Hicks,  A.  G. 
Hndgins,  J.  D.  Wilson. 

GUNNER. — Thomas  C.  Cuddy. 

SAILMAKER.— M.  P.  Beaufort. 

FIRST  ASSISTANT  ENGINEER,  ACTING  AS  CHIEF. — M.  J. 
Freeman. 

SECOND  ASSISTANT. — W.  P.  Brooks. 

THIRD  ASSISTANTS.— Matthew  O'Brien,  S.  W.  Cummings. 

The  Sumter  is  1,137  tons  register,  184  feet  long,  30  feet 
beam,  and  13  feet  depth  of  hold. 


Southern  Confederacy/'  the  Sumter  sail 
ed  upon  her  adventurous  cruise,  and  im 
mediately  began  a  series  of  ravages  upon 
Northern  commerce,  which  every  effort 
failed  to  check.  Making  a  course  for 
the  West  Indies,  she  captured  eight 
American  vessels  on  the  south  side  of 
Cuba,  and  burned  one  ship,  the  Golden 
Rocket,  near  the  Isle  of  Pines.  She  af 
terward  cruised  for  a  time  on  the  South 
American  coast,  in  the  neighborhood  of 
Guiana  and  Brazil,  but  having  extended 
her  voyages  as  far  as  the  coast  of  Spain, 
burning  and  capturing  many  vessels, 
finally  put  into  Gibraltar,  where  being- 
blockaded  by  the  United  States  gunboat 
Tuscarora,  she  was  sold. 

The  little  Petrel,  formerly  the  revenue 
cutter  Aiken,  was  disposed  to  be  no  less 
adventurous,  but  proved  less  successful 
than  the  Sumter.  On  the  very  first  day 
after  leaving  the  harbor  of  Charles- 
ton,  she,  with  blind  recklessness, 
threw  herself  into  the  fatal  embrace  of  a 
powerful  Federal  man-of-war  —  the  Uni 
ted  States  frigate  St.  Lawrence  —  having 
mistaken  her  for  a  merchantman.* 


*  The  story  is  well  told  in  this  account  of  her  destruction : 
"  The  St.  Lawrence  had  been  cruising  for  a  month 
along  the  Atlantic  coast,  between  Cape  Henry  and 
Savannah,  and  on  the  morning  of  the  1st  of  August, 
while  just  outside  the  harbor  of  Charleston,  i-spied  a  long, 
rakish  schooner,  filled  with  men  and  mounting  three  or 
four  guns,  sailing  rapidly  down  upon  her.  The  port 
holes  were  still  shut,  but  the  flag  was  at  the  peak,  and 
the  St.  Lawrence  looked  not  unlike  a  great  lubberly 
merchantman  becalmed  in  a  strange  latitude,  and  too 
unwieldy  for  any  purposes  save  the  holding  of  a  big  cargo 
for  the  avarice  of  an  enemy  to  court  and  a  daring  priva 
teer  to  secure. 

"  As  the  stranger  came  down,  the  St.  Lawrence  hoisted 
all  sail  and  affected  to  be  anxious  to  get  out  to  sea.  In 
reality,  however,  she  was  edging  closer  in  to  shore,  and 
making  arrangements  below  to  receive  the  reckless  visit- 


A 


THE  "ARTFUL  DODGER"  CAUGHT. 


52' 


is  satisfactory  to  record  that  this  "  artful 
dodger,"  variously  known  as  Col.  Rich 
ard  Thomas,  Zouave,  and  the  "French 
lady,"  was  caught  in  a  second  attempt. 
Having  returned  to  Maryland  he  took 
passage  on  board  the  steamer  May  Wash 
ington,  bound  to  Baltimore,  but  was  de- 

O  '  .  / 

tected  before  he  was  able  to  carry  out 
his  purpose  of  capturing  her.  He  strove 
to  outface  his  captors  by  a  protest  against 
the  invasion  of  his  rights  as  a  passenger. 
This  failing,  he  escaped  from  those  who 
had  seized  him,  and  tried  to  hide  himself 
from  further  pursuit  by  taking  to  a  chest 
of  drawers.  He  was,  however,  dragged 
out,  and  securely  held  until  the  arrival 
of  the  vessel  at  Baltimore,  when  he  was 
thrust  into  Fort  McHenry,  and  retained 
as  a  prisoner.* 

captain  '  hailed  three  large  brigs,  which  were  lying  off  a 
few  miles  from  Fredericksburgh.  The  vessels  were  im 
mediately  boarded  by  the  privateer,  and  not  having  a 
sufficient  force  on  board  to  offer  any  resistance,  they  were 
all  then  quietly  delivered  over  to  the  party  as  prizes.  The 
prizes,  one  of  which  was  laden  with  coffee,  a  second  with 
ice,  and  the  third  with  coal,  were  run  into  Fredericks- 
burgh,  Virginia,  and  delivered  into  the  possession  of  the 
Virginians,  the  steamer  being  kept  at  that  port,  together 
with  her  captain  and  crew. 

"  Captain  Noi  ris,  the  clerk  of  the  St.  Nicholas,  together 
with  five  of  the  stewards,  came  passengers  on  board  the 
Express,  having  been  released  at  the  '  The  Cone,'  who  give 
the  above  particulars.'' 

*  This  official  report  of  the  cutting  out  of  the  schooner 
Judah,  while  lying  off  the  Pensacola  Navy  Yard,  records 
Allg>  a  '  brilliant  exploit  "  of  another  character,  executed 
1«J.  by  the  Federal  officers  and  sailors  of  our  navy.  Its 
dash  and  success,  showing  the  greatest  gallantry  and  skill 
on  the  part  of  our  brave  seamen  in  their  true  character, 
are  more  than  a  set-off  to  the  impudent  ingenuity  of  the 
artful  captain  of  the  enemy  in  disguise  of  the  "  French 
lady." 

"  OFF  FORT  PICKENS,  Sept.  15,  1861. 

"  SIR,"  wrote  Captain  Mervine  to  the  Secretary  of  the 
Navy,  "I  have  the  honor  to  inform  you  that  a  boat  ex 
pedition  was  fitted  out  from  this  ship  on  the  night  of  the 
13th  instant,  consisting  of  the  first  launch,  and  first, 
second,  and  third  cutters,  under  the  commands  of  Lieu 
tenants  Russell,  Sproston,  Blake,  and  Midshipman  Steece, 


One  of  the  most  formidable  efforts  of 
the  enemy  on  the  water,  however,    Oct 
was  made  against  the  Federal  block-      "• 
ading  fleet  off  New  Orleans.     This  en- 


respectively  assisted  by  Captain  Reynolds  of  the  marines, 
Assistant-Surgeon  Kennedy,  Assistant-Engineer  White, 
Gunner  Horton,  and  Midshipmen  Forrest  and  Higginson. 
The  whole  force  detailed  consisted  of  about  100  men, 
officers,  sailors,  and  marines.  The  object  of  the  expedi 
tion  was  the  destruction  of  a  schooner  which  lay  off  the 
Pensacola  Navy  Yard,  supposed  to  be  fitting  out  as  a  pri 
vateer,  and  the  spiking  of  a  gun,  in  battery,  at  the  south 
east  end  of  the  yard. 

"  The  movements  of  the  schooner  had  been  assiduously 
watched  for  several  days  and  nights,  and  I  deemed  it  so 
morally  certain  that  she  was  intended  for  a  privateer 
that  I  determined  the  attempt  should  be  made  to  destroy 
her,  even  in  face  of  the  fearful  odds  which  would  have  to 
be  encountered.  Lieutenant  Russell  had  charge  of  the  ex 
pedition,  and,  with  Lieutenant  Blake,  was  to  attack  the 
vessel,  while  Lieutenant  Sproston  and  Midshipman  Steece 
spiked  the  guns. 

"The  attack  was  made  on  the  morning  of  the  14th 
instant  at  half-past  three  o'clock.  The  schooner,  named 
the  Judah,  was  found  moored  to  the  wharf,  under  the 
protection  of  a  battery  and  field  piece,  and  to  be  armed 
with  a  pivot  and  four  broadside  guns.  Her  crew  were  on 
her,  and  prepared  to  receive  our  forces,  pouring  in  a 
volley  of  musketry  as  the  boat  neared  the  vessel.  A  des 
perate  resistance  was  made  from  the  decks  of  the  schooner, 
but  her  men  were  driven  off  on  to  the  wharf  by  our 
boarders,  where  they  rallied  and  were  joined  by  the  guard, 
and  kept  up  a  continued  fire  upon  our  men. 

"  In  the  mean  time  the  vessel  was  set  on  fire  in  several 
places.  That  which  finally  consumed  her  was  lighted  in 
the  cabin  by  Assistant-Engineer  White  and  a  coal-heaver, 
Patrick  Driscoll,  who  went  as  a  volunteer.  She  burned  to 
the  water's  edge,  and  has  since,  while  burning,  been  set 
free  from  her  moorings,  and  has  drifted  down  opposite 
Fort  Barrancas,  where  she  sunk. 

"  Of  the  party  assigned  to  the  spiking  of  the  gun,  only 
Lieutenant  Sproston  and  Gunner  Boreton  were  able,  after 
considerable  search,  to  find  it,  the  party  becoming  sepa 
rated  in  the  darkness.  No  opposition  was  made  to  their 
landing.  Midshipman  Steece,  with  his  command,  had 
gone  to  the  aid  of  those  on  the  schooner,  where  he  per 
formed  valuable  service.  Very  fortunately  only  one  man 
was  found  in  charge  of  the  gun,  and  he  immediately 
levelled  his  piece  at  Lieutenant  Sproston,  but  was  shot 
down  by  Gunner  Horton  before  he  could  obtain  certain 
aim.  Both  pieces  exploded  simultaneously.  The  gun, 
which  was  found  to  be  a  10-inch  columbiad,  was  immedi 
ately  spiked,  and,  bringing  off  its  tompion,  these  two 
officers  returned  to  their  boat. 

"  The  work  proposed  having  tb.ua  been  well  and  thor- 


528 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


terprise,   although 


undertaken  by  what 
was  properly  termed  by  the  Confede 
rates  a  portion  of  their  regular  navy, 
under  the  command  of  one  of  their  com- 

oughly  done  in  the  short  space  of  fifteen  minutes,  and  the 
whole  force  of  the  enemy  in  the  yard — reported  by  de- 
'••  rters  as  over  1,000  strong — being  aroused,  our  boats 
pulled  away,  and  rallying  at  a  short  distance  from  the 
shore,  fired  six  charges  of  canister  from  their  howitzers 
into  the  yard,  with  what  result  it  is  impossible  to  say. 
Three  of  the  enemy  are  known  to  have  been  killed,  and 
our  officers  are  confident  the  number  is  much  larger. 
The  boats  then  returned  to  the  ship,  arriving  there  about 
daylight. 

"  But,  sir,  I  am  grieved  to  report  that  this  brilliant 
affair  was  not  unattended  by  loss  on  our  side.  I  have  to 
report  as  killed  by  shots  from  the  cross-trees  of  the 
schooner,  while  the  boats  were  approaching,  boatswain's 
mate  Charles  H.  Lamphere,  and  John  R.  Herring,  seaman 
and  captain  of  the  howitzer,  two  of  the  best  men  in  our 
ship,  and  marine  John  Smith — the  first  man  to  board  the 
schooner,  and  who  behaved  most  gallantly — who  was, 
by  a  sad  mistake,  having  lost  his  distinguishing  mark, 
killed  by  one  of  our  own  men.  We  have  wounded, 
probably  mortally,  seaman  R.  Clark,  and  E.  K.  Osborn  ; 
severely,  nine  other  seamen.  Captain  Reynolds  received 
a  severe  contusion  on  his  shoulder,  and  Midshipman  Hig- 
ginson  had  the  end  of  his  thumb  shot  off.  Lieutenants 
Russell  and  Blake  had  narrow  escapes,  the  flesh  of  each 
being  grazed  by  one  or  more  musket-balls. 

"  It  is  not  an  easy  task  to  select  individual  instances 
of  daring  or  bravery  where  all  behaved  so  gallantly.  The 
officers  unite  in  giving  great  credit  to  the  coolness  and 
bravery  with  which  they  were  supported  by  the  men,  and 
the  latter  have  learned  to  look  with  i.ew  pride  and  confi 
dence  on  the  former.  The  marines,  especially,  seem  to 
have  sustained  the  reputation  borne  by  their  branch  of 
the  service,  as  they  receive  encomiums  from  all  sides. 
Assistant-Surgeon  Kennedy  rendered  valuable  assistance 
in  the  care  of  the  wounded.  Assistant  Engineer  White 
brought  down  from  the  cross-trees  of  the  schooner  a  man 
who  had  been  seen  to  fire  upon  the  boats,  killing  him 
instantly.  I  enclose,  herewith,  a  complete  list  of  all  en 
gaged  in  the  affair,  with  the  names  of  tlir  killed  and 
wounded  in  each  boat.  I  have  the  honor  to  I.e.  very  re 
spectfully,  your  obedient  serv;mt, 

"  WILLIAM  MEHVINE, 

"  Flag  Officer  Commanding  Gulf  Blockade  Squadron. 

"  P.  S.  By  a  strange  inadvertency,  my  mind  being  so 
much  ergrossed  with  the  exi>e<lit:on  itself,  I  omitted  to 
give  credit  to  C;iptain  Bailey,  of  this  ship,  for  mntiiriug 
the  plan  and  taking  charje  of  fitting  out,  the  expedition  to 
the  minutest  detail.  It  is  to  his  fhouirht.f.-.inefis  that,  a 
great  portion  of  its  success  must  ba  ascribed.  W.  M." 


rnodores,  was  conducted  with  all  the 
mystery  and  artifice  of  the  more  irreg 
ular  of  their  nautical  proceedings. 

The   enemy   had  extemporized  a   flo 
tilla  consisting  of  a  steam-tus:  or  "  ram,'3 

o  o 

the  Manassas,  mounted  with  one  sixty- 
four  pounder  Dahlgren  ;  the  steamer 
Calhoun,  with  one  twenty-four  pounder 
Dahlgren;  the  steamer  Ivy,  with  an  eight- 
inch  thirty-two  pounder,  rifled  ;  the 
steamer  Jackson,  with  two  eight-inch 
columbiads;  the  steamer  McRea,  with  a 
sixty-four  pounder  on  a  pivot,  four  eight- 
inch  columbiads,  and  a  twenty-four 
pounder,  rifled  ;  and  the  cutter  Pickens, 
with  an  eight-inch  colurnbiad  and  four 
twenty-four-pound  carronades.  The  Ma 
nassas  had  been  converted  from  the  steam- 
tug  Enoch  Train  into  a  "  ram  "  of  peculiar 
construction.  She  was  double-planked 
all  over  with  wood  of  six  feet  in  thick 
ness.  Her  bow  extended  to  a  length  of 

O 

nine  feet,  made  of  the  thickest  and 
strongest  oak  timber.  This,  together 
with  the  whole  surface  of  the  vessel,  was 
covered  with  iron  plates,  two  inches 
thick.  Her  hull  rose  only  two  feet  and 
a  quarter  above  the  water,  and  her  duck 
was  covered  in  with  a  slanting  roof  of 
heavy  wood  covered  with  iron  plates. 
From  her  bow,  below  the  water-mark, 
projected  an  iron  borer,  as  thick  as  a 
man's  arm,  intended  to  pierce  and  sink 
any  vessel  she  might  oppose.  Her  low- 
ness  in  the  water  rendered  her  but  little 
exposed  to  shot,  while  her  iron-mail  was 
said  to  be  impenetrable  to  the  heaviest 
cannon-ball. 

Captain  Hollins,  whose  fame  had  hith 
erto  rested  upon  his  exploit  at  San  Juan, 


EXPLOIT  OF  ROLLINS. 


where  lie  had  burnt  to  ashes  an  unre 
sisting  town,  was  the  commodore  of  this 
flotilla. 

The  United  States  fleet,  which  he  now 
sailed  out  to  attack,  was  composed  of 
the  Richmond,  14  guns,  the  Vincennes, 
21  guns,  the  Preble,  16  guns,  and  the 
small  steamers  Water  Witch  and  Night 
ingale,  of  one  gun  each. 

Choosing  a  dark  night,  Captain  Hollins 
sailed  from  Fort  Jackson  with  his  for 
midable  steam  ram,  his  flotilla,  and  a 
number  of  fire-rafts.  The  enemy  gave 
this  account  of  the  expedition  : 

"  On  Friday  night  last  our  fleet  started 
from  Fort  Jackson,  the  Manassas  leading 
the  way.  The  night  was  intensely  dark, 
and  the  Manassas  ran  into  a  vessel,  strik 
ing  her  near  the  bow  and  cutting  into 
her  upward  of  twenty  feet.  Appalling 
shrieks  were  heard  aboard  the  doomed 
si  lip  ;  signal  rockets  were  fired  ;  the 
enemy  beat  to  quarters,  and  a  perfect 
iron  hail  fell  upon  and  around  the  Ma 
nassas,  during  which  her  machinery  be 
came  deranged.  The  Tuscarora  and  the 
Watson  came  up  with  five  barges  which 
had  been  cut  loose  and  set  adrift  on  the 
stream. 

"When  the  morning  came,  our  fleet 
commenced  to  pursue  the  retreating 
enemy,  and  a  heavy  cannonading  began, 
which  lasted  till  eight  o'clock.  Several 
shots  struck  the  Richmond.  The  shots 
from  the  Yankees  were  badly  aimed,  as 
they  did  not  touch  one  of  our  vessels. 
When  the  firing  ended,  the  fleet  returned 
to  the  city,  with  the  prize  schooner 
Joseph  II.  Toone,  loaded  with  coal,  and 
which  had  been  deserted  during  the 
67 


night.  A  large  quantity  of  lumber, 
which  had  been  intended  for  the  con 
struction  of  a  fortification  at  the  head  of 
the  Passes,  was  burned.  The  prizes  cap 
tured  were  the  Joseph  li.  Toone,  and  a 
launch  belonging;  to  the  Federal  steamer 

O        O 

Richmond,  which  latter  was  laden  with' 
cutlasses.     The  vessel  sunk  was  not  the 
Preble,  but  the  Vincennes.     Three  ves 
sels  of  our  expedition  arrived  on  Satur 
day  night." 

Commodore  Hollins  exulted  over  his 
pretended  victory  in  this  dispatch  : 

"  FORT  JACKSON,  October  12,  1861. 

"  Last  night  I  attacked  the  blockaders 
with  my  little  fleet.  I  succeeded,  after 
a  very  short  struggle,  in  driving  them 
all  aground  on  the  Southwest  Pass  bar, 
except  the  Preble,  which  I  sunk.  I 
captured  a  prize  from  them,  and  after 
they  were  fast  in  the  sand  I  peppered 
them  well.  There  were  no  casualties  on 
our  side.  It  was  a  complete  success. 

"HoLLfNS."* 

*  Hollins'  statements,  however,  are  positively  contra 
dicted  in  his  official  report  of  Captain  Pope  to  the  flag 
officer  of  the  United  States  fleet  : 

"  UNITED  STATES  STEAMER  RICHMOND,  SOUTHWEST  PASS  > 
OF  MISSISSIPPI  RIVER,   Oct.  13,  1861.  J 

"  SIR  :  I  have  the  honor  to  make  the  following  report : 
At  3  45  A.M.,  October  12,  1861,  while  the  watch  on  deck 
were  employed  in  taking  coal  on  board  from  the  schooner 
Joseph  H.  Toone,  a  ram  was  discovered  in  close  proximity 
to  this  ship.  By  the  time  the  alarm  could  be  given,  she 
had  struck  the  ship  abreast  of  the  port  fore  channels,  tear 
ing  the  schooner  from  her  fastenings  and  forcing  a  hole 
through  the  ship's  side.  Pas-sing  aft,  the  ram  endeavored 
to  effect  a  breach  in  the  stern,  but  failed.  Three  planks 
in  the  ship's  side  were  stove  in  about  two  feet  below  the 
water-line,  making  a  hole  about  five  inches  in  circumfer 
ence.  At  the  first  alarm,  the  crew  promptly  and  coolly 
repaired  to  their  quarters,  and  as  the  ram  passed  abreast  of 
the  ship,  the  entire  port  battery  was  discharged  at  her,  with 
what  effect  it  is  impossible  to  discover,  owing  to  the  dark 
ness.  A  red  light  was  shown  as  a  signal  of  danger,  and 
the  squadron  was  under  way  in  a  very  few  minutes,  having 


530 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


The  Confederates  dwelt  with  great 
complacency  upon  the  success  with  which 
various  vessels  had  eluded  the  Federal 
blockade — boasting  of  the  voyage  of 
the  steamer  Bermuda,  which  sailed  from 
Europe  to  Charleston  with  army  supplies 

slipped  their  cables.  1  ordered  the  Preble  and  Vincennes 
to  proceed  down  the  Southwest  Pass,  while  I  covered  their 
retreat,  which  they  did  at  about  4.50  A.M.  At  this  time, 
throe  large  fire-rafts,  stretching  across  the  river,  were  rap 
idly  nearing  us,  while  several  larger  steamers  and  a  bark- 
rigged  propeller  were  seen  astern  of  them. 

"The  squadron  proceeded  down  the  river  in  the  follow 
ing  order:  1st,  the  Preble;  2d,  the  Vincennes;  3d,  the 
Richmond  ;  4th,  the  Water  Witch  with  the  prize  schooner 
Frolic  in  tow.  When  abreast  of  the  pilot  settlement,  the 
pilot  informed  me  that  he  did  not  consider  it  safe  to  ven 
ture  to  turn  this  ship  in  the  river,  but  that  he  believed  he 
could  pass  over  the  bar.  I  accordingly  attempted  to  pass 
over  the  bar  with  the  squadron,  but  in  the  passage  the 
Vincennes  and  Richmond  grounded,  while  the  Preble  went 
over  clear.  This  occurred  about  eight  o'clock,  and  the 
enemy,  who  were  now  down  the  river  with  the  fire-steam 
ers,  commenced  firing  at  us,  while  we  returned  the  fire 
from  our  port  battery  and  rifled  gun  on  the  poop,  our  shot, 
however,  falling  short  of  the  enemy,  while  their  shell 
burst  on  all  sides  of  us,  and  several  passed  directly  over 
the  ship. 

"At  9.30,  Commander  Handy,  of  the  Vincennes,  mistak 
ing  my  signal  to  the  ships  outside  the  bar,  to  get  under 
way,  for  a  signal  for  him  to  abandon  his  ship,  came  on 
board  the  Richmond  with  all  his  officers  and  a  large  num 
ber  of  his  crew,  the  remainder  having  gone  on  board  the 
Water  Witch.  Captain  Handy,  before  leaving  his  ship, 
had  placed  a  lighted  slow-match  at  the  magazine.  Having 
waited  a  reasonable  time  for  an  explosion,  I  directed  Com 
mander  Handy  to  return  to  his  ship,  with  his  crew,  to  start 
his  water,  and,  if  necessary,  at  his  own  request,  to  throw 
overboard  his  small  guns,  for  the  purpose  of  lightening 
his  ship,  and  to  carry  out  his  kedge  with  a  cable  to  heave 


and  returned  with  a  cargo  of  cotton  ;  of 
the  escape  of  the  Nashville  and  her  arrival 
in  England,  after  having  burnt  the  Harvey 
Birch  in  the  English  Channel,  and  of  the 
hitherto  fortunate  ventures  of  the  Fingal, 
Isabel,  Theodora,  and  others. 

off  by.  At  ten  A.M.  the  enemy  ceased  firing,  and  with 
drew  up  the  river.  During  the  engagement  a  shell  entered 
our  quarter  port,  and  one  of  the  boats  was  stove  by  another 
shell. 

"  I  have  this  morning  succeeded  in  getting  this  ship  over 
the  bar.  The  McClellan  and  South  Carolina  are  using  all 
exertions  to  get  the  Vincennes  off.  The  Nightingale  is 
hard  and  fast  ashore  to  the  end  of  the  bar.  I  have  suc 
ceeded  in  reducing  the  leak  of  this  ship  so  that  our  small 
engines  keep  the  ship  free.  This  is  only  temporary,  and 
the  ship  will  have  to  go  to  some  place  and  have  three 
planks  put  in.  I  have  received  rifled  guns  and  placed  the 
thivty-two-pounder  on  the  forecastle,  and  the  twelve- 
pounder  on  the  poop.  Could  I  have  possibly  managed  this 
ship  in  any  other  way  than  keeping  her  head  up  and  down 
the  river,  I  would  have  stopped  at  Pilot  Town  to  give 
battle,  but  this  was  found  too  hazardous,  owing  to  her  ex 
treme  length.  The  attempt  was  made,  but  a  broadside 
could  not  be  brought  to  bear  without  running  the  ship 
ashore.  I  then  concluded,  as  advised,  to  start  for  the  bar, 
and  trust  to  finding  water  enough  to  cross. 

"  In  narrating  the  affair  of  the  river,  I  omitted  to  state 
that  the  ram  sunk  one  of  our  large  cutters,  and  a  shot 
from  the  enemy  stove  the  gig.  I  am  pleased  to  say  that 
the  Vincennes  is  afloat,  and  at  anchor  outside  on  my  sta^ 
board  quarter.  Assistant-Surgeon  Robinson,  from  the  Via 
cennes,  is  ordered  to  temporary  duty  on  board  this  ship. 
Assistant-Surgeon  Howell,  condemned  by  survey,  will  re 
turn  in  the  McClellan.  The  master  of  the  Nightingale 
will  deliver  fifty  tons  of  coal  to  the  McClellan.  This, 
together  with  what  I  will  take  out,  will,  I  trust,  lighten 
her  so  that  we  can  haul  her  off. 

"  Very  respectfully,  JOHN  POPE,  Captain. 

"To  Flag  Officer  WM.  A.  McKfiAN." 


EXPEDITION  TO  HATTERAS. 


531 


CHAPTER     L. 

Naval  Resources  of  the  United  States. — Navy  and  Commercial  Marine. — Tardy  action  of  Government. — Action  at  last. 
— Naval  Expeditions. — Blockade. — Expedition  to  Hatteras. — Rendezvous  at  Fortress  Monroe. — The  Fleet. — How 
composed. — The  Troops. — How  composed. — The  Commanders-in-chief. — Life  and  Naval  Career  of  Commodore 
Stringham. — Secrecy  of  the  Object  of  the  Expedition. — How  disclosed. — The  Object  explained. — The  Coast  of  North 
Carolina  described. — Inlets  and  Sounds. — Hatteras  Inlet. — Enemy's  Fortifications. — Forts  Hatteras  and  Clark — Ar 
rival  of  the  Fleet  off  Hatteras. — Place  for  disembarkation  selected. — The  Landing  of  Troops.— Difficulties  and  Dis 
asters. — The  Troops  Landed. — Their  embarrassment.— Position  of  the  war  vessels. — The  Monticello  aground. — Fire 
from  the  Enemy. — Response  from  the  Monticello.- — Fort  Clark  abandoned  by  the  Enemy. — Movement  of  the  Troops 
on  Land. — Sufferings. — Renewed  action  of  the  war  vessels. — Great  effect  of  Bombardment. — A  successful  shot. — • 
The  day  settled. — The  White  Flag  raised. — Negotiations  for  surrender. — Disagreement. — Terms  agreed  to. — Sur 
render  of  the  Enemy. — General  Butler's  Official  Dispatch.— Official  Reports  of  the  Enemy. — Commodore  Barron'a 
account  of  the  fight,  and  his  surrender. 


1801. 


THE  Federal  Government,  with  a  well- 
organized  navy  at  its  command  and 
the  enormous  commercial  marine  of 
the  North  at  its  service,  possessed  a 
powerful  means  of  carrying  on  the  war, 
which  the  insurgent  slave  States,  with 
their  meagre  naval  resources,  had  great 
reason  to  dread  ;  but,  with  its  ships  of 
war  designedly  scattered,  as  it  was  sus 
pected,  over  the  seas  of  the  world,  by  an 
administration  under  the  control  of  men 
conspiring  to  dissolve  the  Union,  and 
suddenly  confronted  with  an  enemy 
whose  hostility  and  power  our  statesmen 
persistently  continued  to  underrate,  was 
slow  in  deriving  advantage  from  its  su 
periority  on  the  sea.  Aroused  at  last  to 
the  necessity  of  exercising  its  full  power 
in  a  war  the  formidable  character  of 
which  could  no  longer  be  concealed,  the 
Government  brought  to  bear  the  power 
ful  means  of  offence  offered  by  its  navy 
and  the  commercial  marine.  The  men- 
of-war  were  recalled  from  remote  foreign 


stations  and  employed  in  the  blockade 
of  the  extensive  coast  of  the  insurgent 
slave  States ;  merchant  craft,  sailing 
vessels,  and  steamers  of  all  kinds  were 
chartered  and  purchased,  and  fleets  of 
gun-boats  rapidly  constructed. 

It  was  thus  that  the  Federal  Govern 
ment  was  enabled,  in  addition  to  giving 
efficiency  to  the  blockade,  to  commence 
a  series  of  expeditions  to  the  Southern 
coast.  The  first  was  that  to  Hatteras, 
off  North  Carolina,  which  will  now  be 
described. 

Fortress  Monroe  having  been  made 
the  rendezvous  for  the  various  ves-  Aug0 
sels,  the  expedition  sailed  thence  a<{* 
on  the  26th  of  August.  It  was  com 
posed  of  two  steam  frigates,  the  Min 
nesota,  Captain  G.  A.  Van  Brunt — the 
flag-ship  of  Commodore  Stringham,  who 
was  the  naval  chief  in  command — 
and  the  Wabash,  Captain  Mercer  ;  three 
gun-boats,  the  Pawnee,  Captain  Rowan, 
the  Monticello,  Commander  Gillis,  and 


532 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


the  Harriet  Lane,  Captain  Faunce  ;  and 
two  transports,  the  Adelaide  and  the 
George  Peabody.  To  these  were  added 
several  old  hulks,  to  be  filled  with  stones 
and  sunk  in  the  channels,  and  a  number 
of  surf  and  flat  boats  for  landing  the 

o 

troops.  The  steam  frigate  Susquehannah 
subsequently  joined  the  fleet.  The 
troops,  which  for  the  most  part  embarked 
on  the  transports,  were  composed  of  500 
men  of  the  Twentieth  Regiment  of  New 
York  Volunteers,  Colonel  Max  Weber ; 
220  of  the  Ninth  Regiment  of  New  York 
Volunteers,  Colonel  Hawkins ;  100  of  the 
Union  Coast  Guard,  Captain  Nixon,  and 
one  company  of  the  United  States  Artil 
lery,  Lieutenant  Lamed,  making  in  all 
about  900  soldiers.  To  General  Butler 
had  been  intrusted  the  military  and  to 
Commodore  Stringham  the  naval  com 
mand  of  the  expedition.  Of  the  former, 
the  readers  of  this  history  have  been  duly 
informed ;  of  the  latter,  a  veteran  naval 
commander,  there  is  an  honorable  rec 
ord  of  service  which  it  is  proper  now 
to  exhibit. 

Silas  H.  Stringham  was  born  at  New- 
burg,  in  the  State  of  New  York,  in  the 
year  1796.  His  first  naval  service  was 
as  a  midshipman  on  board  the  frigate 
President,  Commodore  Rudgers,  in  1809. 
In  1830  he  commanded  the  Falrnouth, 
on  the  West  Indian  station.  From  1835 
to  1837  he  held  a  command  in  the 
Mediterranean  ;  at  its  close  he  was  or 
dered  to  the  Porpoise  and  sent  in  search 
of  a  pirate  then  cruising  on  our  coast. 
In  1842  he  commanded  the  Independ 
ence,  attached  to  the  home  squadron, 
and  in  1847  he  took  command  of  the 


Ohio,  dispatched  on  special  service  to 
Brazil.  He  was  subsequently  placed  in 
command  at  the  Brooklyn  Navy  Yard, 
where  he  remained  until  the  Mexican 
war,  when  he  again  took  charge  of  the 
Ohio,  and  led  the  squadron  in  the  suc 
cessful  bombardment  of  A^era  Cruz  and 
the  capture  of  the  Castle  San  Juan 
d'Ulloa.  In  1852  he  sailed  in  command 
of  the  Mediterranean  squadron,  and  on 
his  return  in  1855  was  appointed  com 
mandant  of  the  Navy  Yard  at  Charles- 
town,  in  Massachusetts.  At  the  com 
mencement  of  the  war  he  was  ordered 
to  the  chief  command  of  the  naval  force 
blockading  the  coast  of  the  hostile  States. 
It  was  while  on  this  service  that  he  was 
called  to  conduct  the  first  naval  expedi 
tion. 

Though  studious  efforts  had  been  made 
to  conceal  the  place  of  attack,  the  public 
at  the  North,  and  more  especially  the 
enemy  at  the  South,  had  disco vered  it. 
The  object  of  the  expedition  was  to  take 
possession  of  Hatteras  and  the  other 
inlets  on  the  coast  of  North  Carolina, 
which  the  enemy  had  defended  by  vari 
ous  fortifications.  These  inlets  are  pas 
sages  from  the  Atlantic  Ocean  to  the 
sounds  or  lagoons  shut  in  from  the  sea 
by  those  long  stretches  of  sand  beaches 
peculiar  to  the  coast  of  North  Carolina. 
The  command  of  these  sounds,  of  which 
the  principal  are  Pamlico  and  Albe- 
marle,  was  of  eminent  advantage  to  the 
enemy,  as  they  afforded  not  only  means 
of  ready  exit  and  entrance  through  the 
inlets  to  privateers  and  vessels  desirous 
of  eluding  the  Federal  cruisers,  but  an 
interior  communication  by  the  Dismal 


LANDING  AT  HATTERAS. 


533 


Swamp  Canal  with  the  Chesapeake.-  To 
secure  the  possession  of  these  inlets,  the 
principal  ones  had  been  protected  by 
fortifications.  Old  Topsail  inlet,  leading 
to  Beaufort  (N.  C.),  was  defended  by  a 
granite  fort,  strongly  built  and  mounted 
with  forty  guns.  This  was  originally 
constructed  at  the  expense  of  the  Federal 
Government,  but  was  seized  by  the  in 
surgents  of  Carolina.  Ocracoke  Inlet, 
farther  north,  was  also  defended  by  a 
work  built  by  the  United  States,  termed 
Fort  Morgan.  Hatteras  Inlet,  some  forty 
miles  still  further  north,  near  the  cape 
whence  it  derives  its  name,  had  been 
but  recently  formed  by  the  action  of  the 
sea  on  these  ever-shifting  sand  beaches. 
This  new  channel,  connecting  the  ocean 
with  Pamlico  sound,  and  allowing  the 
passage  of  vessels  drawing  fifteen  feet 
of  water,  was  much  used  by  the  enemy 
in  their  restricted  commerce,  and  they 
had  made  great  efforts  to  secure  it. 
They  had  here  constructed  two  forts, 
called  Hatteras  and  Clark.  The  chief 
object  of  the  naval  expedition  was  to  de 
stroy  or  gain  possession  of  them,  and 
thus  wrest  the  command  of  Hatteras  In 
let  from  the  enemy. 

On  the  evening  of  the  27th  of  August, 
the  fleet,  with  the  exception  of  the  Sus- 
quehannah,  arrived  off  Hatteras,  and  the 
object  of  the  expedition  was  officially  an 
nounced  to  those  engaged  in  it.  Con 
tinuing  to  close  in  with  the  land,  on  the 
next  morning  all  the  vessels,  with  the  ex 
ception  of  the  Susquehannah,  which  did  j 
not  arrive  until  later  in  the  day,  were  i 
in  position  to  prepare  for  landing  the 
troops.  The  place  selected  for  the  dis 


embarkation  was  about  three  miles  from 
Hatteras  Inlet.  The  two  hulks  which  had 
been  towed  from  Fortress  Monroe  for 
the  purpose,  were  now  filled  with  troops, 
and  the  iron  surf-boats  and  others  began 
to  convey  them  to  the  shore.  In  the 
mean  time,  the  guns  of  the  men-of-war 
were  so  directed  as  to  cover  their  land 
ing.  The  breakers  were  high  and  beat- 

o  o 

ing  powerfully,  so  that  the  iron  boats 
conveying  the  first  two  companies  of 
soldiers  were  nearly  capsized  and  thrown 
violently  upon  the  beach,  with  the  surf 
pouring  in  torrents  over  their  sterns. 
The  men  were  forced  to  leap  out  of  the 
boats  and  wade  breast-deep  to  the  land. 
A  boat  from  the  Pawnee  had  been  more 
successful,  and  had  succeeded  on  her  first 
trip  in  landing  her  load  of  men  high 
and  dry,  but  on  the  second  she  cap 
sized,  turning  every  man  into  the  water, 
but  no  one,  fortunately,  was  drowned. 
The  iron  surf-boats  it  was  found  im 
practicable  further  to  use,  and  every 
other  boat  which  attempted  to  land  was 
either  upset  or  crushed  by  the  breakers 
upon  the  shore.  After,  therefore,  land 
ing  about  300  men,  no  other  attempt 
was  made  on  the  first  day  to  disembark 
the  troops.  Those  landed  consisted  of 
two  companies  of  the  Twentieth  New 
York  Regiment,  with  Colonel  Weber 
and  Lieutenant-Colonel  Harris  ;  a  com 
pany  of  the  Ninth  New  York,  Captain 
Jardine  ;  a  company  of  regular  artillery, 
Captain  Larned ;  a  detachment  of  ma 
rines  from  the  men-of-war,  commanded 
by  Majors  Doughty  and  Shuttleworth, 
some  sailors  from  the  Pawnee,  under 
Lieutenants  Crosby  and  Blue,  and  two 


534 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


surgeons,  Drs.  King  and  Jones.  This 
small  force  was  provided  with  only  two 
rifled  howitzers,  one  of  which  had  been 
disabled  by  the  loss  of  a  wheel  in  the 
course  of  the  difficult  landing.  Much 
of  the  ammunition,  moreover,  had  been 
damaged  by  the  water,  and  no  supply  of 
provisions  had  been  yet  brought  off 
from  the  ships.  The  troops  were,  how 
ever,  formed  into  line,  and  organized  as 
well  as  circumstances  would  allowr,  but, 
owing  to  their  isolation,  their  small  num 
bers,  and  their  pitiable  condition  from 
the  drenching  in  sea  water  to  which  they 
had  been  exposed,  and  their  want  of 
necessaries,  were  greatly  embarrassed 
how7  to  act. 

In  the  mean  time,  the  war  vessels  had 
taken  up  their  position  in  front  of  the 
forts,  and  the  Wubash,  taking  the  lead, 
had  opened  fire  upon  Fort  Clark.  The 
naval  cannonade  wras  very  heavy,  and 
though  the  enemy's  batteries  responded 
at  first  with  great  spirit,  they  gradually 
relaxed  their  fire,  and  finally  ceased 
altogether  at  about  two  o'clock  in  the 
afternoon.  At  this  time,  the  Monticello, 
having  a  comparatively  small  draft  of 
water,  closed  in  with  the  shore  and 
moved  toward  the  entrance  to  the  inlet, 
within  fire  of  the  other  work  of  the 
enemy,  Fort  Hatteras.  While  in  this 
position  she  got  aground,  and  the  Con 
federates  opened  a  heavy  fire  upon  her. 
The  Monticello,  however,  responded  with 
great  spirit,  and  after  firing  fifty-five 
shells  in  fifty  minutes,  nearly  silenced  the 
fort.  At  the  close,  she  fortunately  suc 
ceeded  in  floating  again,  arid  moved  out 
of  range,  but  not  until  she  had  received 


seven  eight-inch  shot  in  her  hull,  though 
without  serious  damage  to  the  ship  or 
the  loss  of  a  single  man. 

In  the  mean  time,  the  troops  on  shore 
having  discovered,  by  means  of  their 
scouts,  that  Fort  Clark  had  been  aban 
doned,  proceeded  to  take  possession  of  it 
and  hoist  upon  the  ramparts  the  United 
States  flag ;  but  the  ships  of  war  not 
recognizing  their  own  standard,  again 
directed  a  heavy  fire  upon  the  fort,  so 
that  our  men  were  obliged  to  evacuate 
it. 

"  In  mistake,"  says  a  suffering  cam 
paigner,  "the  fire  was  thus  kept  up  on 
our  forces  until  they  were  compelled  to 
retreat  and  leave  there  the  stores,  in  the 
quartermaster's  department,  which  they 
had  found,  and  which  they  now  so  much 
needed,  for  they  had  become  exhausted 
in  their  exertions  to  land  the  forces,  and 
had  then  marched  to  the  fort  in  wet 
clothes  and  without  anything  to  eat  since 
five  A.M.,  and  it  was  now  about  five  P.M., 
and  it  became  necessary  to  fall  back  to 
the  landing.  In  doing  so  they  captured 
some  negroes  who  had  been  acting  as 
cooks  for  the  forces  there,  and  other 
prisoners  in  arms.  From  these  it  was 
found  that  their  forces  were  greater  than 
ours,  and  that  they  were  expecting  re 
inforcements.  No  alternative  was  left 
but  to  be  resigned  to  whatever  fate  was 
in  store,  and  all  tried  to  be  as  cheerful 
as  possible.  Some  sheep  and  geese  were 
found  and  '  acquired '  (to  use  a  secession 
phrase)  by  our  troops,  and  dispatched 
very  unceremoniously.  Camp  fires  were 
then  built,  and  our  prey  was  roasted  (or 
rather  burned)  on  the  bayonets  and  cut- 


BOMBARDMENT. 


535 


lasses,  and  on  this  the  troops  made  their 
supper  and  breakfast.  The  manner  in 
which  it  was  served  did  not  make  it 
particularly  inviting,  but  yet  it  was  evi 
dently  very  much  relished  in  the  ab 
sence  of  everything  else.  Night  was  now 
upon  us,  and  bade  fair  to  be  stormy. 
Everv  now  and  again  a  little  rain  would 

»/  o 

fall  and  dampen  our  clothes,  which  had 
not  become  dry  from  the  experience  of 
the  morning.  Our  pickets  were  posted 
around  in  different  positions  to  prevent 
a  surprise,  and  we  bivouacked  on  the 
beach.  It  was  an  anxious  night  to  all. 
While  we  were  lying  on  the  beach,  dis 
coursing  the  comfort  that  it  would  afford 
us  to  be  taken  prisoners  and  marched  to 
Richmond,  they  were  getting  reinforce 
ments  into  Fort  Hatteras  and  were  ar 
ranging  to  attack  us,  which  would  have 
resulted  in  our  capture,  for  they  out 
numbered  us,  and  they  were  on  their 
own  ground,  and  better  organized  than 
we  were.  Fortunately  their  pickets  re 
ported  that  we  were  moving  forward  in 
large  numbers  to  attack  them,  and  they 
waited  until  morning  for  our  approach. 
We,  however,  were  quite  willing  to  re 
main  in  safety  where  we  were,  and  when 
morning  dawned  we  saw  the  vessels 
coming  in  again  from  sea,  whither  the 
high  winds  compelled  them  to  retreat  for 
the  night,  and  we  took  up  our  inarch  for 
Fort  Clark,  and  at  the  same  time  the 
vessels  advanced  and  opened  such  a  hail 
storm  of  shells  as  caused  us  to  halt  out 
side  of  Fort  Clark,  as  it  was  necessary 
for  our  vessels  to  fire  over  that  fort  to 
reach  Fort  Hatteras.  During  the  firing 
the  troops  took  a  position  about  half  a 


mile  from  Fort  Clark,  and  planted  the 
rifled  howitzer  so  as  to  command  some 
steamers  which  were  lying  off  Fort  Hat 
teras,  in  the  bay,  either  to  land  more 
troops  or  remove  those  in  the  fort,  if 
they  could  no  longer  hold  it.  Happily 
for  us  they  were  within  the  range  of  our 
gun,  and  we  compelled  them  to  retire 
beyond  their  position  and  remain  there, 
and  thus  we  prevented  any  communica 
tion  with  the  fort  except  by  signals. 
While  holding  that  position,  the  Pawnee 
by  accident  opened  fire,  and  her  shells 
fell  so  near  the  troops  as  to  compel  them 
to  retire  from  their  position  and  remain 
between  the  two  fires  until  the  white  flag 
was  hoisted  on  Fort  Hatteras,  when  the 
troops  advanced  toward  the  fort  and  all 
firing  ceased." 

The  men-of-war  had,  in  the  early 
morning,  begun  the  bombardment,  Aug> 
whose  effective  service  was  relieving  3{>' 
the  suffering  campaigners  on  shore  from 
their  anxiety.  The  Susquehannah  had 
opened  the  fire  with  an  eleven-inch  shell, 
which  was  immediately  followed  by  de 
structive  broadsides  from  the  Minnesota 
and  the  Wabash,  almost  every  shell  fall 
ing  and  bursting  within  the  work.  About 
two  hours  subsequently  the  Harriet  Lane 
and  the  Cumberland  joined  in,  and 
I  greatly  added  to  the  severity  of  the  fire. 
The  enemy  continued  to  resist  pertina 
ciously  until  an  eleven-inch  shell,  having 
made  its  wray  through  a  ventilator,  ex 
ploded  within  the  bomb-proof,  in  the 
middle  of  the  battery,  where  the  garrison 
had  sought  refuge  from  the  shower  of  shot 
which  our  ships  continued  to  pour  upon 
them.  This  last  shot  settled  the  day,  for 


536 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


it  struck  within  their  only  cover  and 
burst  near  the  magazine.  The  enemy 
now  gave  up  all  hope  and  raised  upon 
the  ramparts  the  white  flag  of  truce 

The  fleet  now  ceased  to  fire,  and 
General  Butler,  landing  at  the  fort, 
demanded  .an  unconditional  surrender. 
To  this  Commodore  Barron,  who  had 
commanded  in  the  forts,  objected,  and 
proposed  that  the  officers  be  allowed  to 
march  out  with  their  side-arms,  and  that 
the  men  be  permitted,  after  laying  down 
their  arms,  to  return  to  their  homes. 
Butler,  refusing  these  demands,  insisted 
upon  a  surrender  to  which  he  was  will 
ing  to  grant  only  one  condition,  that 
the  officers  and  men  should  be  treated 
as  prisoners  of  wai\  Barron  no  longer 
hesitated  to  comply,  and  articles  of  ca 
pitulation  were  drawn  up  on  board  the 
Minnesota,  and  signed  by  Commodore 
Stringham  and  General  Butler  on  the 
part  of  the  United  States,  and  on  that 
of  the  Confederates  by  Commodore 
Barron,  Colonel  Martin,  and  Major 
Andrews. 

The  official  reports  contain  the  most 
authentic  and  detailed  narrative  of  the 
aflair.  Here  is  that  of  General  Butler  : 

"  UNITED  STATES  FLAG-SHIP  MINNESOTA,  ) 
August  30,  1861.  j 

"MAJOR-GENERAL    J.     E.     WOOL,     COMMANDING 
DEPARTMENT  OF  VIRGINIA  : 


:  Agreeably  to  your  orders, 
I  embarked  on  the  transport  steamers 
Adelaide  and  George  Peabody  500  of 
the  Twelfth  Regiment  New  York  Vol 
unteers,  Colonel  Weber  commanding  ; 
220  of  the  Ninth  Regiment  New  York 
Volunteers,  Colonel  Hawkins  command 


ing  ;  100  of  the  Union  Coast  Guard, 
Captain  Nixon  commanding  ;  60  of  the 
Second  United  States  Artillery,  Lieu 
tenant  Lamed  commanding,  as  a  force  to 
operate  in  conjunction  with  the  fleet, 
under  command  of  Flas;  Officer  Strino-- 

o  o 

harn,  against  the  rebel  forts  at  Hatteras 
Inlet. 

"  We  left  Fortress  Monroe  on  Monday, 
at  one  o'clock  P.M.  The  last  ship  of  our 
fleet  arrived  off  Hatteras  Inlet  about 
four  o'clock  Tuesday  afternoon.  Such 
preparations  as  were  possible  for  the 
landing  were  made  in  the  evening,  and  at 
daylight  next  morning  dispositions  were 
made  for  an  attack  upon  the  forts  by  the 
fleet  and  for  the  landing  of  the  troops. 
Owing  to  the  previous  prevalence  of 
southwest  gales,  a  heavy  surf  was  break 
ing  on  the  beach.  Every  effort  was 

«/ 

made  to  land  the  troops,  and  after  about 
315  were  landed,  including  55  marines 
from  the  fleet  and  the  regulars,  both  the 
iron  boats  upon  which  we  depended 
were  swamped  in  the  surf,  and  both  flat 
boats  stove,  and  a  brave  attempt  made 
by  Lieutenant  Crosby,  of  the  United 
States  Arrny  (serving  with  the  army  as 
port  captain  at  Fortress  Monroe),  who 
had  volunteered  to  come  down  with  the 
steam-lug  Fanny,  belonging  to  the  army, 
to  land  in  a  boat  from  the  war- steamer 
Pawnee,  resulted  in  the  beaching  of  the 
boat,  so  that  she  could  not  be  got.  off. 
It  was  impracticable  to  land  more  troops 
because  of  the  rising  wind  and  sea. 
Fortunately,  a  twelve-pound  rifled  boat 
gun,  loaned  us  by  the  flag-ship,  and  a 
twelve-pound  howitzer  were  landed,  the 
last  slightly  damaged.  Our  landing  was 


BUTLER'S  REPORT. 


537 


completely  covered  by  the  shells  of  the 
Monticello  and  the  Harriet  Lane.  I  was 
on  board  the  Harriet  Lane,  directing  the 
disembarkation  of  the  troops,  by  means 
of  signals,  and  was  about  landing  with 
them  at  the  time  the  boats  were  stove. 
We  were  induced  to  desist  from  further 
attempts  at  landing  troops  by  the  rising 
of  the  wind,  and  because,  in  the  mean 
time,  the  fleet  had  opened  fire  upon  the 
nearest  fort,  which  was  finally  silenced, 
and  its  flag  struck.  No  firing  had 
opened  upon  our  troops  from  the  other 
fort,  and  its  flag  was  also  struck.  Sup 
posing  this  to  be  a  signal  of  surrender, 
Colonel  Weber  advanced  his  troops,  al 
ready  landed,  upon  the  beach.  The 
Harriet  Lane,  Captain  Faunce,  by  my 
direction,  tried  to  cross  the  bar  to  get  in 
the  smooth  water  of  the  inlet,  when  fire 
was  opened  upon  the  Monticello  (which 
had  proceeded  in  advance  of  us)  from 
the  other  fort.  Several  shots  struck  her, 
but  without  causing  any  casualties,  as  I 
am  informed.  So  well  convinced  were  the 
officers  of  both  navy  and  army  that  the 
forts  had  surrendered  at  this  time,  that 
the  Susquehannah  had  towed  the  frigate 
Cumberland  to  an  offing.  The  fire  was 
then  reopened — as  there  was  no  signal 
from  either — upon  both  forts.  In  the 
mean  time,  a  few  men  from  the  Coast 
Guard  had  advanced  up  the  beach,  with 
Mr.  Wiegel  (who  was  acting  as  volunteer 
aid,  and  whose  gallantry  and  services  I 
wish  to  commend),  and  took  possession 
of  the  smaller  fort,  which  was  found  to 
have  been  abandoned  by  the  enemy,  and 
raised  the  American  flag  thereon.  It 
hud  become  necessary,  owing  to  the 


threatening  appearance  of  the  weather, 
that  all  the  ships  should  make  an  ofting, 
which  was  done  with  reluctance,  from 
necessity,  thus  leaving  the  troops  upon 
shore — a  part  in  possession  of  the  small 
fort  (about  seven  hundred  yards  from 
the  larger  one),  and  the  rest  bivouacked 
upon  the  beach,  near  the  place  of  land 
ing,  about  two  miles  north  of  the  forts. 
Early  the  next  morning  the  Harriet  Lane 
ran  in  shore  for  the  purpose  of  covering 
any  attack  upon  the  troops.  At  the 
same  time  a  large  steamer  was  observed 
coming  down  the  Sound,  inside  the  land, 
with  reinforcements  for  the  enemy,  but 
she  was  prevented  from  landing  by 
Captain  Johnson,  of  the  Coast  Guard, 
who  had  placed  the  two  guns  from  the 
ship  and  a  six-pounder  captured  from 
the*  enemy  in  a  small  sand  battery,  and 
opened  fire  upon  the  rebel  steamer. 

"  At  eight  o'clock  the  fleet  opened  fire 
again,  the  flag-ship  being  anchored  as 
near  as  the  water  allowed,  and  the  other 
ships  coming  gallantly  into  action.  It 
was  evident,  after  a  few  experiments, 
that  our  shots  fell  short.  An  increased 
length  of  fuse  was  telegraphed,  and 
firing'  commenced  with  shells  of  fifteen 

o 

seconds  fuse.  I  had  sent  Mr  Fiske, 
acting  aide-de-camp,  on  shore,  for  the 
purpose  of  gaining  intelligence  of  the 
movements  of  the  troops  and  of  the 
enemy.  I  then  went  with  the  Fanny, 
for  the  purpose  of  effecting  a  landing  of 
the  remainder  of  the  troops,  when  a 
white  flag  was  run  up  from  the  fort.  I 
then  went  with  the  Fanny  over  the  bar 
into  the  inlet.  At  the  same  time  the 
troops,  under  Colonel  Weber,  marched 


538 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


up  the  beach,  and  signal  was  made  from 
the  flag-ship  to  cease  firing.  As  the 
Fanny  rounded  in  over  the  bar,  the 
rebel  steamer  Winslow  went  up  the 
channel,  having  a  large  number  of  seces- 

'  O  O 

sion  troops  on  board,  which  she  had 
not  landed.  We  threw  a  shot  at  her 
from  the  Fanny,  but  she  proved  to  be 
out  of  range.  I  then  sent  Lieutenant 
Crosby  on  shore  to  demand  the  meaning 
of  the  white  flag.  The  boat  soon  re 
turned,  bringing  Mr.  Wiegel,  with  the 
following  written  communication  from 

O 

Samuel  Barren,  late  captain  in  the 
United  States  Navy  : 

"  MEMORANDUM. 

'•FORT  HATTERAS,  August  29,  1861. 

"  Flag  Officer  Samuel  Barren,  Confed 
erate  States  Navy,  offers  to  surrender 
Fort  Hatteras,  with  all  the  arms  and 
munitions  of  war.  The  officers  allowed 
to  go  out  with  side-arms,  and  the  men 
without  arms  to  retire. 

"  S.   BARRON, 

"  Commanding  Naval  Defence,  Virginia 
and  North  Carolina." 

"  And  also  a  verbal  communication 
stating  that  he  had  in  the  fort  615  men 
and  1,000  more  within  an  hour's  call, 
but  that  he  was  anxious  to  spare  the 
effusion  of  blood.  To  both  the  written 
and  verbal  communications  I  made  the 
reply  which  follows,  and  sent  it  by  Lieu 
tenant  Crosby  : 


MEMORANDUM. 


"Benjamin  F.  Butler,  Major-General 
United  States  Army,  commanding,  in  re 
ply  to  the  communication  of  Samuel 
Barren,  commanding  forces  at  Fort  Hat 
teras,  cannot  admit  the  terms  proposed. 


The  terms  proposed  are  these  :  full  ca 
pitulation,  the  officers  and  men  to  be 
treated  as  prisoners  of  war.  No  other 
terms  admissible. 

"  Commanding  officers  to  meet  on 
board  flag-ship  Minnesota  to  arrange 
details. 

"August  29,  1861." 

"  After  waiting  three  quarters  of  an 
hour  Lieutenant  Crosby  returned,  bring 
ing  with  him  Captain  Barren,  Major 
Andrews,  and  Colonel  Martin,  of  the 
rebel  forces,  who,  on  being  received 
aboard  the  tug  Fanny,  informed  me  that 
they  had  accepted  the  terms  proposed  in 
my  memorandum,  and  had  come  to  sur 
render  themselves  and  their  command  as 
prisoners  of  war.  I  informed  them  that, 
as  the  expedition  was  a  combined  one 
from  the  army  and  navy,  the  surrender 
must  be  made  on  board  the  flag-ship  to 
Flag  Officer  Stringham,  as  well  as  to 
myself.  We  went  on  board  the  Minne 
sota  for  that  purpose.  On  arriving  there 
the  following  articles  of  capitulation 
were  signed,  which  I  hope  will  meet 
your  approval : 

"  OFF  HATTERAS  INLET,  UNITED  STATES     ) 
FLAG-SHIP  MINNESOTA,  Aug.  29,  A.D.  1861,  j 

"  Articles  of  capitulation  between. 
Flag  Officer  Stringham,  commanding  the 
Atlantic  Blockading  Squadron,  and  Ben 
jamin  F.  Butler,  United  States  Army, 
commanding  on  behalf  of  the  Govern^ 
ment,  and  Samuel  Barron,  commanding 
the  naval  forces  for  the  defence  of  North 
Carolina  and  Virginia,  and  Colonel  Mar 
tin,  commanding  the  forces,  and  Major 
Andrews  commanding  the  same  forces 
at  Fort  Hatteras. 


CAPITULATION  OF  FORT  HATTERAS. 


539 


"  It  is  stipulated  and  agreed  between 
the  contracting  parties,  that  the  forces 
under  command  of  the  said  Barren,  Mar 
tin,  and  Andrews,  and  all  munitions  of 
war,  arms,  men,  and  property,  under  the 
command  of  said  Barren,  Martin,  and 
Andrews,  be  unconditionally  surrender 
ed  to  the  Government  of  the  United 
States  in  terms  of  full  capitulation. 

"And  it  is  stipulated  and  agreed  by 
the  contracting  parties  on  the  part  of 
the  United  States  Government,  that  the 
officers  and  men  shall  receive  the  treat 
ment  due  to  prisoners  of  war. 

"  In  witness  whereof,  we,  the  said 
Stringham  and  Butler,  on  behalf  of  the 
United  States,  and  the  said  Barren,  Mar 
tin,  and  Andrews,  representing  the  forces 
at  Hatteras  Inlet,  hereunto  interchange 
ably  set  our  hands,  this  29th  day  of  Au 
gust,  A.D.  1861,  and  of  the  Independence 
of  the  United  States  the  eighty-fifth  year. 
"  S.  H.  STRINGHAM,  Flag  Officer  Atlantic 

Blockading  Squadron. 
"  BENJ.  F.  BUTLER,  Major-General  United 

States  Armv  Commanding. 

»•  o 

"S.    BARRON,  Flag    Officer,   Confederate 
States  Navy,  Commanding  naval  forces 
Virginia  and  North  Carolina, 
"  WM.  F.  MARTIN,  Colonel  Seventh  Light 

Infantry,  North  Carolina  Volunteers. 
"W.  L.  G.  ANDREWS,  Major  Command 
ing  Forts  Hatteras  and  Clark. 
"  I   then    landed,   and  took  a  formal 
surrender  of  the  forts,  with  all  the  men 
and    munitions    of    war,    inspected    the 
troops,  to  see   that  the  arms  had  been 
properly  surrendered,  marched  them  out, 
and  embarked  them  on  board  the  Ade 
laide,  and   marched  my  troops  into   the  ^ 


fort,  and  raised  our  flag  upon  it,  amid 
the  cheers  of  our  men  and  a  salute  of 
thirteen  guns,  which  had  been  shotted  by 
the  enemy.  The  embarkation  of  the 
wounded,  which  was  conducted  with 
great  care  and  tenderness  from  a  tempo 
rary  wharf  erected  for  the  purpose,  took 
so  long  that  night  came  on,  and  so  dark 
that  it  was  impossible  for  the  pilots  to 
take  the  Adelaide  over  the  bar,  thereby 
causing  delay.  I  may  mention  in  this 
connection  that  the  Adelaide,  in  carrying 
in  the  troops,  at  the  moment  that  my 
terms  of  capitulation  were  under  consid 
eration  by  the  enemy,  had  grounded 
upon  the  bar,  but  by  the  active  and 
judicious  exertions  of  Commander  Stell- 
wagen,  after  some  delay  was  got  off.  At 
the  same  time,  the  Harriet  Lane,  in  at 
tempting  to  enter  the  bar,  had  grounded, 
arid  remained  fast ;  both  were  under  the 
guns  of  the  fort.  This,  to  me,  was  a 
moment  of  the  greatest  anxiety.  By 
these  accidents,  a  valuable  ship  of  w^ar 
and  a  transport  steamer,  with  a  large 
portion  of  my  troops,  were  within  the 
power  of  the  enemy.  I  had  demanded 
the  strongest  terms,  which  he  was  con 
sidering.  He  might  refuse,  and,  seeing 
our  disadvantage,  renew  the  action.  But 
I  determined  to  abate  not  a  tittle  of  what 
I  believed  to  be  due  to  the  dignity  of  the 
Government ;  not  even  to  give  an  official 
title  to  the  officer  in  command  of  the 
rebels.  Besides,  my  tug  was  in  the  inlet, 
and  at  least  I  could  carry  on  the  engage 
ment  with  two  rifled  six-pounders  well 
supplied  with  Sawyer's  shells. 

"  Upon  taking  possession  of  Fort  Hat 
teras  I  found  that  it  had  mounted  ten 


540 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE   SOUTH. 


guns,  with  four  yet  unmounted  and  one 
large  ten-inch  columbiad,  all  ready  for 
mounting.  I  append  the  official  muster 
roll  of  Colonel  Martin,  furnished  by  him, 
of  the  officers  and  men  captured  by 


us. 


"  The  position  of  the  fort  is  an  exceed 
ingly  strong  one,  nearly  surrounded  on 
all  sides  by  water,  and  only  to  be  ap 
proached  by  a  march  of  500  yards  cir- 
cuitously  over  a  long  neck  of  sand,  within 
half-musket  range,  and  over  a  causeway 
a  few  feet  only  in  width,  and  which  was 
commanded  by  two  thirty-two  pound 
guns,  loaded  with  grape  and  canister, 
which  were  expended  in  our  salute.  It 
had  a  well-protected  magazine  and  bomb 
proof,  capable  of  sheltering  some  300  or 
400  men.  The  parapet  was  nearly  of 
octagon  form,  inclosing  about  two-thirds 
of  an  acre  of  ground,  well  covered,  with 
sufficient  traverses,  and  ramparts,  and 
parapets,  upon  which  our  shells  had 
made  but  little  impression. 

"  The  larger  work,  nearest  this  inlet, 
was  known  as  Fort  Hatteras.  Fort  Clark, 
which  was  about  700  yards  northerly,  is 
a  square  redoubt,  mounting  five  guns  and 
two  six-pounders.  The  enemy  had  spiked 
these  guns,  but  in  a  very  inefficient  man 
ner,  upon  abandoning  the  fort  the  day 
before.  I  had  all  the  troops  on  shore  at 
the  time  of  the  surrender  of  the  forts, 
but  re-embarked  the  regulars  and  the 
marines.  Finding  it  impossible,  without 
a  delay  of  the  fleet  which  could  not  be 
justified  under  the  state  of  facts  at  Fort 
ress  Monroe,  and  owing  to  the  threaten 
ing  appearance  of  the  weather,  I  disem 
barked  the  provisions,  making,  with  the 


provisions  captured,  about  five  days'  ra 
tions  for  the  use  of  the  troops. 

"  On  consultation  with  Flag  Officer 
Stringham  and  Commander  Stellwagen, 
I  determined  to  leave  the  troops  and 
hold  the  fort,  because  of  the  strength  of 
the  fortifications  and  its  importance,  and 
because,  if  again  in  the  possession  of  the 
enemy,  with  a  sufficient  armament,  the 
very  great  difficulty  of  its  capture,  until 
I  could  get  some  further  instructions 
from  the  Government.  Commodore 
Stringham  directed  the  steamers  Mon- 
ticello  and  Pawnee  to  remain  inside,  and 
these  with  the  men  in  the  forts  are  suf 
ficient  to  hold  the  position  against  any 
force  which  is  likely,  or  indeed  possible, 
to  be  sent  against  it.  The  importance 
of  the  point  cannot  be  overrated.  When 
the  channel  is  buoyed  out,  any  vessel 
may  carry  fifteen  feet  water  over  it 
with  ease.  Once  inside,  there  is  a  safe 
harbor  and  anchorage  in  all  weathers. 

o 

From  there  the  whole  coast  of  Virginia 
and  North  Carolina,  from  Norfolk  to 
Cape  Lookout,  is  within  our  reach,  by 
light  draft  vessels,  which  cannot  possibly 
live  at  sea  during  the  winter  months. 
From  it  offensive  operations  may  be 
made  upon  the  whole  coast  of  North 
Carolina  to  Bogue  Inlet,  extending  many 
miles  inland  to  Washington,  Newborn, 
and  Beaufort.  In  the  language  of  the 
chief  engineer  of  the  rebels,  Colonel 
Thompson,  in  an  official  report,  '  It  is 
the  key  to  the  Albemarle.'  In  my 
judgment,  it  is  a  station  second  in  im 
portance  only  to  Fortress  Monroe  on 
this  coast.  As  a  depot  for  coaling  and 
supplies  for  the  blockading  squadron,  it 


UNIVERSAL  GOOD  CONDUCT. 


541 


is  invaluable.  As  a  harbor  for  our  coast 
ing  trade,  or  inlet  from  the  winter  storm, 
or  from  pirates,  it  is  of  the  first  import 
ance.  By  holding  it,  Hatteras  light  may 
again  send  forth  its  cheering  ray  to  the 
storm-beaten  mariner,  of  which  the  worse 
than  vandalism  of  the  rebels  deprives 
him.  It  lias  but  one  drawback — a  want 
of  good  water — but  a  condenser,  like  the 
one  now  in  operation  at  Fortress  Monroe, 
at  a  cost  of  a  few  hundred  dollars,  will 
obviate  that  difficulty.  *  *  * 

"  While  all  have  done  well,  I  desire  to 
speak  in  terms  of  especial  commenda 
tion,  in  addition  to  those  before  men 
tioned,  of  the  steadiness  and  cool  courage 
of  Colonel  Max  Weber,  whom  we  were 
obliged  to  leave  in  command  of  a  de 
tachment  of  300  men  on  a  strange  coast, 
without  camp  equipage  or  possibility  of 
aid,  in  the  face  of  an  enemy  600  strong, 
on  a  dark  and  stormy  night ;  of  Lieu 
tenant-Colonel  Weiss,  who  conducted  a 
reconnoissance  of  20  men  ;  of  the  dar 
ing  and  prompt,  efficiency  of  Captain 
Nixon,  of  the  Coast  Guards,  who,  with 
his  men,  occupied  Fort  Clark  during  the 
first  night,  although  dismantled,  in  the 
face  of  an  enemy  of  unknown  numbers. 
I  desire  to  commend  to  your  attention 
Captain  Jardine,  of  the  New  York  Ninth, 
who  was  left  in  command  of  the  de 
tachment  of  his  regiment  when  the  un 
fortunate  casualty  to  the  Harriet  Lane 
prevented  Colonel  Hawkins  from  land 
ing.  Permit  me  to  speak  of  the  effi 
ciency  of  the  regulars  under  Lieutenant 
Larned,  who  worked  zealously  in  aiding 
to  land  their  comrades  of  the  volunteers, 
overwhelmed  with  the  rolling  surf.  I 


desire  especially  to  make  acknowledg 
ments  to  Messrs.  Wiegel  and  Durivao-e, 

o  o     ' 

volunteer  aids,  who  planted  the  American 
flag  upon  Fort  Clark,  on  the  second 
morning,  to  indicate  to  the  fleet  its  sur 
render,  and  to  prevent  the  further  wast 
ing  of  shells  upon  it' — a  service  of  great 
danger  from  the  fire  of  their  own  friends. 
I  make  honorable  mention  of  young 
Fiske,  who  risked  his  life  among  the 
breakers,  being  thrown  on  shore,  to 
carry  my  orders  to  the  troops  landed, 
and  to  apprise  them  of  the  movements 
and  intentions  of  the  fleet;  also,  my 
thanks  for  the  valuable  aid  of  Captain 
Haggerty,  who  was  employed  in  visiting 
the  prizes  in  the  harbor  while  we  were 
agreeing  upon  the  terms  of  capitulation. 
Of  the  service  to  the  country  of  the  gen 
tlemen  of  the  i\-dvy  proper,  I  may  not 
speak,  for  one  ought  not  to  praise  when 
he  has  no  right  to  censure,  and  they  will 
be  appropriately  mentioned,  I  doubt  not, 
by  the  commander,  who  is  capable  of 
appreciating  their  good  conduct.  But  I 
am  emboldened  to  ask  permission,  if  the 
Department  shall  determine  to  occupy 
the  point  as  a  permanent  post,  that  its 
name  be  changed,  by  general  order, 
from  Fort  Hatteras  to  Fort  Stringliam. 
But  of  those  gentlemen  who  served 
under  my  immediate  command,  I  may 
make  honorable  mention,  as  I  have  be 
fore  done,  of  the  zealous,  intrepid,  and 
untiring  action  of  Lieutenant  Crosby, 
who  took  an  armed  canal-boat  (the 
steam-tug  Fanny,  from  Fortress  Monroe) 
to  Hatteras  Inlet,  in  order  that  the  ex 
pedition  might  have  the  aid  of  a  steamer 
of  the  linhte.-t  draft,  Cantain  Shuttle- 


542 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


worth,  of  the  marine  corps,  deserves 
well  for  his  loyalty  and  efficiency  in  his 
active  detachment  of  marines.  Much 
of  the  success  of  the  exhibition  is  due 
to  the  preparation  of  the  transport  ser 
vice  by  Commander  Stellwagen,  and  the 
prompt  presence  of  mind  with  which  he 
took  the  troops  from  their  peril,  when 
the  Adelaide  touched  on  the  bar,  is  a 
rare  quality  in  an  officer  in  danger. 

"  Although  Captain  Faunce,  of  the 
Pawnee  service,  now  in  command  of  the 
Harriet  Lane,  was  unfortunate  enough 
to  get  his  vessel  on  one  of  the  numerous 
sand  bars  about  the  inlet,  it  happened, 
I  believe,  in  consequence  of  a  determi 
nation,  creditable  in  him,  to  aid  me  by 
being  near  to  cover  the  troops  in  land 
ing.  Captain  Lowry,  who  had  the 
George  Peabody  in  charge,  brought  in 
his  vessel  with  safety,  with  the  troops, 
who  were  pleased  with  his  care  and  con 
duct.  He  still  remains  at  the  inlet. 

"  In  fine,  General,  I  may  congratulate 
you  and  the  country  upon  a  glorious 
victory  in  your  department,  in  which  we 
captured  more  than  700  men,  25  pieces 
of  artillery,  1,000  stand  of  arms,  a  large 
quantity  of  ordnance  stores,  provisions, 
3  valuable  prizes,  2  light  boats,  and  4 
stand  of  colors,  one  of  which  had  been 
presented  within  a  week  by  the  ladies 
of  Newborn,  North  Carolina,  to  the 
'North  Carolina  Defenders.' 

"  By  the  goodness  of  that  Providence 
which  watches  over  our  nation,  no  one 
of  the  fleet  or  army  was  in  the  least 
degree  injured.  The  enemy's  loss  was 
not  officially  reported  to  us,  but  was  as 
certained  to  be  12  or  15  killed  and  35 


wounded.  *  *  *  I  have  the  honor 
to  be,  very  respectfully,  your  obedient 
servant,  BENJAMIN  F.  BUTLER, 

"Major-General  United  States  Army 
Commanding  Volunteers."  * 


*  Extracts  from  the  official  reports  of  the  enemy  will  com 
plete  the  history  of  the  capture  of  Hatteras. 

"ON  BOARD  UNITED  STATES  SHIPMINNESOTA,#^.  1,1861. 
"  To  THE  ADJUTANT-GENERAL  OF  NORTH  CAROLINA: 
****** 

"  I  arrived  at  Fort  Hatteras  on  the  evening  of  the  28th 
August,  in  company  with  Commodore  Barron,  flag  officer 
Confederate  States  Navy,  in  charge  of  the  defences  of 
Virginia  and  North  Carolina,  and  found  that  during  the 
day  the  enemy  had  attacked  the  forces  under  the  com 
mand  of  Colonel  Wm.  F.  Martin,  as  well  as  Forts  Clark 
and  Hatteras,  under  my  command,  and  after  a  day  of  most 
severe  and  unceasing  fighting,  the  Colonel  had  succeeded 
in  concentrating  all  the  forces  within  the  walls  of  Fort 
Hatteras.  Colonel  Martin  himself  was  utterly  prostrated 
by  the  duties  of  the  day,  and  after  consultation  with  him, 
I  proposed  that  we  invite  Commodore  Barron,  an  officer 
of  great  experience,  to  t;ike  the  general  command  and 
direct  the  succeeding  operations.  Commodore  Barron 
consented,  and  assumed  the  command.  I  then  proceeded 
to  examine  our  guns  and  muniuon.s,  and  prepare  the  fort 
for  the  action  of  the  coming  morning. 

"  There  were  but  two  guns  mounted  on  the  side  next  to 
Fort  Clark,  both  thirty-two  pounders,  and  one  gun  on  the 
corner  next  the  bar,  an  eight-inch  shell  gun.  During  the 
night  I  tore  away  a  traverse  on  the  back  face  of  the  work, 
and  brought  another  gun  to  bear  in  the  same  direction. 
The  companies  of  my  command,  under  Captains  Cobden, 
Lamb,  and  Sutton,  having  been  in  action  all  the  previous 
day,  displaying  great  courage  and  devotion,  being  per 
fectly  exhausted,  I  placed  the  batteries  in  charge  of  fresh 
troops,  as  follows  :  Nos.  2  and  3  of  the  channel  battery 
under  the  command  of  Captain  Thomas  Sparrow,  assisted 
by  Lieutenants  Shaw  and  Thorn-is  ;  Nos.  4  and  5  of  the 
same  battery  were  under  command  of  Lieutenant-Colonel 
George  W.  Johnston,  assisted  by  First  Lieutenant  Mose 
and  Second  Lieutenant  George  W.  Daniel  ;  No.  6,  facing 
the  bar,  and  No.  7,  facing  Fort  Clark,  were  placed  in 
charge  of  Major  Henry  A.  Gillion,  assisted  by  Lieutenants 
Johnston  and  Grimes  ;  No.  8,  a  gun  mounted  on  a  naval 
carriage,  was  commanded  by  Lieutenant  Murdaugh,  of  the 
Confederate  States  Navy,  assisted  by  Lieutenant  Sharp 
and  Midshipman  Stafford. 

'•  Captain  Thomas  H.  Sharp  had  command  of  No.  1,  bub 
owing  to  the  wrenches  not  fitting  the  eccentric  axles,  was 
unable  to  bring  it  into  action.  He  staid  by  his  gun  during 
most  of  the  engagement,  but  could  not  fire.  Thus  we 
had  but  three  guns  we  could  bring  to  bear  (if  the  enemy 


CAPTIVES. 


543 


The  enemy's  officers  and  men  captured 
at  Fort  Hatteras  were  conveyed  to  the 

took  up  his  position  of  the  previous  day),  viz.,  Nos.  6,  7, 
and  8. 

"  At  7. 40  o'clock  A.  M.  of  the  20th,  the  enemy  opened  fire 
on  us  from  the  steam  frigate  Minnesota  (43  guns),  Wabash 
(43  guns),  Susquehanna  (15  guns),  frigate  Cumberland 
(24  guns),  steamer  Pawnee  (10  guns),  and  Harriet  Lane 
(5  guns),  and  a  rifled  battery  of  three  guns  erected  in  the 
sand  hills  three  miles  east  of  Fort  Clark.  Thus  you  will 
see  they  brought  73  guns  of  the  most  approved  kind  and 
heaviest  metal  to  bear  upon  us — the  shells  thrown  being 
9-inch,  10-inch  and  11 -inch  Dahlgren,  Paixhan,  and  Co- 
lumbiad  ;  while  from  the  position  taken  we  were  unable 
to  reach  them  with  the  greatest  elevation.  The  men  of 
the  channel  battery  were  ordered  to  leave  their  guns  and 
protect  themselves  as  well  as  possible,  the  council  of  the 
commanding  officers  having  decided  that  it  was  to  be  an 
action  of  endurance  until  our  reinforcements  came  up. 
After  a  few  shots  had  been  fired,  and  it  was  ascertained 
that  we  could  not  reach  them,  our  guns  ceased  fire,  and 
only  answered  the  fire  of  the  enemy  occasionally,  to  show 
that  we  had  not  surrendered.  The  shower  of  shell  In  half 
an  hour  became  literally  tremendous,  as  we  had  falling 
into  and  immediately  around  tLs  works  not  less,  on  an 
average,  than  ten  each  minute,  and,  the  eea  being  smooth, 
the  firing  was  remarkably  accurate.  One  officer  counted 
twenty-eight  shells  as  falling  BO  as  to  damage  urf,  in  one 
minute,  and  several  others  counted  twenty  in  a  minute. 
At  a  quarter  to  eleven  o'clock  a  council  of  the  officers  was 
held,  and  it  was  determined  to  surrender.  A  white  flag 
was  raised,  and  the  firing  ceased  at  eleven  o'clock.  Thus, 
for  three  hours  and  twenty  minutes  Fort  Hatteras  resisted 
a  storm  of  shells  perhaps  more  terrible  than  ever  fell  upon 
any  other  works.  At  the  time  the  council  determined  to 
surrender,  two  of  our  guns  were  dismounted,  4  men  were 
reported  killed,  and  between  twenty-five  and  thirty  badly 
wounded.  One  shell  had  fallen  into  the  room  adjoining 
the  magazine,  and  the  magazine  was  reported  on  fire.  It 
is  useless  to  attempt  a  further  description.  The  men  gene 
rally  behaved  well.  Nearly  every  commissioned  officer, 
from  the  Commodore  down,  was  more  or  less  wounded, 
and  fifty  or  sixty  of  the  non-commissioned  officers  and 

men,  who  would  not  report  to  the  surgeon. 

****** 

"W.  S.  G.  ANDREWS,  Major,  etc." 

Commodore  Barron,  after  repeating  what  has  been  al 
ready  recorded  in  the  previous  report,  thus  concludes  his 
official  account  : 

"  I  was  requested,"  says  Commodore  Barron,  "  by  Col 
onel  Martin  and  Major  Andrews,  commanding  the  post,  to 
assume  command  of  the  fort,  to  which  I  assented,  Colonel 


North,  and  after  being  held  for  some  time 
as  prisoners  of  war,  were  exchanged. 

Bradford  volunteering  to  assist  me  in  the  duties  of  defence. 
In  assuming  this  grave  responsibility  I  was  not  unaware 
that  we  could  be  shelled  out  of  the  fort  ;  but  expecting 
the  arrival  from  Newbern  of  a  regiment  of  North  Carolina 
volunteers  at  or  before  midnight  (the  fleet  having  put  to 
sea,  and  appearances  indicating  bad  weather),  we  designed 
an  assault  on  Fort  Clark,  three  quarters  of  a  mile  distant 
from  Fort  Hatteras,  which  had  been  taken  possession  of 
by  a  party  landed  from  the  shipping;  but,  unfortunately, 
the  regiment  did  not  arrive  until  the  following  day,  after 
the  bombardment  had  commenced,  and  when  the  time 
came  that  I  deemed  evacuation  or  surrender  unavoidable, 
the  means  of  escape  were  not  at  my  command.  On  the 
next  day,  at  7.40  A.M.,  the  fleet,  consisting  of  the  Minnesota, 
Wabash,  Susquehanna,  Cumberland,  Pawnee,  and  Harriet 
Lane  (other  steamers  being  in,  company),  took  their  posi 
tions  and  opened  fire.  In  addition  to  the  batteries  of  the 
ships,  the  enemy  had  during  the  night  erected  a  battery 
of  rifled  field  guns  near  to  Fort  Clark,  which  also  opened 
upon  us. 

"  During  the  first  hour  the  shells  of  the  ships  fell  short, 
•we  onjy  firing  occasionally  to  ascertain  whether  our  shot 
would  reach  them,  and  wishing  to  reserve  our  very  limited 
supply  of  ammunition  till  the  vessels  might  find  it  neces 
sary  to  come  nearer  in,  but  they,  after  some  practice,  got 
the  exact  range  of  their  nine,  ten,  and  eleven  inch  guns,  and 
did  not  find  it  necessary  to  alter  their  positions,  while  not 
a  shot  from  our  battery  reached  them  with  the  greatest 
elevation  we  could  get.  This  state  of  things — shells  burst 
ing  over  and  in  the  forb  every  few  seconds — having  con 
tinued  for  about  three  hours,  the  men  were  directed  to 
take  shelter  under  the  parapet  and  traverses,  and  I  called 
a  council  of  officers,  at  which  it  was  unanimously  agreed 
that  holding  out  longer  could  only  result  in  a  greater  loss 
of  life,  without  the  ability  to  damage  our  adversaries,  and, 
just  at  this  time,  the  magazine  being  reported  on  fire,  a 
shell  having  fajlen  through  the  ventilator  of  the  'bomb 
proof,'  into  the  room  adjoining  the  principal  magazine,  I 
ordered  a  white  flag  to  be  shown,  when  the  firing  ceased, 
and  the  surrender  was  made  upon  the  conditions  of  the 
accompanying  '  articles  of  capitulation. ' 

"  The  personnel  of  this  command  are  now  '  prisoners  of 
war'  on  board  this  ship  (the  Minnesota),  where  everything 
is  done  to  make  them  as  comfortable  as  possible  under  the 
circumstances,  Flag  Officer  Stringham,  Captain  Van  Brunt, 
and  Commander  Case  extending  to  us  characteristic  court 
esy  and  kindness.  We  are  to  be  landed  at  Fort  Hamilton, 
New  York  harbor.  *  *  *  So  far  as  ascertained,  there 
were  this  day  two  killed,  twenty-five  or  thirty  wounded, 
and  many  others  slightly  wounded." 


544 


THE  WAli  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


CHAPTER  LI. 

Effect  of  the  Surrender  of  Hatteras  upon  the  Enemy. — Fort  Morgan,  at  Ocracoke  Inlet,  abandoned  without  a  blow. — 
Reaction  of  sentiment  of  the  Inhabitants  of  Hatteras. — Emphatic  expression  of  Loyalty. — Convention  of  the  In 
habitants  of  Hyde  County. — Affirmation  of  Fidelity  to  the  Union. — Convention  at  Hatteras. — A  sweeping  Ordi 
nance. — Character  of  the  Inhabitants  of  Hatteras. — Election  for  United  States  Congress. — Choice  of  Mr.  Foster. — His 
claim  to  a  seat  not  acknowledged. — Great  hopes  defeated. — Expedition  to  Chicamacomico. — Description  of  Chica- 
macotnico. — Objects  of  the  Expedition. — Roanoke  Island. — Its  relative  position  to  contiguous  Land  and  to  the 
Sounds. — The  advantage  of  the  Position. — The  Expedition. — How  composed. — Its  Start. — Trouble  in  Disembarka 
tion. — The  loss  of  the  Fanny. — Success  of  the  Enemy  and  their  encouragement. — Expedition  of  the1  Enemy. — 
Landing  of  the  Enemy  upon  Hatteras. — The  Retreat  of  the  Federalists. — Their  Trials. — Rescue. — The  Fleet. — Flight 
of  the  Enemy. — Naval  Official  Report. — Version  of  the  Enemy. — Contradictory  Accounts. — Comparative  Losses. — • 
The  Enemy  forced  to  Retreat. — Still  in  possession  of  Roanoke  Island. 


THE  successful  expedition  to  Hatte 
ras  seemed  momentarily  to  have 
wrought  a  very  depressing  effect 
upon  the  enemy.  After  the  capture  of 
Forts  Clark  and  Hatteras,  they  almost 
despaired  of  holding  those  great  barriers 
of  sand,  upon  which  North  Carolina  was 
dependent  not  only  for  the  protection 
of  its  coast  but  for  the  liberty  of  its  com 
merce.  Soon  after  the  Federal  victory 
at  Hatteras  Inlet,  the  frigate  Savannah 
sailed  to  Ocracoke  Inlet  to  the  south, 
and  finding  Fort  Morgan  abandoned, 
took  possession  of  that  strong  work, 
without  meeting  with  the  least  resist 
ance. 

The  natives  of  that  district  of  North 
Carolina  suddenly  evinced  a  strong  feel 
ing  of  loyalty,  and  emphatically  ex 
pressed  it  by  a  course  of  political  ac 
tion  as  friendly  to  the  United  States  as 
it  was  hostile  to  the  Southern  Confed- 
Oct<  eracy.  A  convention  of  the  citizens 
12*  of  Hyde  County  was  held  and  res 
olutions  framed  in  which  the  members 


affirmed  "  voluntarily  and  deliberately " 
their  loyalty  to  the  Government  of  the 
United  States,  and  expressed  their  "  un 
alterable  attachment  to  that  constitu 
tion  which  is  the  basis  of  the  Union  and 
founded  by  their  fathers."  A  committee 
was  then  formed  to  draw  up  a  statement 
of  grievances  of  the  loyal  inhabitants  of 
North  Carolina.  A  "  declaration  of  in 
dependence"  was  the  result.  This  docu 
ment,  modelled  on  the  original  Declara 
tion  of  Independence,  affected  all  the 
pomp  of  that  stately  document. 

Subsequently  a  convention  was  held 
at  Hatteras,  with  a  professed  rep-  ^OVf 
resentatiori  of  forty-five  counties  of  18* 
North  Carolina.  This  imposing  body 
unhesitatingly  assumed  the  prerogative 
of  the  whole  power  of  the  State.  ;iu  : 
overthrowing  its  constituted  authorities 
as  being  in  league  with  the  Southern 
Confederacy,  provided  for  its  govern 
ment  in  allegiance  to  the  United  States 
by  a  sweeping  "  ordinance." 

This  movement,  in  connection  with  the 


LOYAL  HATTERAS. 


545 


triumph  of  the  Federal  arms  at  Hatteras, 
seemed  an  augury  of  returning  loyalty 
in  North  Carolina ;  but  to  those  who  knew 
the  shiftless  character  of  the  inhabitants 
of  the  sand  beaches  of  Hatteras — many 
of  whom  were  known  to  be  careless  fish 
ermen  or  unscrupulous  wreckers — it  was 
evident  that  the  influence  of  their  action 
would  be  small  and  their  fidelity  doubtful. 

The  convention  assembled  at  Hatteras 
adjourned,  subject  to  be  convened  by  the 
President  of  the  United  States,  and  Mr. 
Lincoln  was  induced  to  issue  a  procla 
mation  ordering  an  election  to  be  held 
for  the  Second  Congressional  District, 
on  Wednesday,  27th  of  November.  The 
election  accordingly  took  place,  and  a 
Mr.  Foster  was  chosen  a  member  of  the 
House  of  the  Representatives  of  the 
United  States.  This  body,  however,  re 
fused  to  admit  his  claims  to  a  seat. 

Brilliant  as  had  been  the  first  success 
of  the  expedition  to  Hatteras,  the  results 
proved  less  satisfactory  than  might  have 
been  anticipated.  A  series  of  attempts 
to  improve  the  advantage  of  holding 
this  important  position  proved  abortive, 
in  consequence  of  imprudence  or  ill-for 
tune.  The  expedition  to  Chicamacom- 
ico  was  the  first  of  these  small  and  un 
profitable  enterprises.  This  point  is  at 
the  northernmost  extremity  of  the  great 
stretch  of  sand  beach  called  Hatteras 
Island,  upon  the  southwestern  end  of 
which  are  situated  the  two  forts,  Clark 
and  Hatteras,  which  had  been  wrested 
from  the  enemy.  Chicamacomico  is 
about  forty  miles  from  these  works,  and 
Colonel  Hawkins,  in  command  of  the 
Federal  troops  at  the  forts,  determined 

60 


to  send  a  force  in  that  direction,  in  order 
to  watch  the  enemy,  who  had  taken  pos 
session  of  Roanoke  Island  with  3,000 
men,  and  to  prevent  their  landing  on 
Hatteras.*  Roanoke  Island  is  an  im 
portant  position,  commanding  the  en 
trance  from  the  sea  through  Oregon  Inlet 
to  Albemarle  Sound,  and  the  commu 
nication  of  the  latter  with  Pamlico 
Sound.  Between  Roanoke  Island  and 
the  northern  end  of  Hatteras,  where 
Chicamacomico  is  situated,  there  inter 
venes  enly  a  stretch  of  sand  beach,  about 
fifteen  miles  in  length,  insulated  by 
two  inlets  from  the  sea — Loggerhead 
Inlet,  which  divides  it  on  the  south  from 

*  The  following  description  of  Hatteras  Island  is  taken 
from  "Leslie's  Pictorial  History  of  the  War  :" 

' '  A  few  words  as  to  the  character  of  Hatteras  Island 
are  necessary  to  an  understanding  of  the  operations  of 
which  it  has  been  the  theatre.  Its  length  from  Hatteras 
Inlet,  where  Forts  Hatteras  and  Clark  are  situated,  to 
Hatteras  light-house  is  about  thirteen  miles  ;  it  then  takes 
a  northern  direction,  and  extends  to  Loggerhead  Inlet,  a 
distance  of  twenty-seven  miles,  making  the  total  length 
of  the  island  about  forty  miles.  Its  width  averaged 
about  one  mile,  although  there  are  some  parts  which  are 
above  two  miles  wide,  while  at  several  points  it  is  only 
about  one-third  of  a  mile.  In  a  word,  it  is  little  more 
than  a  series  of  sand  heaps,  interspersed  with  clumps  of 
dwarfed  live  oaks,  with  now  and  then  a  marsh  filled  with 
marsh  grass.  Other  than  these  there  is  no  green  thing 
to  be  seen.  The  population  may  be  as  great  as  500  souls, 
though  no  one  appears  to  have  any  very  distinct  idea  of 
the  exact  number.  They  live  by  fishing,  oystering,  pilot 
ing,  and  wrecking  ;  or,  as  they  innocently  call  it,  '  plun 
dering.'  They  are  very  ignorant,  simple-minded,  and  in 
every  respect  as  provincial  as  any  class  of  human  beings 
can  well  be.  They  live  in  rude  houses,  many  of  them 
mere  huts,  on  the  peaks  of  which  at  the  present  time, 
something  designed  to  be  a  white  flag,  floats.  Most  of 
the  inhabitants  were  born  on  the  island,  and  many  have 
never  been  away  from  it.  Formerly  there  were  no  schools 
or  churches ;  now  there  are  schools,  and  a  place  of  wor 
ship.  There  is  a  kind  of  spicy  plant  or  shrub  growing  on 
the  island  called  yopon,  the  leaves  and  sprigs  of  which  the 
inhabitants  gather  and  use  in  the  place  of  tea  and  coffee. 
A  bushel  of  the  leaves  they  exchange  for  a  bushel  of  corn, 
by  which  means  they  obtain  their  chief  supply." 


546 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


Hatteras,  and  Oregon  Inlet,  which  sepa 
rates  it  on  the  north  from  the  beach 
which  flanks  Roanoke  Island  on  the  sea 
side.  By  the  possession  of  Roanoke 
Island,  the  enemy  could  command  not 
only  these  inlets  to  the  sea,  of  which 
they  might  avail  themselves  for  the 
passage  of  their  privateers  and  trading 
vessels,  and  protect  the  approach  to 
Carolina  and  Virginia  by  Albemarle 
Sound,  but  threaten  even  to  wrest  Hat 
teras  Island  from  the  Federal  forces. 

Colonel  Hawkins,  conscious  of  the  im 
portance  of  Roanoke  Island,  was  anx 
ious  to  thwart  the  purposes  of  the 
enemy,  in  seizing  it.  He  accordingly 
sent  the  Twentieth  Indiana  Regiment 
— diminished  in  strength  by  three  com 
panies,  which  had  been  left  at  Fortress 
Monroe — to  occupy  Chicamacomico  and 
throw  up  intrenchments,  with  the  view 
of  preventing  a  landing  from  the  enemy 
at  Roanoke  Island,  which  is  only  fifteen 
miles  distant. 

The  Indiana  Regiment,  under  the  com- 
gf  pt§  mand  of  Colonel  Brown,  embarked 
29»  on  board  the  gun-boats  Putnam  and 
Ceres,  and  sailing  on  the  morning  of 
September  29th,  arrived  on  the  same 
evening  off  Chicamacomico.  In  conse 
quence,  however,  of  the  shallowness  of 
the  water,  the  vessels  were  obliged  to 
anchor  at  a  distance  of  three  miles  from 
laud.  The  soldiers  were  riot  able  to  dis 
embark  until  next  morning,  when  being 
transferred  to  small  boats  they  were 
safely  landed.  The  regiment  was  des 
titute  of  everything  except  a  small  quan 
tity  of  provisions,  as  all  the  supplies, 
equipage,  intrenching  implements, 


food  and  ammunition  were  to  be  sent 
next  day  by  the  steam-tug  Fanny. 

This  vessel,  however,  with  its  import 
ant  freight,  had  been  detained  at  the 
forts  a  day  beyond  the  appointed  time, 
and  did  not  sail  until  the  1st  of  Octo 
ber.  In  the  evening  of  that  day  she 
made  her  appearance  off  the  point,  but 
while  preparing  to  land  her  stores,  three 
gun-boats  hove  in  sight,  and  before  their 
character  could  be  ascertained,  opened 
fire  upon  her.  Ten  persons,  who  had  the 
good  luck  to  be  in  the  only  boat  which 
had  put  off  for  the  land,  escaped  ;  all  the 
rest,  thirty-one  soldiers  and  sailors,  were 
captured,  together  with  the  tug-boat  and 
its  valuable  freight.  Property  to  the 
value  of  over  $150,000  thus  fell  into 
the  hands  of  the  enemy.  The  loss,  more 
over,  of  the  camp  equipage,  intrenching 
tools,  and  provisions  of  the  Indiana  Reg 
iment,  totally  defeated  the  object  of 
their  enterprise. 

The  enemy,  encouraged  by  their  suc 
cess  in  the  capture  of  the  Fanny,  now 
ventured  upon  a  more  extensive  enter 
prise.  Organizing  an  expedition,  con 
sisting  of  six  small  steamers,  a  number 
of  transports,  cotton  and  flat  boats,  ai  «1 
some  2,000  or  3,000  men,  they  appeared 
off  Chicamacomico,  with  the  view  of 
surprising  and  capturing  the  Indiana  Oct. 
Regiment  now  encamped  at  that  ^» 
point.  The  armed  vessels  of  the  enemy 
began  the  attack  by  throwing  shells 
into  the  Federal  camp,  and  at  the  same 
time,  under  the  cover  of  this  fire,  landed 
two  bodies  of  men,  one  above  and  one 
below  the  encampment  of  the  Indiana 
men,  with  the  purpose  of  surrounding 


DISASTER  AT  CHICAMACOMICO. 


547 


them  and  cutting  off  their  retreat.  Col 
onel  Brown,  seeing  that  he  could  not  de 
fend  himself  against  such  odds,  withdrew 
his  men,  and  luckily  succeeded  during 
he  night  in  eluding  the  vigilance  of  the 
detachment  in  his  rear.  Meanwhile,  Col 
onel  Hawkins  had  become  aware  of  the 
imminent  danger  of  his  comrades,  and 
had  marched  to  their  rescue  with  500 
men,  supported  by  the  frigate  Susque- 
hannah  and  the  gun-boat  Monticello. 

The  retreating  troops  were  in  the  mean 
time  exposed  to  trials  which  tested  to  the 
utmost  their  fortitude  and  powers  of  en 
durance.*  While  Colonel  Hawkins  had 

°  The  retreat  is  thus  described  by  one  of  the  sufferers  : 
"  Sorrowfully,"  says  he,  "we  turned  our  backs  on  our 
camp  and  prepared  for  the  long  march  to  Hatteras  light 
house,  where  we  expected  reinforcement  from  Colonel 
Hawkins. 

"This  was  about  nine  o'clock.  The  sun  was  shining 
on  the  white  sand  of  the  beach,  heating  the  air  as  if  it 
were  a  furnace.  The  men  had  neither  provisions  nor 
water.  The  haste  in  which  they  had  rushed  to  repel  the 
enemy  had  prevented  this,  and  it  was  too  late  to  go  back 
to  camp.  Company  F,  Lieutenant  Logan,  was  thrown 
forward  in  the  advance,  and  Company  K,  Captain  Keid, 
was  detailed  as  a  rear  guard  ;  and  well  he  performed  his 
duty,  picking  up  the  stragglers  and  keeping  the  enemy  in 
check.  Several  times  the  enemy  advanced  in  force,  and 
he  halted  to  give  them  battle,  but  they  declined. 

"It  was  a  march  I  shall  never  forget.  The  first  ten 
miles  was  terrible.  No  water,  the  men  unused  to  long 
marches,  the  sand  heavy,  and  the  feet  of  the  men  sinking 
into  it  at  every  step,  and  a  point  below  to  be  gained  in 
order  to  join  Company  F,  to  prevent  their  being  cut  off. 
As  the  regiment  pushed  along,  man  after  man  would 
stagger  from  the  ranks,  and  fall  upon  the  hot  sand,  and, 
looking  back,  I  saw  our  colonel  trudging  along  with  his 
men,  having  given  up  his  horse  to  a  sick  soldier. 

"  But  the  most  sorrowful  sight  of  all  was  the  islanders 
leaving  their  homes  from  fear  of  the  enemy.  They  could 
be"  ',Mji;pb,  sometimes  with  a  little  cart  carrying 

,  .ovisions,  but  mostly  with  nothing,  fleeing  for  dear 
tife.  Mothers  carrying  their  babes,  fathers  leading  along 
the  boys,  grandfathers  and  grandmothers  straggling  along 
from  homes  they  had  left  behind.  Relying  on  our  pro 
tection  they  bad  been  our  friends,  but  in  an  evil  hour  we 
had  been  compelled  to  leave  them.  When  will  we  learn 
that  guns  and  men  are  necessary  to  enforce  the  laws? 


encouraged  the  retreating  Indiana  men 
with  assurances  that  they  would  be  rein 
forced  by  land,  the  naval  force*  secured 

When  shall  we  learn  that  our  protection  cannot  be  given, 
unless  by  gun-boats  and  batteries  ? 

"We  still  toiled  on,  the  heat  most  intense,  and  no 
water.  Hunger  was  nothing  in  comparison  with  thirst 
It  was  maddening.  The  sea  rolling  at  our  feet  and  noth 
ing  to  drink.  I  started  to  take  a  scout  to  watch  the 
movements  of  the  enemy's  vessels.  I  skirted  the  sound, 
for  some  ten  miles.  In  every  clump  of  bushes  I  would 
find  men  utterly  exhausted.  The  enemy's  vessels  were 
now  nearly  opposite,  steaming  down  the  sound  to  cut  off 
our  retreat.  I  would  tell  them  this,  but  they  would  say, 
'They  did  not  care,  they  would  die  there,'  so  utterly 
hopeless  did  they  seem. 

"  Near  sunset  I  caught  sight  of  the  army  drawn  up  in 
line  of  battle  on  the  beach  about  a  mile  distant.  Soon 
joining  them  I  found  that  the  enemy  were  reported  in 
force  in  front.  After  some  delay  the  army  marched  by 
the  right  flank,  skirmishers  ahead,  until  we  reached  the 
narrow  inlet  about  five  miles  above  Hatteras  light-house, 
and  here  our  great  danger  was  at  once  seen.  The  fleet  of 
the  enemy  had  drawn  up  in  line,  so  as  to  sweep  the  beach 
and  render  a  passage  impossible,  but  had  neglected  to 
land  their  men.  It  was  now  near  twilight.  The  clouds 
in  the  west  reflected  the  bright  tints  of  the  sun,  and 
showed  us  the  enemy  in  the  foreground.  In  the  east 
heavy  gray  clouds  lowered,  and  our  uniforms  correspond 
ing,  hid  us  from  their  view,  as  we  silently  stole  along, 
the  roar  of  the  surf  drowning  the  footsteps  of  the  men  and 
the  commands  of  the  officers,  yet  every  little  while  we 
would  watch,  expecting  to  see  the  flash  of  the  enemy's 
cannon,  or  hear  the  report  of  the  bursting  shell  In  our 
little  band.  It  was  a  narrow  escape,  and  a  providential 
one,  and  our  colonel  was  affected  to  tears  at  the  danger  we 
had  passed. 

"  At  midnight  we  reached  Hatteras  light-house,  having 
made  a  march  of  twenty-eight  miles.  Here  we  found 
water,  and  using  the  light-house  as  a  fort,  we  encamped 
for  the  night,  and  woke  up  next  morning  feeling  like 
sand-crabs,  and  ready,  like  them,  to  go  into  our  holes, 
could  we  find  them." 

0  The  following  official  reports  of  the  naval  com 
manders  are  the  simplest  and  probably  most  truthful 
records  of  their  good  services  : 

"  UNITED  STATES  STEAM  FRIGATE  SUSQUEFIANNAH,  > 
OFF  HATTERAS  INLET,  Oct.  6,  1861.          > 
"  CAPTAIN  LARDNBR  TO  COMMANDER  GOLDSBOROUOH  : 

"SIR:  Late  in  the  afternoon  of  the  4th  instant  I  re 
ceived  information  that  the  enemy  had  landed  in  large 
force  at  Chicamacomico  and  Keneekut,  and  the  Indiana 
Regiment  posted  there  was  in  full  retreat  before  them. 
Also,  that  our  three  tugs  in  the  inlet  were  aground  o» 
disabled.  The  Fanny  had  been  captured  the  day  before. 


548 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


their  safety  by  driving  off  the  swarming 
assailants. 

The  account  given  by  the  enemy  of 
this  affair  was  of  course  as  flattering  to 
themselves  as  it  was  denunciatory  of  our 
troops.  As  in  this  work  it  is  designed 
not  only  to  record  the  events  of  the  war, 

I  at  once  got  underway  with  this  ship  and  the  Monticello, 
and  anchored  for  the  night  close  to  the  shore  in  Hatteras 
Cove.  At  daylight  I  found  our  troops  in  and  about  this 
light-house,  and  in  distress  for  want  of  provisions,  which 
they  had  been  without  for  twenty-four  hours.  I  supplied 
them  with  food,  and  at  the  request  of  the  commanding 
officer,  remained  for  their  protection  during  the  day. 
Learning  that  the  enemy  was  in  large  force  at  Keneekut, 
I  sent  the  Monticello  to  drive  them  off,  which  important 
service  was  performed  by  Lieutenant-Commanding  Braine 
with  great  effect  and  good  conduct.  His  report  is  inclosed. 
"  I  am,  very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

"  J.  L.  LARDNER,  Captain. 
"To  Flag  Officer  L.  M.  GOLDSBOROUGH,  etc.,  etc." 

"  UNITED  STATUS  SHIP  MONTICELLO,  OFF  CAPE  HATTERAS,  ) 
Oct.  5,  1861.  > 

"  LIEUTENANT  BRAINE  TO  CAPTAIN  LARDNEK  : 

"SiR:  I  have  the  honor  to  inform  you,  that,  in  obe 
dience  to  your  order  of  this  morning,  I  stood  through  the 
inner  channel  of  Hatteras  Shoals,  at  half-past  twelve 
p.  M  ,  and  stood  close  along  shore  to  the  northward,  keep 
ing  a  bright  look-out  from  aloft.  At  half-past  one  p.  M. 
we  discovered  several  vessels  over  the  woodland  Kenee 
kut,  and  at  the  same  tune  a  regiment  marching  to  the 
northward,  carrying  a  rebel  flag  in  their  midst,  with  many 
etragglers  in  their  rear  ;  also  two  tugs  inside  flying  the 
same  flag.  As  they  came  out  of  the  woods  of  Keneekut, 
•we  ran  close  in  shore,  and  opened  a  deliberate  fire  upon 
them  at  a  distance  of  three-quarters  of  a  mile.  At  our 
first  shell,  which  fell  apparently  in  tbeir  midst,  they 
rolled  up  their  flag  and  scattered,  moving  rapidly  up  the 
beach  to  the  northward.  We  followed  them,  firing  rapid 
ly  from  three  guns,  driving  them  up  to  a  clump  of  woods, 
in  which  they  took  refuge,  and  abreast  of  which  their 
gteamers  lay.  We  now  shelled  the  woods,  and  could  see 
them  embarking  in  small  boats  after  their  vessels,  evidently 
in  great  confusion,  and  suffering  greatly  from  our  fire. 

"Their  steamers  now  opened  fire  upon  us,  firing,  how 
ever,  but  three  shots,  which  fell  short.  Two  boats  filled 
with  men  were  struck  by  our  shells  and  destroyed.  Three 
more  steamers  came  down  the  sound  and  took  position 
opposite  the  woods.  We  were  shelling  also  two  sloops. 
We  continued  firing  deliberately  from  half-past  one  p.  M. 
until  half-past  three  p.  M.,  when  two  men  were  discovered 
on  the  sea-beach  making  signals  to  us.  Supposing  them 


but  to  illustrate  the  spirit  of  those  en 
gaged  in  it,  the  subjoined  account*  of 

to  be  two  of  the  Indiana  Regiment,  we  sent  an  armed  boat 
and  crew  to  bring  them  off,  covering  them  at  the  same 
time  with  our  fire.  Upon  the  boat  nearing  the  beach 
they  took  to  the  water.  One  of  them  was  successful  in 
reaching  the  boat— private  Warren  0.  Haver,  Company 
H,  20th  Regiment  of  Indiana  troops.  The  other  man- 
private  Charles  White,  Company  H,  20th  Regiment  In 
cliana  troops— was  unfortunately  drowned  in  the  surf. 

"  Private  Haver  informs  me  that  he  was  taken  prisoner 
on  the  morning  of  the  4th  ;  that  he  witnessed  one  shot 
which  was  very  destructive.  He  states  that  two  of  our 
shells  fell  into  two  sloops  loaded  with  men,  blowing  the 
vessels  to  pieces  and  sinking  them.  Also  that  several 
officers  were  killed,  and  their  horses  seen  running  about 
the  track.  He  had  just  escaped  from  his  captors,  after 
shooting  the  captain  of  one  of  the  rebel  companies.  He 
states  that  the  enemy  were  in  the  greatest  confusion, 
rushing  wildly  into  the  water,  striving  to  get  off  to  their 
vessels.  Private  Haver  now  directed  me  to  the  point 
where  the  rebels  were  congregated,  waiting  an  oppor 
tunity  to  get  off.  I  opened  fire  again  with  success, 
scattering  them.  We  were  now  very  close,  in  three 
fathoms  water,  and  the  fire  of  the  second  shell  told  with 
effect.  Six  steamers  were  now  off  the  point,  one  of  which 
I  recognized  as  the  Fanny.  At  twenty-five  minutes  past 
five  we  ceased  firing,  leaving  the  enemy  scattered  along 
the  beach  for  upward  of  four  miles.  I  fired  repeatedly  at 
the  enemy's  steamers  with  our  rifled  cannon,  a  Parrot 
thirty-pounder,  and  struck  the  Fanny,  I  think,  once  ;  I 
found  the  range  of  this  piece  much  short  of  what  I  had 
anticipated,  many  of  the  shot  turning  end  over  end.  and 
not  exceeding  much  the  range  of  the  smooth-bore  thirty- 
two-pounder. 

"  I  inclose  herewith  the  memorandum  of  the  amount 
of  ammunition  expended  to-day.  I  am.  respectfully,  you- 
obedient  servant,  Lieutenant  D.  L.  BRAINK, 

"Commanding  United  States  steamer  Monticello. 
"To  Captain  J.  L.  LARDNER.  Commanding  United  ^tatcs 

steamer  Susquehannah,  off  Cape  Hatteras." 

o  "Colonel  Wright  left  Camp  Georgia.  Roanoke  Ishnd. 
on  Thursday,  midnight,  and  arrived  at  rhieamacoinico 
on  Friday.  Colonel  Wright  made  the  attack  on  tlie  Fed 
erals  at  nine  o'clock  in  the  morning,  by  tiriiiu'  sli  II  fp  in 
two  ten-pound  howitzers  from  on  h<>;ird  tin-  tv:iiis|«> •! 
Cotton  Plant,  when  about  one  mile  from  tin-  shore  A.- 
soon  as  the  Colonel  opened  fin-  they  began  to  rettv't 
The  howitzers  were  commanded  by  Lieutenant  ,J.  K 
Sturgis,  with  forty  men.  When  the  Colonel  saw  tliej 
were  about  to  retreat,  he  embarked  the  trims  of  his  thieo 
companies  on  board  of  a  flat-boat,  tor  the  purpose  of 
effecting  a  landing  and  putting  chase  after  them  Com 
pany  H,  commanded  by  Captain  Nesbit :  Company  E. 
commanded  by  Captain  Griffin,  and  Company  N.  com 


EXAGGERATIONS   OF  THE   ENEMY. 


549 


the  attack  on  Chicamacomico,  with  its 
minuteness  of  detail  and  spitefulness  of 
commentary,  will  serve  both  objects. 

mandcd  by  Captain  Jones,  were  landed  immediately, 
leaving  the  remaining  portion  of  the  Third  Georgia  Regi 
ment  and  the  North  Carolina  Regiment  some  four  or  five 
miles  in  the  rear,  on  board  the  other  vessels  of  the  fleet. 
The  three  companies  that  landed  consisted  of  210  men, 
while  the  enemy,  from  their  muster  rolls,  were  about  1,200. 

' '  When  the  Colonel  landed,  he  had  signaled  the  re 
maining  portion  of  the  Georgia  Third  to  advance,  and, 
when  near  shore,  they  commenced  embarking  in  their  flat- 
boats.  Colonel  Wright  took  but  one  of  his  howitzers 
with  him,  leaving  the  other  on  board  the  Cotton  Plant, 
under  command  of  Captain  Carrsville,  to  cover  his  landing. 

"  After  the  three  companies  had  effected  a  safe  landing, 
the  other  howitzer  was  then  brought  on  shore,  and  they 
then  commenced  the  pursuit  of  the  flying  Yankees,  and 
were  joined  by  each  company  of  the  remaining  portion  of 
the  Georgia  Regiment  as  fast  as  they  effected  a  landing. 
The  two  howitzers  and  ammunition  were  drawn  through 
the  deep  sand  by  the  men  during  the  entire  pursuit  of 
twenty-five  miles,  having  in  the  mean  time  encamped  on 
Friday  night  at  Keneekut,  a  distance  of  eighteen  miles 
from  the  starting-point. 

"The  pursuit  was  continued  early  next  morning,  to 
within  one  mile  of  the  Hatteras  light-house.  When 
about  six  miles  from  the  starting-place,  Colonel  Wright, 
being  on  horseback,  and  considerably  in  advance  of  his 
command,  overtook  a  j>arty  of  thirteen  Yankees,  together 
with  their  adjutant.  He  made  a  gallant  charge  on  them, 
when  the  adjutant  shot  his  horse  and  commenced  loading 
again,  when  the  Colonel  grabbed  up  a  small  Yankee,  and 
presented  him  as  a  breast- work  to  ward  off  the  adju 
tant's  fire.  With  this  he  advanced  on  the  adjutant  with 
his  repeater,  and  captured  four,  including  the  adjutant. 

"  As  our  forces  continued  to  advance,  they  commenced 
taking  prisoners  -  in  all  about  forty — and  killed  seven  or 
eight  of  the  flying  Hessians. 

"One  of  the  North  Carolina  companies  landed  at  the 
same  time  as  the  Georgians,  and  joined  in  the  pursuit  with 
great  bravery,  while  the  other  portion  of  the  North  Caro 
lina  Regiment  were  ordered  to  hasten  to  the  light-house, 
just  below  Keneekut,  to  intercept  the  retreat  of  the  Fed 
eralists.  Keneekut  is  eight  miles  above  the  light-house, 
toward  Chicamacomico.  They  were  unable  to  land,  owing 
to  the  shoal  water,  though  they  did  everything  they  could 
to  accomplish  that  object.  They  got  their  guns  on  board 
the  flat  and  shoved  off,  but  got  aground,  and  even  waded 
in  till  they  found  themselves  again  getting  into  deep  water. 
They  sent  a  small  boat  to  take  the  soundings,  and  found 
it  impossible  to  land,  owing  to  the  formation  of  the  flats. 

"Colonel  Wright  continued  in  pursuit  till  he  found  the 
North  Carolina  regiments,  under  Colonel  Shaw,  unable  to 
land,  and  ascertaining  that  the  Yankees  had  been  rein- 


Notwithstanding  the  exaggerated  es 
timate  by  the  enemy  of  their  spirit,  and 
of  the  want  of  it  on  the  part  of  their  an- 

forced  by  900  men  from  Hatteras,  he  withdrew  bis  forces 
to  the  position  he  had  occupied  the  night  before.  After 
getting  back  to  this  position,  the  Federal  steamer  Monti- 
cello  took  up  position  about  half  a  mile  from  shore,  and 
opened  fire  on  them  by  broadsiders,  with  eleven-inch  shell, 
and  continued  to  shell  them  for  five  hours,  without  injury 
to  any  one  except  a  slight  bruise  on  one  man's  leg,  who 
fell  down  in  endeavoring  to  dodge  a  ball  which  rolled  over 
his  leg,  and  a  slight  scratch  on  another's  face  from  the  ex 
plosion  of  a  shell. 

"The  Cotton  Plant,  under  orders  from  Commander 
Lynch,  now  ran  up  the  Chicamacomico,  and  took  on  board 
the  entire  forces  which  had  got  back  to  that  point,  to 
gether  with  the  enemy's  entire  camp  equipage,  consisting 
of  300  tents,  cartridge  boxes,  haversacks,  canteens,  cook 
ing  utensils,  provisions,  etc.,  together  with  their  private 
wardrobe,  which  they  were  in  too  great  haste  to  take  with 
them.  The  entire  expedition  then  returned  to  Roanoke 
Island,  arriving  on  Sunday  night  at  twelve  o'clock. 

"  The  Twentieth  Indiana  Regiment  was  drawn  up  on 
shore  preparatory  to  giving  our  forces  battle,  probably  to 
frighten  them  off,  but  seeing  the  determined  action  of  our 
forces  toward  landing,  the  cowardly  whelps  took  to  theii 
heels  down  toward  Hatteras,  leaving  everything,  even 
their  private  wardrobes,  papers,  etc.  This  example  of 
gallantry  was  set  them  by  their  colonel,  who  put  spurs  to 
his  horse,  and  was  the  swiftest  of  the  whole  pack. 

' '  Our  entire  fleet,  except  the  Cotton  Plant,  then  moved 
their  position  to  Hatteras  light-house,  in  order  to  inter 
cept  the  retreat  of  the  Yankees,  but  it  coming  on  dark 
before  they  could  commence  landing,  and  the  want  of 
sufficient  boats  to  make  an  expeditious  landing,  the  Yan 
kees  made  their  escape  to  the  fort  at  Hatteras. 

"The  Georgia  troops,  from  the  Cotton  Plant,  having 
effected  a  landing,  put  out  down  the  beach  in  pursuit  of 
the  flying  Yankees,  but  they  being  entirely  too  fleet  of 
foot  for  them,  escaped  to  Hatteras  light-house. 

"  At  the  time  of  the  retreat  of  the  Yankees,  had  it  been 
high  tide,  they  would  not  have  escaped,  as  the  sand  was 
of  such  a  nature  as  to  utterly  preclude  the  possibility  of 
running,  save  below  the  high-water  mark.  Our  men  had 
to  drag  their  field  howitzers  through  this  sand  twelve  miles 
— that  is  from  Chicamacomico  to  Hatteras  Light ;  and 
during  the  chase,  one  member  of  the  Georgia  Regiment 
died  from  exhaustion  in  pursuing  the  Yankees.  His  re 
mains  were  brought  to  this  city  by  the  Junaluska. 

"A  sergeant-major  of  the  Indiana  Regiment  shot  the 
horse  of  Colonel  Wright,  of  the  Georgia  Regiment,  from 
under  him,  which  appeared  to  be  the  only  evidence  of 
bravery  evinced  by  the  whole  party.  Colonel  Wright  cap 
tured  this  man,  and  for  his  bravery  treated  him  very 
courteously.'' — Norfolk  Day-Book. 


550 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


tagonists,  they  were  forced,  under  the 
heavy  bombardment  of  the  Monticello 
and  Susquehannah,  to  take  to  their  boats 
and  fly  for  their  lives,  from  the  island  of 
Hatteras,  which  afterward  remained  in 
the  undisputed  possession  of  the  United 


States.  The  Confederates,  however,  on 
returning  to  Roanoke  Island,  continued 
to  hold  that  important  position  for  some 
time,  and  did  not  finally  yield  it  up  until 
after  a  severe  struggle. 


CHAPTER    LII. 

The  Difficulties  of  the  Chronicler  from  the  vastness  of  the  field  of  War.— Necessity  of  frequent  change  of  View.— A 
Napoleon  wanted  to  conduct  the  War.— A  Tacitus  required  to  write  its  History.— To  attempt  to  write  the  History  now, 
presumptuous.— The  Purpose  of  the  Present  Chronicler.— The  Enemy's  Position  at  Columbus,  in  Kentucky.— The 
Strength  of  Position  and  Fortifications.— Description  of  Belmont.— Encampment  of  the  Enemy  there.— Expedition 
from  Cairo.— Objects.— Composition  of  the  Expedition. —The  Troops.— Gun-boats.— Landing  of  the  Troops.— 
Operation  of  the  Gun-boats.— Movements  of  the  Troops.— Plan  of  attack  upon  Belmont.— Collision  with  the  Enemy. 
—Retreat  and  Confusion  of  the  Enemy.— Recklessness  of  the  Federalists.— The  Enemy  Reinforced  from  Columbus.— 
The  Fire  from  the  Forts.— General  Grant  forcing  his  way  to  his  Boats.— Fierce  Struggle. —Action  of  the  Gun-boats. — 
Successful  Retreat  of  the  Federalists.— Their  losses.— The  losses  of  the  Enemy.— General  Grant's  Official  Report.— 
Report  of  General  McClernand.— The  Enemy  claim  a  victory  at  Belmont.— General  Folk's  Report.— President  Jeff. 
Davis'  Letter. — Exultation  at  the  Result. 


DURING  this  gigantic  conflict,  extend 
ing  over  a  territory  of  many  thou 
sands  of  miles,  the  chronicler  is 
not  only  forced  largely  to  expand  his 
view,  but  frequently  to  shift  it  to  remote 
points.  He  passes  rapidly  across  a  vast 
continent ;  he  is  at  one  moment  on  the 
sands  of  the  Atlantic  Ocean,  and  at  an 
other  on  the  bluffs  of  the  Mississippi 
River  ;  he  is  now  on  the  Chesapeake,  in 
the  East,  and  now  on  the  prairies  of  the 
West ;  he  has  hardly  reached  the  rocky 
passes  of  the  Alleghanies  before  he  is 
summoned  to  appear  in  the  rice-fields  of 
Carolina,  the  everglades  of  Florida,  or 
the  bayous  of  Louisiana.  It  is  not 
merely  the  events  of  a  single  war  which 
he  is  called  upon  to  chronicle,  but,  as  it 
were,  a  number  of  wars  carried  on  sim 


ultaneously  in  various  States,  each  of 
which  has  the  territorial  magnitude  of  a 
great  nation.  Though  the  conflict  has 
but  one  motive,  and  we  find  an  attempt 
to  conduct  it  in  accordance  with  a  single 
plan,  the  scenes  of  the  various  struggles 
are  so  remote  from  each  other,  and  their 
character  so  diversified  by  local  circum 
stances,  that  to  give  unity  to  the  action 
and  history  of  the  war  would  require 
the  genius  of  a  Napoleon  for  the  one,  and 
the  genius  of  a  Tacitus  for  the  other. 
While  resting  in  the  hope  that  the  former 
has  been  or  will  soon  be  found,  to  secure 
to  our  country  the  military  triumphs  es 
sential  to  its  future  prosperity,  it  may 
be  left  to  posterity  to  find  the  latter  to 
record  them.  The  attempt  now  to  write 
the  history  of  the  late  civil  war  as  it 


BATTLE  OF  BELMONT. 


551 


should  be — and  as  it  doubtless  will  be 
written  in  the  future — would  only  result 
in  disappointment  to  the  reader,  and  in 
an  exhibition  of  impotent  presumption 
on  the  part  of  the  historian.  Our  aim  is 
the  humbler  one,  that  of  merely  chron 
icling  events  as  they  occur,  with  the  wish 
of  gratifying  the  hurried  reader  of  the 
present,  though  not  without  the  hope  of 
supplying  a  useful  record  for  the  deliber 
ate  historian  of  the  future. 

This  narrative  must  now  be  suddenly 
shifted  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Missis 
sippi,  in  order  to  record  the  events  of  an 
other  expedition.  In  this,  although  the 
navy  bore  a  useful  part,  the  more  essen 
tial  service  was  performed  by  the  army. 
At  Columbus,  in  Kentucky,  the  Con 
federate  General  Polk  had  established 
his  headquarters,  where  he  had  concen 
trated  a  large  force  composed  of  from 
20,000  to  30,000,  constructed  an  en 
trenched  camp,  erected  strong  works  on 
the  high  bluffs  on  the  river  Mississippi, 
and  mounted  them  with  over  100  guns. 
Opposite  to  this  strong  position,  on  the 
Missouri,  back  of  the  river,  lies  the  small 
village  of  Belmont.  This  place  was  also 
occupied  by  several  Confederate  regi 
ments,  forming  a  portion  of  the  army 
under  the  command  of  Polk.  General 
Grant,  who  commanded  the  Federal  force 
at  Cairo,  determined  to  make  an  attempt 
to  surprise  and  capture  them.  The  en 
terprise  seemed  the  more  easy  of  accom 
plishment,  from  the  position  of  the  ene 
my's  encampment  at  Belmont,  where  the 
banks  of  the  Mississippi,  being  low  and 
covered  with  trees,  appeared  to  favor  an 
unseen  approach. 


On  the  evening  of  November  the 
sixth,  the  Seventh  Iowa  Regiment,  j\ov, 
Colonel  Lanman,  the  Twenty-sev-  6, 
enth  Regiment,  Colonel  Buford,  the 
Twenty-ninth,  Colonel  Fouke,  the  Thir 
tieth,  Colonel  Logan,  and  the  Twenty- 
second,  Colonel  Dougherty,  all  of  Illi 
nois,  with  two  companies  of  cavalry  and 
Taylor's  battery  of  six  guns,  making  in 
all  a  force  of  2,850  men,  having  em 
barked  at  Cairo  on  board  the  steamers 
Memphis,  Aleck  Scott,  Chancellor  Mont 
gomery  and  Keystone,  dropped  down 
the  Mississippi,  escorted  by  the  gun 
boats  Tyler  and  Lexington.  After  reach 
ing  a  point  about  eight  miles  below 
Cairo,  the  fleet  came  to  anchor  and  re 
mained  until  nearly  daylight  next  morn 
ing.  They  now  continued  their  way 
down  the  river  until  within  four  miles 
of  Belmont,  when  they  made  for  the 
shore,  and  the  troops  landing  took  up 
their  march  for  the  enemy's  encampment. 
The  two-gunboats  in  the  mean  time 
steamed  on  in  the  direction  of  Colum 
bus  with  the  view  of  engaging  the  bat 
teries  there,  and  thus  diverting  the  at 
tention  of  the  enemy  from  the  move 
ment  against  Belmont. 

The  Federal  troops  on  landing  divided, 
and  took  different  lines  of  march,  in 
order  to  come  upon  the  enemy  from 
all  sides,  and  surround  them.  Colonel 
Buford  led  his  regiment,  the  Twenty- 
seventh  Illinois,  along  a  circuitous  route, 
to  the  rear  and  from  the  south.  Colonel 
Lanman,  with  the  Seventh  Iowa,  and 
Colonel  Fouke,  with  the  Twenty-ninth 
Illinois,  marched  in  the  same  direction 
and  advanced  from  the  west ;  while  Col- 


552 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE   SOUTH. 


onel  Dougherty,  with  the  Twenty-second 
Illinois,  and  Colonel  Logan,  with  the 
Thirtieth  Illinois,  approached  from  the 
north.  Colonels  Lanman  and  Dough 
erty,  with  their  regiments,  being  in  ad 
vance,  came  upon  the  enemy  first,  but 
found  them  on  the  alert,  drawn  up  in 
line  of  battle  in  their  camp  and  a  corn 
field  which  extended  in  the  rear.  Lan 
man  and  Dougherty  commenced  the  at 
tack,  and  drove  their  antagonists  from 
the  camp  and  the  field  back  into  the 
woods,  where  they  were  met  by  the 
divisions  approaching  in  that  direction. 
Being  hotly  received,  the  enemy  were 
compelled  to  retrace  their  steps  and  fall 
back  into  their  old  position.  Here  they 
were  again  met  by  Lanman  and  Dough 
erty,  but  struggled  spiritedly  for  two 
hours,  when  they  were  repulsed,  and  fled 
in  confusion  to  the  banks  of  the  river. 

The  Federal  troops  exulting  in  their 
success,  yielded  recklessly  to  the  excite 
ment  of  victory.  They  scattered  care 
lessly  over  the  field,  beyond  the  call  and 
regardless  of  the  command  of  their  offi 
cers  ;  some  were  busy  examining  the 
tents  ;  some  rifling  the  baggage,  some 
supplying  themselves  with  the  arms  which 
the  fugitives  had  thrown  down  in  their 
panic,  and  all  were  unmindful  of  the 
possibility  of  being  caught  while  thus  in 
disorder.  In  the  mean  time,  General 
Pillow  had  crossed  over  from  the  Ken 
tucky  side  with  a  large  and  fresh  force, 
which  he  had  thrown  between  the  scat 
tered  Federalists  and  the  boats,  in  order 
to  cut  off  their  retreat.  At  the  same 
moment  the  guns  of  Columbus,  opposite, 
began  to  pour  in  among  them  a  shower 


of  bomb-shells.  General  Grant  finding 
his  scattered  troops  thus  hemmed  in, 
called  together  and  formed  them  as  best 
he  could,  and  made  a  desperate  effort  to 
reach  the  boats.  He  finally  succeeded, 
but  only  after  a  terrible  struggle  with  the 
enemy,  through  whose  lines  his  men  had 
to  cut  their  way.  The  gun-boats  in  the 
mean  time  had  come  to  the  rescue,  and 
by  their  fire  kept  the  enemy  at  bay  and 
covered  the  embarkation  of  our  troops, 
which  was  finally  effected,  though  a  se 
vere  loss  was  sustained  in  the  bloody 
struggle  with  Pillow's  force.* 

°  The  following  is  the  official  account  of  General  Grant, 
the  conimander-in-chief  at  Cairo  : 

"HEADQUARTERS  DISTRICT  SOUTHEAST  MISSOURI,  ) 
CAIRO,  Nov.  10,  1861.  \ 

"  S.   WILLIAMS,   ASSISTANT- ADJUTANT-GENERAL,    WASHING 
TON,  D.  C.  : 

"  SIR  :  On  the  evening  of  the  6th  instant  I  left  this  place 
with  2,850  men,  all  armed,  to  make  a  reconnoissance  to 
ward  Columbus.  The  object  of  the  expedition  was  to 
prevent  the  enemy  from  sending  out  reinforcements  to 
Price's  army  in  Missouri,  and  also  from  cutting  off  two 
small  columns  that  I  had  been  directed  to  send  out 
from  this  place  and  Cape  Girardeau  in  pursuit  of  Jeff. 
Thompson. 

"Knowing  that  Columbus  was  strongly  garrisoned,  I 
asked  General  Smith,  commanding  at  Paducah,  Ky.,  to 
make  demonstrations  in  the  same  directions.  He  did  so 
by  ordering  a  small  force  to  Mayrield,  and  another  in  the 
direction  of  Columbus,  not  to  approach  nearer,  however, 
than  twelve  or  fifteen  miles.  I  also  sent  a  small  force  on 
the  Kentucky  side  with  orders  not  to  approach  nearer 
than  Elliot's  Mills,  some  twelve  miles  from  Columbus. 

"The  expedition  under  my  immediate  command  wag 
stopped  about  nine  miles  below  here,  on  the  Kentucky 
shore,  and  remained  until  morning.  All  this  served  to 
distract  the  enemy,  and  lead  him  to  think  he  was  to  be 
attacked  in  his  strongly  fortified  position.  At  daylight 
we  proceeded  down  the  river  to  a  point  just  out  of  range 
of  the  rebel  guns,  and  debarked  on  the  Missouri  shore. 
From  here  the  troops  were  marched  by  a  flank  for  about 
one  mile  toward  Belmont,  and  then  drawn  up  in  line, 
one  battalion  having  been  left  as  a  reserve  near  the  trans 
ports.  Two  companies  from  each  regiment,  five  skele 
tons  in  number,  were  thrown  out  as  skirmishers  to  ascer 
tain  the  position  of  the  enemy. 

"  It  was  but  a  few  moments  before  they  met  Liiu.  «w* 


LOSSES   AT  BELMONT. 


553 


The  loss  of  the  national  forces  in  this 
desperate  engagement  amounted  to  the 


a  general  engagement  ensued.  The  balance  of  my  force, 
with  the  exception  of  the  reserve,  was  then  thrown  for 
ward,  all  as  skirmishers,  and  the  enemy  driven,  foot  by 
foot,  and  from  tree  to  tree,  back  to  their  encampment  on 
the  river's  bank,  a  distance  of  over  two  miles.  Here  they 
had  strengthened  their  position  by  felling  the  timber  for 
several  hundred  yards  around  their  camp,  and  making  a 
sort  of  abatis. 

"Our  men  charged  through  this,  driving  the  enemy 
over  the  river  banks  and  into  their  transports  in  quick 
time,  leaving  us  in  possession  of  everything  not  exceed 
ingly  portable. 

"  Belmont  is  on  low  ground,  and  every  foot  of  it  com 
manded  by  the  guns  on  the  opposite  shore,  and.  of  course, 
could  not  be  held  for  a  single  hour  after  the  enemy  be 
came  aware  of  the  withdrawal  of  their  troops.  Having  no 
wagons  with  me  I  could  not  move  any  of  the  captured 
property,  consequently  gave  orders  for  its  destruction. 
Their  tents,  blankets,  etc.,  were  set  on  fire,  and  we  re 
tired,  taking  their  artillery  with  us.  Two  pieces  being 
drawn  by  hand,  and  one  by  an  efficient  team,  were  spiked 
and  left  in  the  woods,  bringing  two  to  this  place. 

"  Before  we  got  fairly  under  way,  the  enemy  made  his 
appearance  again  and  attempted  to  surround  us.  Our 
troops  were  not  in  the  least  discouraged,  but  charged  the 
enemy,  and  again  defeated  him. 

"  Our  loss  was  about  85  killed,  150  wounded — many  of 
them  but  slightly — and  about  an  equal  number  missing. 
Nearly  all  the  missing  were  from  the  Seventh  Iowa  Regi 
ment,  who  behaved  with  great  gallantry,  and  suffered 
more  severely  than  any  other  troops.  *  *  * 

"All  the  troops  behaved  with  great  gallantry,  much 
of  which  is  to  be  attributed  to  the  coolness  and  presence 
of  mind  of  the  officers,  particularly  the  colonels.  General 
McClernand  was  in  the  midst  of  danger  throughout  the 
engagement,  and  displayed  both  coolness  and  judgment. 
His  horse  was  three  times  shot.  My  horse  was  also  shot 
under  me. 

"  To  my  staff — Captains  Rawins,  Lagone,  and  Hillyer, 
and  volunteer  aids,  Captains  Hatch  an,d  Graham — I  am 
much  indebted  for  the  assistance  they  gave.  Colonel 
Wester,  acting  chief  engineer,  also  accompanied  me,  and 
displayed  highly  soldier-like  qualities.  Colonel  Dough 
erty,  Twenty-second  Illinois  Volunteers,. was  three  times 
wounded  and  taken  prisoner. 

"The  Seventh  Iowa  Regiment  lost  their  lieutenant- 
colonel  (killed),  colonel  and  major  severely  wounded. 
"  *  *  Surgeon  Brinton  was  on  the  field  during  the 
entire  engagement,  and  displayed  great  ability  and  effi 
ciency  in  providing  for  the  wounded  and  organizing  the 
medical  corps. 

"  The  gun-boats  Tyler  and  Lexington,  Captains  Walke 
ana   Stembell,   United  States  Navy,   commanding,  con- 
70 


large  number  of  607  men,  of  whom  84 
were  killed,  288  wounded,  and  235  miss- 

voyed  the  expedition,  and  rendered  most  efficient  service. 
Immediately  upon  our  landing  they  engaged  the  enemy's 
batteries,  and  protected  our  transports  throughout.  '  *  • 
I  am,  sir,  very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

"U.  S.  GRANT,  Brigadier- General  Commanding." 

The  report  of  General  McClernand,  serving  under  Gen 
eral  Grant,  is  here  given  with  all  its  explicitness  of  detail, 
as  the  most  authentic  narrative  of  the  battle  of  Belmont. 
"GENERAL    MoCLERNAND'S    REPORT. 

"BRIGADE  HEADQUARTERS,  CAMP  CAIRO,  Nov.  12,  1861. 
"  BRIGADIER  GENERAL  U.  S.  GRANT,  COMMANDING  DISTRICT 

SOUTHEASTERN  MISSOURI  : 

"  SIR  :  I  have  the  honor  to  report  the  part  taken  by  the 
forces  under  my  command  in  the  action  before  Columbus, 
Kentucky,  on  the  7th  instant. 

"  These  forces  consisted  of  a  portion  of  my  own  brigade, 
viz.  :  The  Twenty-seventh  Regiment,  Colonel  N.  B.  Buford ; 
the  Thirteenth  Regiment,  Colonel  Pliilip  B.  Fouke ;  the 
Thirty- first  Regiment,  Colonel  John  A.  Logan,  including 
one  company  of  cavalry  under  Captain  J.  J.  Dollins.  The 
strength  of  the  Twenty- seventh  Regiment  was  720,  rank 
and  file  ;  that  of  the  Thirteenth,  500  ;  that  of  the  Thirty- 
first,  610 — exclusive  of  70  mounted  men  ;  being  in  all 
1,900  men,  rank  and"  file.  To  this  force  you  added,  by 
your  order  of  the  6th  instant,  Captain  Delano's  company 
of  Adams  County  cavalry,  72  men,  under  Lieutenant  J.  R. 
Catlin,  and  Captain  Ezra  Taylor's  battery  of  Chicago  Light 
Artillery  of  six  pieces  and  114  men.  The  total  disposable 
force  under  my  command  was  2,086,  rank  and  file— all 
Illinois  volunteers. 

' '  Having  embarked  on  the  steamer  Scott,  with  the 
Thirteenth  and  Thirty-first  regiments,  on  the  evening  of 
the  6th  instant,  I  left  Cairo  at  five  o'clock,  and  proceeded 
down  the  Mississippi  to  the  foot  of  Island  No.  1,  and  lay 
to  for  the  night  on  the  Kentucky  shore,  eleven  miles  above 
Columbus,  as  previously  instructed  by  you.  Posting  a 
strong  guard  for  the  protection  of  the  boat,  and  those  that 
followed  to  the  same  point,  I  remained  until  seven  o'clock 
on  the  following  morning.  At  that  hour,  preceded  by 
the  gun-boats  Tyler  and  Lexington,  and  followed  by  the 
remainder  of  the  transports,  I  proceeded  down  the  river  to 
the  designated  landing  on  the  Missouri  shore,  alx>ut  two 
and  a  half  miles  in  a  direct  line  from  Columbus  and  Bel 
mont.  By  half-past  eight  o'clock  the  rest  of  the  trans 
ports  had  arrived  and  the  whole  force  was  disembarked, 
and,  marching  beyond  a  collection  of  cornfields  in  front  of 
the  landing,  was  formed  for  an  advance  movement,  and 
awaited  your  order.  Ordering  Dollins'  and  Delano's  cav 
alry  to  scour  the  woods  along  the  road  to  Belmont  and 
report  to  me  from  time  to  time,  the  remainder  of  my  com 
mand  followed— the  Twenty- seventh  in  t'ront,  the  Thirtieth 
next,  supported  by  a  section  of  Taylor's  battery,  succeeded 


55i 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


ing.  The  enemy's  loss  was  computed  as 
high  as  1,000  in  all,  killed,  wounded, 

by  the  Thirty-first  and  the  remainder  of  Taylor's  battery, 
the  Seventh  Iowa,  Colonel  Lanman,  and  the  Twenty- 
second  Illinois,  Colonel  Dougherty,  who  had  been  assigned 
by  you  to  that  portion  of  the  command. 

"  When  the  rear  of  the  column  had  reached  a  road  in 
tersecting  our  line  of  march,  about  a  mile  and  a  half  from 
the  abatis  surrounding  the  enemy's  camp,  the  line  of  battle 
was  formed  on  ground  which  I  had  previously  selected. 
The  Twenty-seventh  and  Thirtieth  having  formed  too  far 
in  advance,  were  recalled  to  the  position  first  assigned  them 
—the  Twenty-seventh  on  the  right  and  the  Thirtieth  on 
the  left.  A  section  of  Taylor's  battery  was  disposed  on 
the  left  of  the  Thirtieth,  and  200  feet  in  the  rear  of  the 
line,  the  Thirty-first  in  the  centre,  and  the  Seventh  Iowa 
and  Twenty-second  Illinois  forming  the  left  wing,  masking 
two  sections  of  artillery. 

"  By  this  time  Dollins'  cavalry  were  skirmishing  sharply 
with  the  enemy's  pickets  to  the  right  and  in  advance  of 
our  line,  and  the  enemy  had  shifted  the  heavy  fire  of  their 
batteries  at  Columbus  from  our  gun-boats  to  our  advancing 
line,  but  without  effect.  With  your  permission  I  now 
ordered  two  companies  from  each  regiment  of  my  com 
mand  to  advance,  instructing  them  to  seek  out  and  develop 
the  position  of  the  enemy,  the  Twenty-second  Illinois  and 
Seventh  Iowa  pushing  forward  similar  parties  at  the  same 
time.  . 

"A  sharp  firing  having  immediately  commenced  between 
the  skirmishing  parties  of  the  Thirtieth  and  Thirty-first 
and  the  enemy,  I  ordered  forward  another  party  to  their 
support,  rode  forward,  selected  a  new  position,  and  ordered 
np  the  balance  of  my  command — the  Twenty-seventh — to 
pass  around  the  head  of  a  pond,  the  Thirtieth  and  Thirty- 
first,  with  the  artillery,  crossing  the  dry  bed  of  the  same 
elough  in  their  front.  On  their  arrival  I  re-formed  the  line 
of  battle  in  the  same  order  as  before.  It  was  my  expecta 
tion  that  the  Twenty-second  Illinois  and  the  Seventh  Iowa 
would  resume  their  former  positions  on  the  left  wing, 
which  would  have  perfected  a  line  sufficient  to  inclose  the 
enemy's  camp,  on  all  sides  accessible  to  us,  thus  enabling 
us  to  command  the  river  above  and  below  them,  and  pre 
vent  the  crossing  of  reinforcements  from  Columbus,  insur 
ing  his  capture  as  well  as  defeat. 

The  Thirtieth  and  Thirty-first,  and  the  artillery,  moving 
forward,  promptly  relieved  the  skirmishing  parties,  and 
soon  became  engaged  with  a  heavy  body  of  the  enemy's 
infantry  and  cavalry.  The  struggle,  which  was  continued 
for  half  an  hour  with  great  severity,  threw  our  ranks  into 
temporary  disorder  ;  but  the  men  promptly  rallied  under 
the  gallant  example  of  Colonels  Fouke  and  Logan,  assisted 
by  Major  Berryman,  acting  assistant  adjutant-general  of 
my  brigade  ;  also  by  Captain  Schwartz,  acting  chief  of 
artillery ;  Captain  Dresser,  of  the  artillery  ;  Lieutenant 
Babcock,  of  the  Second  Cavalry  ;  and  Lieutenant  Eddy,  of 


and  taken  prisoners.    Their  camp,  more- 
burned,   and   two  pieces  of 


over,   was 


the  Twenty-ninth  Illinois  Regiment,  who  had,  upon  my 
invitation,  kindly  joined  my  staff.  Our  men  pressed  vig 
orously  upon  the  enemy  and  drove  them  back,  their  cav 
alry  leaving  that  part  of  the  field  and  not  appearing  again 
until  attacked  by  Captain  Dollins,  on  the  river  bank  below 
their  encampment,  and  chased  out  of  sight,  near  the  close 
of  the  contest. 

"  Advancing  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  farther,  this  force 
again  came  up  with  the  enemy,  who  by  this  time  had  been 
reinforced  upon  this  part  of  the  field,  as  I  since  learn,  by 
three  regiments  and  a  company  of  cavalry.  Thus  strength 
ened,  he  attempted  to  turn  our  left  flank,  but  ordering 
Colonel  Logan  to  extend  the  line  of  battle  by  a  flank 
movement,  and  bringing  up  a  section  of  Taylor's  battery, 
commanded  by  First  Lieutenant  B.  A.  White,  under  the 
direction  of  Captain  Schwartz,  to  cover  the  space  thus 
made  between  the  Thirtieth  and  Thirty-first,  the  attempt 
was  frustrated.  Having  completed  that  disposition,  we 
again  opened  a  deadly  fire  from  both  infantry  and  artillery, 
and  after  a  desperate  resistance  drove  the  enemy  back  the 
third  time,  forcing  them  to  seek  cover  among  thick  woods 
and  brush,  protected  by  the  heavy  guns  at  Columbus. 

"  In  this  struggle,  while  leading  the  charge^  I  received 
a  ball  in  one  of  my  holsters,  which  failed  of  harm  by  strik 
ing  a  pistol.  Here  Colonels  Fouke  and  Logan  urged  on 
their  men  by  the  most  energetic  appeals ;  here  Captain 
Dresser's  horse  was  shot  under  him,  while  Capt.  Schwartz's 
horse  was  twice  wounded  ;  here  the  projectiles  from  the 
enemy's  heavy  guns  at  Columbus,  and  their  artillery  at 
Belmont,  crashed  through  the  woods  over  and  among  us  ; 
here  again,  all  my  staff  who  were  with  me  displayed  the 
greatest  intrepidity  and  activity  ;  and  here,  too,  many  of 
our  officers  were  killed  or  wounded  ;  nor  should  I  omit  to 
add  that  this  gallant  conduct  was  stimulated  by  your 
presence  and  inspired  by  your  example.  Here  your  horse 
was  killed  under  you. 

"  While  this  struggle  was  going  on,  a  tremendous  fire 
from  the  Twenty-seventh,  which  had  approached  the  abatis 
on  the  right  and  rear  of  the  tents,  was  heard.  About  the 
same  time  the  Seventh  and  Twenty-second,  which  had 
passed  the  rear  of  the  Thirtieth  and  Thirty-first,  hastened 
up,  and,  closing  the  space  between  them  and  the  Twenty- 
seventh,  poured  a  deadly  fire  upon  the  enemy. 

' '  A  combined  movement  was  now  made  upon  three  sides 
of  the  enemy's  works,  and  driving  him  across  the  abatis, 
we  followed  close  upon  his  heels  into  the  clear  space  around 
his  camp.  The  Twenty-seventh  was  the  first  seen  by  me 
entering  upon  this  ground.  I  called  the  attention  of  the 
other  regiments  to  their  approach,  and  the  whole  line  was 
quickened  by  eager  and  impatient  emulation.  In  a  lev, 
minutes  our  entire  force  was  within  the  inclosure. 

"Under  the  skilful  direction  of  Captain  Schwartz,  Cap 
tain  Taylor  now  brought  up  his  battery  within  300  yards 


ENEMY  ABANDON  BELMONT. 


555 


artillery,  a  considerable  number  of  En- 
field  rifles,  and  several  hundred  horses 


of  the  enemy's  tents,  and  opened  fire  upon  them.  He  fled 
with  precipitation  from  the  tents,  and  took  shelter  behind 
gome  buildings  near  the  river,  and  into  the  woods  above 
the  camp,  under  cover  of  his  batteries  at  Columbus. 

"Near  this  battery  I  met  Colonel  Dougherty,  who  was 
leading  the  Seventh  and  Twenty-second  through  the  open 
space  toward  the  tents. 

"At  the  same  time  our  lines  upon  the  right  and  left 
were  pressing  up  the  line  of  fire  from  our  battery,  which 
now  ceased  firing,  and  our  men  rushed  forward  among  the 
tents  and  toward  some  buildings  near  the  river.  Passing 
over  to  the  right  of  the  camp  I  met  with  Colonel  Buford, 
for  the  first  time  since  his  detour  around  the  pond,  and 
congratulated  him  upon  the  ardor  of  his  men  to  be  the 
first  to  pass  the  enemy's  works. 

"  During  the  execution  of  this  movement,  Captain 
Alexander  Bielaski,  one  of  my  aides-de-camp,  who  had  ac 
companied  Col.  Buford  during  the  march  of  the  Twenty- 
seventh,  separate  from  the  main  command,  having  dis 
mounted  from  his  horse,  which  had  been  several  times 
wounded,  was  shot  down  while  advancing  with  the  flag  of 
his  adopted  country  in  his  hand,  and  calling  on  the  men 
in  his  rear  to  follow  him. 

"  Near  him,  and  a  few  minutes  afterward,  Colonel  Lan- 
man  fell,  severely  wounded  in  the  thigh,  while  leading 
his  men  in  a  desperate  charge. 

"  Galloping  my  horse  down  to  the  river,  I  found  Cap 
tain  Bozart,  of  Company  K,  Twenty- seventh  Regiment, 
supported  by  squads  of  men  who  had  joined  him,  sharply 
engaged  with  a  detachment  of  the  enemy,  whom  he  drove 
into  the  woods  above  the  camp.  Here  the  firing  was 
very  hot.  My  own  head  was  grazed  by  a  ball ;  my  horse 
was  wounded  in  the  shoulders,  and  his  caparison  torn  in 
several  places.  Here,  too,  one  of  the  enemy's  caissons  fell 
into  my  hands,  and  a  capture  of  artillery  was  made  by 
Captain  Schwartz,  a  portion  of  the  Seventh  gallantly  as 
sisting  in  achieving  this  result. 

"Having  complete  possession  of  the  enemy's  camp,  in 
full  view  of  his  formidable  batteries  at  Columbus,  I  gave 
the  word  for  three  cheers  for  the  Union,  to  which  the  brave 
men  around  me  responded  with  the  most  enthusiastic  ap 
plause. 

"Several  of  the  enemy's  steamers  being  within  range 
above  and  below,  I  ordered  a  section  of  Taylor's  battery, 
under  direction  of  Captain  Schwartz,  down  near  the  river, 
and  opened  a  fire  upon  them  and  upon  Columbus  itself, 
with  what  effect  I  could  not  learn.  The  enemy's  tents 
were  set  on  fire,  destroying  his  camp  equipage,  about  4,000 
blankets,  and  his  means  of  transportation.  Such  horses 
and  other  property  as  could  be  removed  were  seized,  and 
four  pieces  of  artillery  brought  to  the  rear. 

"The  enemy  at  Columbus,  seeing  us  in  possession  of 
hfe  camp,  directed  upon  us  the  fire  of  his  heavy  guns,  but, 


captured.  On  the  day  after  the  battle 
the  enemy  abandoned  Belmont  as  un- 

ranging  too  high,  inflicted  no  injury.  Information  cam* 
at  the  same  time  of  the  crossing  of  heavy  bodies  of  troops 
above  us,  amounting,  as  I  since  learn,  to  five  regiments, 
which,  joining  those  which  had  fled  in  that  direction, 
formed  rapidly  in  our  rear  with  the  design  of  cutting  off 
our  communication  with  our  transports.  To  prevent  this, 
and  having  fully  accomplished  the  object  of  the  expedi 
tion,  I  ordered  Captain  Taylor  to  reverse  his  guns  and 
open  fire  upon  the  enemy  in  his  new  position,  which  was 
done  with  great  spirit  and  effect,  breaking  his  line  and 
opening  our  way  by  the  main  road.  Promptly  responding 
to  an  order  to  that  effect,  Colonel  Logan  ordered  his  flag 
in  front  of  his  regiment,  prepared  to  force  his  way  in  the 
same  direction  if  necessary.  Moving  on  he  was  followed 
by  the  whole  force,  except  the  Twenty-seventh  and 
the  cavalry  companies  of  Captains  Doll  ins  and  Delano. 
Determined  to  preserve  my  command  unbroken,  and  to 
defeat  the  evident  design  of  the  enemy  to  divide  it,  I 
twice  rode  back  across  the  field  to  bring  up  the  Twenty- 
seventh  and  Dollins'  cavalry,  and  also  dispatched  Major 
Brayman  for  the  same  purpose,  but  without  accomplishing 
the  object,  they  having  sought  in  returning  the  same 
route  by  which  they  advanced  in  the  morning. 

"  On  passing  into  the  woods,  the  Thirtieth,  the  Seventh, 
and  Twenty-second  encountered  a  heavy  fire  on  their 
right  and  left  successively,  which  was  returned  with  such 
vigor  and  effect  as  to  drive  back  the  superior  force  of  the 
enemy  and  silence  his  firing,  but  not  until  the  Seventh 
and  Twenty-second  had  been  thrown  into  temporary  dis 
order.  Here  Lieutenant-Colonel  Wentz,  of  the  Seventh, 
and  Captain  Markley,  of  the  Thirtieth,  with  several 
privates,  were  killed,  and  Colonel  Dougherty  of  thi 
Twenty-second,  and  Major  McClurken,  of  the  Thirtieth, 
who  was  near  me,  were  severely  wounded.  Here  my  body 
servant  killed  one  of  the  enemy  by  a  pistol  shot. 

"  Driving  the  enemy  back  on  either  side,  we  moved  on, 
occasionally  exchanging  shots  with  straggling  parties,  in 
the  course  of  which  my  horse  received  another  ball,  being 
one  of  two  f  red  at  me  from  the  corner  of  a  field.  Captain 
Schwartz  was  at  my  right  when  these  shots  were  fired. 

"  At  this  stage  of  the  contest,  according  to  the  admis 
sion  of  rebel  officers,  the  enemy's  forces  had  swelled,  by 
frequent  reinforcements  from  the  other  side  of  the  river, 
to  cover  thirteen  regiments  of  infantry,  and  something 
less  than  two  squadrons  of  cavalry,  excluding  his  artillery, 
four  pieces  of  which  were  in  our  possession,  and  two  of 
which,  after  being  spiked,  together  with  part  of  one  of 
our  own  caissons,  were  left  on  the  way  for  want  of  animals 
to  bring  them  off.  The  other  two,  with  their  horses  and 
harness,  were  brought  off. 

"  On  reaching  the  landing  and  not  finding  the  detach 
ments  of  the  Seventh  and  Twenty-second,  which  you  had 
left  behind  in  the  morning  to  guard  tne  boats,  I  ordered 


556 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


tenable.  The  enemy  claimed  to  have 
gained  a  triumphant  victory  at  Belmont, 

Delano's  cavalry,  which  was  embarking,  to  the  rear  of  the 
fields  to  watch  the  enemy.  Within  an  hour  all  our  forces 
which  had  arrived  were  embarked,  Captain  Schwartz, 
Captain  Hatch,  assistant-quartermaster,  and  myself  be 
ing  the  last  to  get  on  board.  Suddenly  the  enemy,  in 
<-trong  force  (whose  approach  had  been  discovered  by 
Lieutenant-Colonel  John  H.  White,  of  the  Thirty -first, 
who  was  conspicuous  through  the  day  for  his  dauntless 
courage  and  conduct),  came  within  range  of  our  musketry, 
when  a  terrible  fire  was  opened  upon  him  by  the  gun 
boats,  as  well  as  by  Taylor's  battery  and  the  infantry. 

The  engagement  thus  renewed  was  kept  up  with  great 
spirit,  and  with  deadly  effect  upon  the  enemy,  until  the 
transports  had  passed  beyond  his  reach.  Exposed  to  the 
terrible  fire  of  the  gun-boats  and  Taylor's  battery,  a  great 
number  of  the  enemy  were  killed  and  wounded  in  this, 
the  closing  scene  of  a  battle  of  six  hours'  duration. 

"The  Twenty-seventh  and  Dollins'  cavalry  being  yet 
behind,  I  ordered  my  transports  to  continue  in  the  rear  of 
the  fleet,  excepting  the  gun-boats  ;  and  after  proceeding  a 
short  distance,  landed  and  directed  the  gun-boats  to  return 
and  await  their  appearance. 

"At  this  moment  Lieutenant  H.  A.  Rust,  adjutant  of 
the  Twenty-seventh,  hastened  up  and  announced  the  ap 
proach  of  the  Twenty-seventh  and  Dollins'  cavalry.  Ac 
companied  by  Captain  Schwartz  and  Captain  Hatch,  I  rode 
down  the  river  bank,  and  met  Colonel  Buford  with  a  part 
of  his  command.  Inferring  that  my  transport  was  wait 
ing  to  receive  him,  I  went  farther  down  the  river  and 
met  Captain  Dollins,  whom  I  instructed  to  embark,  and 
still  farther  met  the  remainder  of  the  Twenty-seventh, 
which  had  halted  on  the  bank  where  the  gun-boat  Tyler 
was  lying  to,  the  Lexington  lying  still  farther  down.  The 
rest  of  the  boats  having  gone  forward,  Captain  Walker, 
of  the  Tyler,  at  my  request,  promptly  took  the  remainder 
of  the  Twenty-seventh  on  board,  Captain  Stambell,  of  the 
Lexington,  covering  the  embarkation. 

"Having  thus  embarked  all  my  command,  I  returned 
with  Captains  Schwartz  and  Hatch  to  my  transports  and 
re-embarked,  reaching  Cairo  about  midnight,  after  a  day 
of  almost  unceasing  marching  and  conflict. 

' '  I  cannot  bestow  too  high  commendation  upon  all 
whom  I  had  the  honor  to  command  on  that  day.  Sup 
plied  with  inferior  and  defective  arms,  many  of  which 
could  not  be  discharged,  and  others  bursting  in  use,  they 
fought  an  enemy  in  woods  with  which  he  was  familiar, 
behind  defensive  works  which  he  had  been  preparing  for 
months,  in  the  face  of  a  battery  at  Belmont,  and  under 
his  heavy  guns  at  Columbus,  and  although  numbering 
three  or  four  to  our  one,  beat  him,  captured  several 
stands  of  his  colors,  destroying  his  camp  and  carrying  off 
a  large  amount  of  his  property,  already  mentioned.  From 
his  own  semi-officisl  account  his  logs  was  600  killed, 


and  exulted  accordingly.     "Accept  for 
yourself,"  wrote  Jefferson  Davis  to  Gen- 


wounded,  and  missing,  including  among  the  killed  and 
wounded  a  number  of  officers,  and  probably  among  the 
missing  155  prisoners,  who  were  brought  to  this  post. 

"  To  mention  all  who  did  well  would  include  every  man 
in  my  command  who  came  under  my  personal  notice. 
Both  officers  and  privates  did  their  whole  duty,  nobly 
sustaining  the  enviable  character  of  Americans  and  Illi- 
noisans.  They  shed  new  lustre  upon  the  venerated  flag 
of  their  country  by  upholding  it  in  triumph  amid  the 
shock  of  battle  and  the  din  of  arms.  The  blood  they  so 
freely  poured  out  proved  their  devotion  to  their  country, 
and  serves  to  hallow  a  just  cause  with  glorious  recollec 
tions.  The  success  was  that  of  citizen  soldiers. 

"  Major  Brayman,  Captains  Schwartz  and  Dresser,  and 
Lieutenants  Eddy  and  Babcock,  all  members  of  my  staff, 
are  entitled  to  my  gratitude  for  the  zeal  and  alacrity  with 
which  they  bore  my  orders  in  the  face  of  danger,  and  dis 
charged  all  their  duties  in  the  field.  Colonels  Buford, 
Fouke,  and  Logan  repeatedly  led  their  regiments  to  the 
charge,  and  as  often  drove  the  enemy  back  in  confusion, 
thus  inspiring  their  men  with  kindred  ardor,  and  largely 
contributing  to  the  success  of  our  arms.  Colonel  Logan's 
admirable  tactics  not  only  foiled  the  frequent  attempts  of 
the  enemy  to  flank  him,  but  secured  a  steady  advance  to 
ward  the  enemy's  camp.  Colonel  Fouke  and  his  com 
mand,  exposed  throughout  to  a  galling  fire  from  the 
enemy,  never  ceased  to  press  forward.  His  march  was 
marked  by  the  killed  and  wounded  of  the  foe,  mingled 
with  many  of  his  own  men. 

"Accomplishing  a  difficult  circuit,  Colonel  Buford,  ac 
tive,  eager,  and  emulous,  was  the  first  to  throw  his  men 
within  the  enemy's  defences.  Captain  Taylor  and  Lieu 
tenant  White  managed  the  battery  attached  to  my  com 
mand  with  admirable  skill  and  most  successful  effect. 
Captain  J.  J.  Dollins,  with  his  company  of  cavalry,  dis 
played  unsurpassed  activity  and  daring.  Having  been 
early  in  the  day  detached  from  his  regiment  (the  Thirty- 
first),  he  found  his  way  in  company  of  the  Twenty- 
seventh  to  the  enemy's  camp  on  the  lower  side,  charging 
his  line  with  an  impetuosity  characteristic  of  himself  and 
his  brave  followers. 

"Our  victory,  though  signal  and  extraordinary,  cost 
many  valuable  lives.  Of  the  Twenty-seventh  eleven 
were  killed,  forty-two  wounded,  and  twenty-eight  are  miss 
ing.  Among  the  wounded  was  Lieutenant  William  Ship 
ley,  of  Company  A,  a  gallant  and  promising  young  officer, 
who  has  since  died.  Of  the  Thirtieth  nine  were  killed, 
twenty-seven  wounded,  and  eight  are  missing.  Among 
the  killed  is  Captain  Thomas  G.  Markley,  of  Company  D, 
a  brave  and  valuable  officer,  who  died  true  to  his  trust. 

"Major  Thomas  McClerken,  an  accomplished  and  effi 
cient  officer,  whose  services  were  conspicuous  on  the  field, 
was  severely,  and,  I  fear,  mortally  wounded  Of  the 


LOSSES  AT  BELMONT. 


551 


eral  Polk,  "  and  the  officers  and  men 
under  your  command,  my  sincere  thanks 

Thirty-first  ten  were  killed,  sixty- one  wounded,  and 
eighteen  are  missing  ;  Captain  John  W.  Rigby,  of  Com 
pany  E— a  veteran  and  faithful  officer — being  among  the 
wounded ;  also  Captain  Wm.  A.  L°oney,  of  Company  C, 
who  was  severely  injured  while  leading  his  company  into 
a  desperate  encounter  with  a  detachment  of  the  enemy. 
Of  Dollins'  cavalry  one  was  killed  and  two  wounded.  Of 
Taylor's  company  of  light  artillery  five  were  wounded, 
among  whom  was  First  Lieutenant  Charles  W.  Everett. 

"  In  closing  this  report,  unavoidably  somewhat  imper 
fect,  I  cannot  forbear  bearing  my  testimony  to  the  gal 
lantry  and  good  conduct  of  every  arm  of  your  whole  force. 
Each  did  well,  and  I  share  in  the  just  pride  which  their 
valor  has  inspired  in  you  as  their  successful  commander. 

"  I  have  the  honor  to  be,  your  obedient  servant, 

"  JOHN  A.  McCLERNAND, 

"Brigadier-General  Commanding." 

•  General  Polk,  in  his  official  report,  thus  simply  re 
corded  the  event : 

"HEADQUARTERS  FIRST  DIVISION  WESTERN  DEPARTMENT,  ) 

COLUMBUS,  KY.,  NOD.  7,  1861.  $ 

"To  GENERAL  HEADQUARTERS,   THROUGH  GENERAL  A.   S. 

JOHNSTON  : 

"  The  enemy  came  down  on  the  opposite  side  of  the 
river,  Belmont,  to-day,  about  7,500  strong,  landed  under 
cover  of  gun-boats,  attacked  Colonel  Tappan's  camp.  I 
sent  over  three  regiments  under  General  Pillow  to  his 
relief,  then  at  intervals  three  others,  then  General 
Chatham. 


for  the  glorious  contribution  you  have 
just  made  to  our  common  cause. "* 

"  I  then  took  over  two  others  in  person,  to  support  a 
flank  movement  which  I  had  directed.  It  was  a  hard- 
fought  battle,  lasting  from  10.30  A.M.  to  5  P.M.  They 
took  Beltzhoover's  battery,  four  pieces  of  which  we  recap 
tured.  The  enemy  were  thoroughly  routed.  We  pursued 
them  to  their  boats  seven  miles,  then  drove  their  boats 
before  us.  The  road  was  strewn  with  their  dead  and 
wounded,  guns,  ammunition,  and  equipments.  Our  loss 
considerable  ;  theirs  heavy.  L.  POLK, 

"  Major-General  Commanding  " 


OFFICIAL  REPORT   OF  NATIONAL   LOSSES. 

Killed.    Wounded.  Missing. 

Seventh  Iowa  Eegiment 26 75 119 

Twenty-second  Illinois  Regiment.  .26 70 25 

Twenty-seventh  Illinois  Regiment  .10 42 29 

Thirtieth  Illinois  Regiment 9 28 42 

Thirty-first  Illinois  Regiment 10 62 10 

Taylor's  Chicago  Battery — 8 — 

Dollins' Illinois  Cavalry 1 4 — 

Delano's  Illinois  Cavalry 1 2 — 

On  Gun-boat  Tyler 1 2 

RECAPITULATION. 

Killed 84 

Wounded 288 

Missing S35 

Total  caaualtien ^W 


558 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


CHAPTER    LIII. 

The  Enemy  emulating  the  United  States  Expeditions. — The  Fire  Zouaves  under  "Billy  Wilson"  at  Santa  Rosa  — 
Bitter  Hostility  against  them.— Preparations  of  the  Enemy.— Landing  of  General  Anderson  at  Deer  Point.— Attack 
upon  the  Encampment  of  the  Zouaves. — The  Zouaves  surprised  and  forced  to  retreat. — The  Enemy  rifle  and  fire  the 
Encampment. — The  Zouaves,  reinforced  from  Fort  Pickens,  return  to  the  charge. — The  Enemy  forced  to  retreat,  and 
suffer  greatly  in  making  for  their  boats.— Comparative  Losses. — Enemy's  account  of  the  affair. — Colonel  Brown's 
Report. — A  characteristic  Report  from  "  Billy  Wilson." — Personal  Trophies.  -  Wilson  reported  killed. — Exhibition 
of  his  Head  and  Hair  in  Pensacola.  — The  Ladies  of  Secessia  wearing  bits  of  Wilson's  Flag.— Long  inactivity  on 
both  sides. — Bombardment  of  the  Enemy's  works  near  Pensacola.  —  Purpose  of  the  attack. — The  Federal  vessels 
preparing. — Getting  into  position. — Great  enthusiasm. — Fire  opened. — Engagement  with  Fort  McRae. — Difficulties 
from  shallowness  of  the  water. — The  Richmond  obliged  to  retire. — The  Niagara  continues  the  fight. — The  Enemy's 
Flag  down  and  up  again. — Guns  of  Fort  McRae  silenced. — End  of  first  day. — The  results  summed  up. — Bombard 
ment  renewed. — The  men-of-war  not  in  action. — Warrington  set  on  fire. — A  steamer  disabled. — The  second  day's 
work  summed  up. — Damage  to  Fort  Pickens. — Close  of  the  action. — A  second  Bombardment. — The  result. 


1861. 


THE  enemy,  apparently  desirous  of 
emulating  the  imposing  naval  ex 
peditions  of  the  Federalists,  ven 
tured  in  their  turn  to  make  an  assault 
upon  Santa  Rosa  Island,  opposite  to  Pen 
sacola.  Here  the  Fire  Zouaves,  recruited 
in  the  city  of  New  York,  and  commanded 
by  that  civic  notability,  Colonel  "  Billy 
Wilson,"  had  lately  arrived  and  encamp 
ed  about  a  mile  from  the  Federal  Fort 
Pickens.  The  object  of  the  enemy  was 
to  surprise  and  capture  those  robust 
fellows,  against  whom  a  bitter  hostility 
had  been  engendered  at  the  South  by 
their  supposed  unscrupulous  designs. 
The  secessionist  leader,  General  Ander 
son,  had  mustered  some  fifteen  hundred 
men,  who  volunteered  their  services  from 
the  various  camps  in  the  neighborhood 
of  Pensacola.  Embarking  his  force  at 
Oct.  night  upon  several  steamers,  laun- 
9«  ches,  and  small  boats,  he  landed 
about  two  o'clock  in  the  morning  at  Deer 
Point  Santa  Rosa  Island,  four  miles 


above  the  encampment  of  the  Wilson 
Zouaves.  Anderson  immediately  advan 
ced,  dividing  his  troops  into  three  col 
umns,  each  taking  a  different  direction. 
Meeting  first  with  the  picket  guards  and 
driving  them  back,  they  soon  came  upon 
the  encampment  itself,  which  the  several 
divisions  of  the  enemy  surrounded  and 
began  to  attack.  The  Zouaves  were 
taken  by  surprise,  and  although  they 
fought  well,  were  forced  to  fall  back  and 
seek  the  cover  of  the  two  batteries,  Lin 
coln  and  Totten,  situated  on  either  side 
of  the  island,  about  400  yards  from  Fort 
Pickens.  The  enemy  having  soon  rifled 
the  encampment,  set  fire  to  the  tents  and 
barracks.  In  the  mean  time,  the  Zou 
aves,  as  they  were  retreating,  were  met 
by  a  reinforcement  of  regulars  sent  out 
from  Fort  Pickens,  and  the  combined 
force  returned  to  the  charge.  The  enemy, 
as  soon  as  they  discovered  their  danger, 
made  for  the  boats  with  great  speed  and 
in  much  confusion.  Followed  closely, 


ATTACK   ON   SANTA  ROSA. 


559 


and  fired  upon  by  a  succession  of  volleys 
as  they  were  embarking  and  making  sail, 
they  suffered  greatly.  One  of  their  laun 
ches  loaded  with  men  being  completely 
riddled  by  bullets,  sunk,  and  it  was  esti 
mated  that  they  lost  150  men  in  all. 
Twenty-two  were  killed,  five  wounded, 
thirty-three  were  left  on  the  island,  and 
others  were  drowned  or  carried  away  to 
the  mainland.  The  Federal  loss  in  all, 
although  the  enemy  claimed  to  have  killed 
a  hundred  men,  was  computed  to  amount 
to  thirteen  killed,  thirty  wounded,  and 
nineteen  taken  prisoners. 

The  enemy  seemed  little  satisfied  with 
the  result,  and  recorded  it  with  less  than 
their  usual  exultation : 

"  Our  men,"  wrote  one  of  their  chron 
iclers,*  "  retired  in  great  confusion,  and 
the  line  was  a  confused  mass,  moving 
without  orders,  and  almost  without  ob 
ject.  We  expected  every  moment  to  be 
shelled  by  Pickens  and  the  fleet,  which 
could  have  swept  the  island  and  not  left 
a  man.  Fortunately  for  us  they  had  sent 
out  several  companies  to  intercept  our 
boats  and  cut  off  our  retreat.  These  lay 
behind  the  sand  hills  and  embankment, 
and  fired  upon  our  disorganized  masses. 
Several  attempts  were  made  to  rally  into 
line,  but  without  effect.  The  island  is 
alternate  marshes,  ravines,  and  hills,  with 
occasional  long  sandy  plains.  Whenever 
;ve  met  these  squads  we  had  to  carry  the 
place  by  storm,  yet  their  advantage  was 
too  manifest. 

"They  could  hide  behind  sand  hills, 
completely  protecting  themselves  from 
our  bullets,  and  fire  into  our  disorganized 

0  Atlanta  Intelligencer. 


body  for  several  minutes  before  we  could 
come  upon  them.  Several  times  we  met 
these  hostile  squads  and  mistook  them 
for  friends,  occasioning  us  heavy  loss. 
One  time,  I  remember  in  particular,  we 
were  assailed  by  a  body  of  Zouaves  who 
stood  in  a  swamp ;  as  they  commenced 
firing  we  gave  the  watchword,  and  were 
answered  '  friends.'  I  thought  perhaps 
they  had  forgotten  the  reply,  yet  they 
continued  to  shoot  down  the  men  around 
me  at  a  fearful  rate.  I  noticed  them 
more  closely,  and  could  perceive  the  pe 
culiarity  of  their  dress,  and  could  tell  by 
the  whiz  of  their  bullets  that  they  were 
armed  with  rifles  that  were  not  like 


ours. 


"  We  then  turned  upon  them  and  soon 
cleaned  out  the  company.  This  was  the 
severest  tug  of  all,  and  we  suffered  se 
verely  before  we  discovered  their  com 
plexions.  In  the  spot  I  fought  from  I 
saw  some  seven  or  eight  of  our  men  fell 
within  five  feet  of  me,  while  several 
others  fell  around.  This  was  about  the 
last  skirmish  we  had,  yet  straggling  bodies 
fired  for  miles,  doing  but  little  damage. 
Scattered  as  we  were  for  such  a  distance, 
and  exhausted  as  were  our  men,  they 
could  have  completely  cut  us  off  with 
cavalry  or  flying  artillery  had  they  had 
either.  It  took  a  long  time  for  us  to  re- 
embark.  As  we  were  huddled  together 
in  open  scows,  they  fired  upon  us  after  we 
were  out  of  reach,  and  shot  several  of 
our  men.  Their  large  Enfield  rifles  carry 
a*  ball  a  great  distance,  and  elevate  my 
musket  as  I  would,  the  bullet  fell  short 
of  the  beach,  while  their  balls  fell  among 
us  or  passed  just  over  our  heads.  Here 


560 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


Brigadier-General  Anderson  was  wound 
ed  very  severely,  though  he  had  passed 
aU  danger  on  the  island,  and  that,  too, 
far  in  the  rear  of  the  enemy. 

"It  was  wonderful  that  our  soldiers 
should  have  fallen  into  such  disorder  and 
been  so  given  up  to  excitement.  Our 
men  were  as  brave  and  daring  as  it  was 
possible  for  soldiers  to  be,  and  in  the 
presence  of  the  enemy  acted  with  as 
much  gallantry  as  the  occasion  warranted. 
One  cause  of  the  confusion  of  ranks  was 
the  strange  land  we  had  to  climb  over, 
and  the  deep  bogs  we  had  to  wade.  I 
should  rather  attempt  to  scale  the  rug- 
gedest  peak  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  than 
to  make  a  forced  march  on  Santa  Rosa 
Island.  It  is  impossible  for  the  best 
drilled  troops  in  the  world  to  keep  in  line 
in  such  a  place.  Another  thing  that  pre 
vented,  was  that  the  advanced  bodies 
were  less  tired  than  the  rear,  and  march 
ed  too  fast.  Again,  one  section  just  in 
front  of  us  had  their  captain  killed  and 
a  lieutenant  wounded,  and  came  crowd 
ing  back  into  our  ranks. 

"  I  scarcely  know  whether  we  achieved 
a  victory  or  suffered  a  defeat.  We  did 
the  duty  which  we  went  to  perform,  and 
did  it  well ;  yet  we  shot  down  our  own 
friends  in  numbers.  Indeed,  I  think  as 
many  of  our  own  men  were  shot  by 
friends  as  by  foes.  Night  skirmishing  is 
a  dangerous  business,  especially  in  an 
unknown  country,  as  was  the  island  of 
Santa  Rosa." 

Colonel  Brown,  the  commander  of  Fort 
Pickens,  in  his  official  report,  which  fol 
lows,  gives  a  clear  and  authentic  state 
ment  of  the  whole  affair  : 


"  HEADQUARTERS  DEPARTMENT  OF  FLORIDA,  ) 
FORT  PICKENS,  Friday,  Oct.  11,  1861.       > 

"  COLONEL  :  I  briefly  reported  to  you 
on  the  9th  instant,  that  the  rebels  had 
landed  on  this  island,  partially  destroyed 
the  camp  of  the  Sixth  Regiment  New 
York  Volunteers,  and  had  been  driven 
off  by  our  troops. 

' '  I  now  report  in  detail  the  results  of 
the  attack.  For  the  better  understand 
ing  of  the  several  movements,  it  may  be 
well  to  state  that  the  enemy  landed  about 
four  miles  from  this  port.  The  place 
may  be  recognized  on  the  map  by  three 
ponds  and  a  mound  ;  that  the  island  there 
is  about  three-fourths  of  a  mile  wide  ; 
that  a  short  distance  below  it  narrows  to 
some  two  hundred  yards,  then  widens 
again,  and  at  camp  the  distance  across  is 
about  five-eighths  of  a  mile  ;  that  a  suc 
cession  of  three  or  four  sand  ridges  run 
on  the  sea  parallel  with  the  coast  along 
the  island,  and  low  swampy  ground  inter 
spersed  with  sand  hillocks  ;  some  bushes 
and  a  few  trees  extend  along  the  harbor 
side,  both  shores  being  a  sandy  beach. 

'Wilson's  camp  is  near  the  sea-coast, 
and  a  short  mile  from  the  fort.  The  two 
batteries  spoken  of  in  his  report,  and  to 
which  he  retreated — batteries  Lincoln 
and  Totten — are,  the  first  on  the  harbor, 
and  the  other  on  the  Gulf  side,  about 
400  yards  from  Fort  Pickens. 

"About  two  o'clock  on  the  morning 
of  the  9th  instant  I  was  awakened  by 
the  officer  of  the  day,  who  reported  that 
a  picket  driven  in  had  reported  the  land 
ing  of  sixty  men  on  the  point.  Having 
little  confidence  in  the  correctness  of  this 
report,  I  directed  that  no  alarm  should 


OFFICIAL  REPORT. 


561 


be  made,  and  shortly  after  he  reported 
that  the  alarm  was  false.  About  half- 
past  three  o'clock  he  again  reported  that 
volleys  of  musketry  were  heard  at  the 
camp  of  the  Sixth  Regiment  New  York 
Volunteers.  I  immediately  ordered  the 
roll  to  be  beaten,  Major  Yodges  to  take 
two  companies  and  proceed  to  the  spot, 
and  Major  Arnold  to  man  the  guns  on 
the  ramparts  on  the  space. 

"  About  half  an  hour  after  this  time 
the  firing  was  heavy,  and  the  light  of  the 
burning  camp  seen.     I  sent  a  staff  officer 
to  communicate  with  Major  Yodges,  who 
returned  very  soon  and  said  he  had  fallen 
in  with  a  large  body  of  the  enemy  on 
the  inside  shore,  and  could  not  find  the 
Major.    I  immediately  ordered  Major  Ar 
nold  to  proceed  to  support  Major  Yodges, 
with  two  companies,  and  at  the   same 
time  sent  an  order  to  Colonel  Wilson  to 
advance  and  attack  the  enemy.     I  also 
dispatched  a  staff  officer  on  board  the 
steamer  McClellan,  with  orders  for  him 
to  take   position  opposite  the  landing- 
place,  and  open  on  the  enemy ;  unfortu 
nately  at  the  same  time  directing  him  to 
go  to  the  Potomac,  lying  near,  and  ask 
for  some  men  to  assist  him  in  case  land 
ing  was  necessary.     Captain  Powell  di 
rected  him  to  tow  his  ship  to  the  scene 
of  action,  which  so  delayed  him  that  he 
did  not  arrive  until  after  the  enemy  had 
vacated.     Captain  Powell  acted  from  the 
best  of  motives,  and,  under  ordinary  cir 
cumstances,  from  correct  principles,  but 
the  result  was  unfortunate,  as  the  McClel 
lan  could  have  driven  the  rebel  steamers 
away,  and  we  must  have  made  prisoners 
of  most  of  the  invaders. 
71 


"  At  the  request  of  Major  Arnold,  late 
in  the  morning  I  sent  forward  a  light 
field  gun,  which,  however,  did  not  reach 
until  the  affair  was  over. 

"  As  I  propose  only  briefly  to  allude 
to  the  volunteers,  I  respectfully  refer  you 
to  the  official  report  of  the  colonel  of  the " 
regiment.  The  picket  of  this  regimentr 
and  the  guards,  sustained  its  principal,  if 
not  entire  loss,  and  behaved  well.  Cap 
tain  Daly's  company,  on  duty  with  the 
regulars,  did  good  service,  and  the  cap 
tain  is  spoken  of  by  Major  Arnold  in 
terms  of  high  approbation.  He  had  two 
men  killed.  Captain  Bailey's  company 
was  at  a  battery,  and  was  not  called  out ; 
he  was  performing  his  appropriate  duty 
during  the  fight.  Major  Yodges,  with 
Companies  A,  First  Artillery,  and  E, 
Third  Infantry,  proceeded  behind  the 
Spanish  fort,  about  a  mile  from  this  fort, 
when,  from  the  obscurity  of  the  night, 
he  found  himself  and  command  com 
pletely  intermingled  with  the  enemy. 
He  was  immediately  recognized  and 
made  prisoner,  the  command  devolving 
on  Captain  Hildt,  of  the  Third  Infantry, 
who  disengaged  his  command  from  their 
perilous  position  and  opened  a  heavy 
fire  on  the  enemy,  and  finally,  with  great 
gallantry,  forced  them  to  retreat — he 
being  ably  supported  by  Lieut.  Zeeley, 
my  assistant  adjutant-general,  who  vol 
unteered  for  the  occasion — with  a  loss  of 
ten  killed. 

"  Major  Arnold  at  this  moment  came 
up,  and,  the  enemy  retreating,  followed 
on.  During  this  time,  Major  Power  and 
Lieutenant  Jackson,  whom  I  had  suc 
cessively  sent  on  to  push  forward  the 


562 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE   SOUTH. 


Zouaves,  succeeded  in  getting  some  col 
lected,  and  Colonel  Wilson  also  advanced, 
the  enemy  precipitately  retreating. 

"Major  Arnold,  Captain  Robertson, 
and  Lieut.  Shipley's  companies  promptly 
followed  and  attacked,  and  as  they  were 
embarking,  the  other  companies  arriving 
upon  the  ground  successively,  Captain 
Robertson  opened  a  heavy  fire  at  short 
musket  range  on  the  crowded  masses, 
and  Lieutenant  Shipley,  some  fifteen 
minutes  later,  joined  him,  and  their  fire 
must  have  been  very  effective.  This  was 
continued  so  long  as  they  were  within 
range.  When  they  got  beyond  it,  the 
Major  ordered  the  men  to  cease  firing, 
and  to  give  them  three  cheers,  to  which 
there  was  no  response.  During  the  time 
of  this  occurrence,  Major  Power  came  up 
with  two  small  companies  of  Zouaves, 
and  subsequently  Colonel  Wilson,  with  a 
portion  of  his  regiment. 

"  When  it  is  considered  that  less  than 
200  regulars  with  some  50  volunteers 
pursued  five  times  their  number  four 
miles  and  expelled  them,  under  a  heavy 
fire,  from  the  island  they  had  desecrated, 
it  will,  I  trust,  be  considered  an  evidence 
of  their  having  gallantly  performed  their 
duty.  The  plan  of  attack  of  the  enemy 
was  judicious,  and,  if  executed  with  or 
dinary  ability,  might  have  been  attended 
with  serious  loss  ;  but  he  failed  in  all  save 
the  burning  of  one  half  of  the  tents  of 
the  Sixth  Regiment,  which,  being  covered 
with  bushes,  were  very  combustible,  and 
in  rifling  the  trunks  of  the  officers.  He 
did  not  reach  within  500  yards  of  the 
batteries,  the  guns  of  which  he  was  to 
spike,  nor  within  a  mile  of  the  fort  he 


was  to  enter  peU-mell,  the  fugitives  re 
treating  before  his  victorious  arms.  I 
have  now  in  my  possession  nine  spikes 
taken  from  the  bodies  of  the  dead,  do- 
signed  for  our  guns. 

"  Our  loss  is,  of  regulars,  four  killed, 
twenty-six  wounded — most  very  slightly, 
and  eight  missing,  among  whom  is  Major 
Yodges ;  of  the  Sixth  Regiment  New 
York  Volunteers,  ten  killed,  six  wounded, 
and  sixteen  missing. 

"  The  enemy's  loss,  as  known  to  u&,  >g 
fourteen  killed,  including  one  captain, 
seven  wounded,  including  one  lieutenant 
—two  have  since  died — and  five  officer? 
and  twenty- two  enlisted  men,  prisoners  ; 
and,  as  he  was  known  to  have  carried 
off  some  of  his  dead,  and  probably  most 
of  his  wounded,  those  in  our  hands  being 
severely  so,  and  unable  to  be  removed, 
and  as  the  heaviest  loss  is  supposed  to 
have  been  in  the  boats  at  the  re-embark 
ation,  it  was  probably  three  times  as  great 
in  killed  and  wounded  as  I  have  named. 

"I  close,  with  the  agreeable  duty  of 
naming  to  you  the  officers  engaged,  who 
so  faithfully  performed  their  duty.  I 
mention  Major  Yodges  first — who  unfor 
tunately  was  taken  prisoner  before  a  gun 
on  our  part  was  fired — to  say  that,  as 
second  in  command,  and  my  executive 
officer,  he  has  efficiently  and  industriously 
performed  his  duty  during  the  whole 
time  of  my  command,  and  his  services 
have  been  very  valuable.  Major  Arnold, 
who  succeeded  to  the  command  after  the 
capture  of  his  superior,  conducted  the 
affair  with  great  gallantry,  prudence,  and 
ability ;  he  speaks  in  the  highest  terms 
of  Captains  Robertson  and  Heildt,  and 


REPORT  OF   "BILLY  WILSON." 


563 


Lieutenants  Shipley  and  Seeley,  and,  in 
deed,  of  all  the  others  whose  names  I 
give  :  Major  Power  and  Lieutenant  Reese, 
of  the  Engineers  ;  Lieutenants  Duryea, 
Langdon,  Jackson,  and  Taylor,  of  the 
United  States  Army,  and  Captain  Dole, 
of  the  New  York  Volunteers  ;  and  it 
gives  me  great  pleasure  to  append  the 
names  of  non-commissioned  officers  and 
privates  named  by  their  company  com 
manders  for  distinguished  good  conduct, 
and  to  recommend  them  to  the  favorable 
notice  of  the  Government.  The  following 
are  the  companies  of  Majors  Yodges  and 
Arnold  who  participated  in  the  battle, 
and  (with  a  very  few  exceptions  of  indi 
viduals)  to  whom  the  greatest  praise  is 
due  :  Company  A,  First  Artillery,  Com 
pany  H,  Second  Artillery,  and  Companies 
C  and  E,  Third  Infantry. 

"I  estimated  the  force  of  the  enemy 
at  1,200  or  1,500,  having  closely  observed 
them  through  a  fine  telescope  as  they  re 
treated.  The  two  steamers,  and  a  large 
barge  of  equal  size,  and  five  or  six  laun 
ches,  were  all  crowded  with  troops,  and 
the  almost  unanimous  estimate  of  the 
officers  is  1,600,  from  personal  observa 
tion.  I  am,  Colonel,  very  respectfully, 
yours,  HARVEY  BROWN, 

"  Colonel  Commanding. 
*' COLONEL  E.  D.  TOWNSEND,  Assistant  Adju 
tant-General,  Washington,  D.  C." 

The  official  report  of  "  Billy  Wilson" 
is  too  characteristic  to  be  omitted.  He 
thus  wrote  to  General  Arthur,  of  the 
State  of  New  York  : 

"  SIR  :  We  have  had  our  first  fight. 
It  was  a  terrible  one  for  the  enemy.  We 
lost  nine  men  ;  wounded,  seven  ;  missing, 


ten — out  of  what  force  I  had  with  me. 
You  must  know  my  companies  are  scat 
tered  about.  I  have  with  me  five  com 
panies,  numbering  360,  of  which  50  were 
sick,  47  detailed  on  service  at  the  fort, 
and  about  70  on  guard  that  night.  We 
have  to  watch  a  mile  of  the  beach  and 
three-fourths  of  a  mile  in  front  of  our 
encampment.  The  island  is  three-fourths 
of  a  mile  wide  at  this  point.  We  had 
133  men  to  turn  out. 

"  On  the  morning  of  the  9th  instant 
(October),  at  half-past  three  o'clock,  the 
enemy  attacked  us  in  three  columns, 
commencing  by  attacking  with  small 
parties  of  twenty  or  thirty  men  every 
sentinel.  Two  companies  charged  the 
picket  tent,  the  three  bodies  numbering 
in  all  2,000  men,  simultaneously  firing 
volleys  of  musketry  into  the  hospital  and 
guard-house.  We  were  out  and  formed 
in  quick  time.  The  sentinels,  the  guard, 
and  officers  came  running  in.  They  hac' 
fought  retreating,  until  overpowered, 
killing  quite  a  number  of  them.  Several 
of  our  pickets  were  killed  and  wounded. 
Private  W.  Scott  deliberately  waited 
until  one  column  was  within  ten  feet  of 
him,  and  then  shot  the  commanding  offi 
cer,  Captain  Bradford.  In  an  instant 
after  we  were  formed,  fronting,  as  I  sup 
posed,  the  enemy.  It  was  so  dark  that 
I  could  not  discover  a  man  ten  feet  off! 
We  were  fired  into  from  three  sides.  I 
had  just  sent  out  Captain  Harelton  with 
his  company  to  the  front  as  skirmishers, 
and  Captain  Duffy  with  twenty  men  to 
the  left  flank,  to  endeavor  to  find  out  the 
whereabouts  of  the  enemy  and  draw 
their  fire,  when,  bang !  we  got  it  from  all 


564 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


sides.  By  companies  and  file  I  wheeled 
my  men  into  line  and  returned  the  fire. 
At  this  moment  a  blaze  arose — the  tents 
were  all  on  fire  ;  the  quartermaster's  and 
commission  store  or  building  was  also  on 
fire,  all  at  one  time.  The  distance  from 
the  camp  to  the  commission  building  is 
an  eighth  of  a  mile.  We  could  then  see 
our  enemy  for  the  first  time,  in  dense 
masses  in  the  centre  of  our  camp,  and 
extended  along  the  ridge.  Companies 
were  seen  moving  across  the  ridges  en 
deavoring  to  surround  us.  A  large  body 
of  men  were  also  drawn  up  fronting  the 
camp,  firing  into  our  camp,  and  setting 
fire  to  everything.  We  retired  behind 
the  first  ridge  toward  the  sea,  halted,  and 
faced  the  enemy.  I  had  but  sixty  men 
with  me  ;  I  sent  out  for  the  rest  of  my 
men  and  officers,  but  could  not  find  them. 
Stragglers  came  in  and  reported  that 
Lieutenant-Colonel  Creighton,  Captains 
Harelton,  Huherer,  Hotrel,  and  Lieuten 
ant  Silloway  had  retired  toward  the  fort. 
On  hearing  this,  I  said  to  my  few  men, 
'  We  will  be  cut  off ;  they  are  trying  to 
surround  us  ;  we  are  too  few  to  fight  so 
many ;'  and  they  gradually,  being  in 
good  order,  moved  toward  the  beach  on 
the  first  battery,  where  we  rested  a  few 
moments.  We  then,  as  daylight  ap 
peared,  marched  in  chase  of  the  enemy. 
Until  this  time  I  had  heard  no  news  of 
my  men,  nor  of  the  regulars.  I  then 
learned  from  Major  Towen  that  several 
companies  were  in  chase  of  the  enemy. 
We  hurried  up,  some  seven  miles,  and 
arrived  a  few  moments  too  late  at  the 
place  where  the  enemy  were  getting 
slaughtered  by  our  men,  while  they  were 


endeavoring  to  embark.  There  were 
three  steamboats  and  three  barges.  The 
enemy  lost  in  killed  and  wounded  about 
500  men.  General  Anderson  led  them 
on.  Their  war-cry  was,  '  Death  to  Wil 
son  !  No  quarter  to  Wilson's  Zouaves  I7 
Five  thousand  dollars  was  the  reward  for 
him,  dead  or  alive.  All  our  loss  is  about 
20  killed,  15  wounded,  and  20  prisoners. 
"  Our  new  clothes  are  all  destroyed. 
I  have  lost  everything  I  had  ;  my  men 
also.  They  burned  us  out  completely. 
Our  papers  and  books  are  burned.  My 
commission  is  safe.  I  sent  to  the  post- 
office  the  day  before  the  fight.  My  men 
did  well.  They  have  smelt  gunpowder 
—now  they  are  all  right.  We  com 
mence  the  fight  to-morrow.  They  have 
12,000  men.  They  are  exhibiting  my 
head  and  hair  in  Pensacola.  The  re 
ward  is  already  claimed  ;  also  an  old 
flag,  which  I  nailed  to  a  flag-staff  on  the 
Fourth  of  July,  which  has  been  hanging 
there  ever  since  ;  nothing  left,  however, 
but  the  stars.  The  ladies  have  cut  it  up 
in  pieces  and  have  it  pinned  on  their 
bosoms  as  a  trophy.  Every  one  in  Pen 
sacola  has  my  sword  and  uniform.  I 
must  have  had  a  large  quantity  of  hair, 
plenty  of  swords  and  uniforms.  They 
say  if  I  was  to  be  taken  alive,  I  was  to 
be  put  in  a  cage  and  exhibited. 

'  Yesterday  five  Americans  and  two 
ladies  escaped  from  Pensacola  and  gave 
us  all  the  news  of  how  they  describe  the 
terrible  victory.  We  lay  upon  our  arms 
every  night.  I  have  slept  but  little  this 
week.  I  don't  feel  well.  We  will  want 
800  uniforms.  Your  obedient  servant, 
"WILLIAM  WILSON,  Col.  Com'g." 


BOMBARDMENT  OF  PENSACOLA. 


565 


After  this  daring  but  unsuccessful  at 
tempt  of  the  enemy  at  Pensacola,  the  an 
tagonists,  though  confronting  each  other 
80  closely,  remained  quiet  in  mutual  de 
fiance  for  a  long  time. 

On  the  22d  of  November,  however, 
NOVt  the  silence  was  broken  by  a  com- 
22.  bined  bombardment,  from  the  Fed 
eral  vessels  of  war  and  Fort  Pickens,  of 
the  enemy's  works  on  the  mainland  sur 
rounding  the  harbor  of  Pensacola.  The 
object  of  the  attack  was  generally  to  do 
as  much  damage  as  possible  to  the 
enemy,  but  especially  to  draw  their  fire, 
in  order  to  test  the  range  of  their 
guns,  as  an  attempt  was  to  be  made  to 
destroy  the  navy  yard  at  Pensacola  and 
its  fortress.  The  United  States  steamer 
Niagara,  the  Richmond,  and  the  Mont 
gomery,  under  the  general  command  of 
Flag- Officer  McKean,  were  the  three 
national  vessels,  then  off  Fort  Pickens, 
which  took  part  in  the  engagement. 
On  the  day  before,  every  preparation 
was  made  for  action.  To  protect  the 
machinery  of  the  steamers,  bags  of 
coal  were  placed  around  such  portions 
of  it  as  might  be  exposed  to  shot,  and 
all  the  usual  preliminaries  arranged. 
Orders  were  issued  to  the  vessels  to 
move  at  daylight  next  morning  and  take 
such  a  position  as  to  be  able  to  engage 
Fort  McRae  and  the  water  and  sand  bat 
teries  in  front  of  it.  It  was  agreed  be 
tween  Captain  McKean  and  Colonel 
Brown,  that  the  latter  should  begin  the 
attack  by  opening  fire  on  the  enemy's  little 
steamers,  as  they  passed  on  their  usual 
daily  route  from  the  city  of  Pensacola 
to  the  navy  yard,  and  endeavor  to  sink 


them,  so  as  to  prevent  the  transporta 
tion  of  reinforcements.   . 

At  sunrise  the  men-of-war  were  all 
ready.  The  boats  had  been  hoisted  out 
and  moored  alongside,  the  shot  and  shell 
brought  up  from  below,  and  "  steam  got 
up,"  ready  for  a  move.  The  chaplain 
offered  up  the  usual  morning  prayer 
and  implored  the  blessing  of  God  upon 
the  enterprise.  The  flag-officer  address 
ed  a  few  direct  words  to  his  officers  and 
men,  urging  upon  them  "strict  obedi 
ence  to  all  orders,  coolness,  judgment, 
and  precision  in  firing."  The  crew  re 
sponded  with  three  hearty  cheers,  and 
impatiently  awaited  the  order  for  weigh 
ing  anchor  and  moving  to  take  part  in 
the  action. 

At  about  half-past  nine  o'clock  the 
enemy's  little  steamers  were  seen  com 
ing  down  from  Pensacola,  and  were 
anxiously  watched  until  they  made  fast 
to  the  dock  at  the  navy  yard.  At 
this  moment,  just  twelve  minutes  to 
ten  o'clock,  Fort  Pickens  opened  fire. 
The  crews  of  the  men-of-war  greeted 
the  sound  of  the  cannon  with  a  loud 
hurrah,  and  the  order  being  given  to 
weigh  anchor,  the  work  was  done  with 
a  "  will."  As  it  was  necessary,  in  order 
to  bring  the  guns  of  the  Niagara  within 
range,  to  run  into  water  so  shoal,  that 
even  in  a  smooth  sea  there  would  be 
only  twenty  inches  under  the  keel,  great 
caution  had  to  be  used  in  working  her 
in.  She  was  forced  to  seek  a  position  in 
which  she  would  be  able,  in  case  of  a 
blow,  to  move  at  once  into  deeper  water. 

The  Richmond,  in  the  mean  time,  came 
under  the  stern  of  the  Niagara,  and  was 


566 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


ordered  by  the  commodore — on  board  of 
the  latter,  his  flag-ship — to  move  in  until 
within  range  of  the  forts  and  open  fire. 
This  she  did  immediately,  and  was  at 
once  hotly  engaged.  The  Niagara  con 
tinued  cautiously  to  steam  on  until  she 
also  came  within  range,  as  was  supposed, 
when  she  dropped  her  anchor.  The 
enemy's  guns  at  Fort  McRae  and  the 
water  battery  were  in  the  mean  time 
firing,  but  their  shots  fell  short  of  the 
Niagara.  This  steamer  being  moored, 
fired  her  first  shot  from  an  eighty-four- 
pound  rifled  gun.  which  appeared  to  tell. 
On  discharging  an  eleven-inch  cannorr, 
its  shot  was  seen  to  fall  short.  Several 
subsequent  attempts  proving  equally  in 
effectual,  a  boat  was  sent  out  to  sound, 
and  it  being  found  that  the  steamer  could 
move  still  closer  in,  the  anchor  was  hove, 
and  the  Niagara  brought  a  fourth  of  a 
mile  nearer  to  the  forts. 

'We  now  again,"  wrote  one  of  the 
officers  of  the  Niagara,  "  opened  fire  from 
our  broadside  guns,  and  this  time  to 
some  purpose.  Almost  every  shot  told, 
and  there  must  have  been  a  fearful  scat 
tering  of  pieces,  as  our  shell  exploded 
over  their  heads.  I  do  not  think  there 
was  ever  any  target  practice  in  the  navy 
that  can  show  such  a  record  of  effective 
shots.  The  rebels  were  constantly  throw 
ing  shot  at  us,  and  seemed  to  be  either 
increasing  the  charge  of  powder  or  else 
getting  more  elevation,  for  their  shots 
gradually  came  nearer,  though  it  was  not 
until  late  in  the  afternoon  that  we  were 
struck.  By  twelve  o'clock  both  the  Rich 
mond  and  Niagara,  together  with  the 
guns  bearing  from  Fort  Pickens  and  bat 


tery  Scott,  were  playing  into  Fort  McRae 
and  its  surrounding  batteries.  We  aver 
aged  one  shell  every  three  minutes,  and 
as  the  Richmond  had  more  guns,  though 
smaller,  and  more  than  our  number  of 
guns  were  being  served  from  Santa  Rosa, 
there  were  about  two  shells  each  minute 
being  fired  at  this  point. 

"  About  one  o'clock  a  firing  commenced 
from  a  masked  battery  which  disclosed 
itself  in  the  woods  along  the  shore,  and 
about  a  mile  south  of  McRae.  They 
seemed  to  have  a  particular  spite  against 
us  by  the  pertinacity  with  which  they 
fired  at  us  ;  but  finding  that  they  could 
not  reach  us,  they  turned  their  attention 
to  the  Richmond,  which  was  nearer  in 
shore.  Many  of  their  shot  came  very 
close  to  the  latter,  and  had  they  been 
well  directed  would  have  done  a  great 
deal  of  damage.  Only  one  took  effect, 
however,  and  I  regret  to  record  that  this 
killed  one  man  and  wounded  seven. 
The  man  killed  was  captain  of  the  gun, 
and  was  in  the  act  of  taking  aim  when 
struck.  The  wounded  were  but  slightly 
hurt.  The  battery  of  the  Richmond 
was  now  brought  to  bear  upon  the  hidden 
rebels,  but  I  do  not  think  it  did  much 
execution,  as  most  of  her  shot  were  seen 
to  fall  short.  About  five  o'clock  she 
hauled  out." 

The  Niagara  continued  the  engage 
ment,  and  her  fire  seemed  to  have  great 
effect.  A  wooden  barrack  in  the  rear  of 
Fort  McRae  was  set  on  fire,  and  the  flag 
staff  of  the  fort  shot  away,  bringing 
down  the  enemy's  flag,  which,  however, 
was  soon  raised  again.  The  firing  con 
tinued  on  both  sides  until  six  o'clock. 


BURNING   OF  WARRINGTON. 


567 


when  the  guns  of  Fort  McRae  no  *uiiger 
responded.  The  Niagara  continued  to 
pour  shot  and  shell  into  the  silenced 
batteries,  when  it  becoming  too  dark  to 
fire  with  any  certainty  of  aim,  she  hauled 
off  and  anchored  out  of  range.  She 
had  suffered  little  during  the  engage 
ment,  having  received  but  two  shots  in 
her  sides,  one  of  which  passed  through 
the  lieutenants'  room,  scattering  every 
thing  within.  The  Niagara  had  fired  the 
large  number  of  180  shells,  some  of  which 
were  filled  with  sand  for  the  purpose  of 
rendering  them  more  effective  in  breach 
ing  the  walls.  The  effect  of  this  heavy 
bombardment  was  supposed  to  have  been 
the  dismounting  of  the  heaviest  gun  of 
Fort  McRae,  and  silencing  the  rest. 

Thus  closed  the  first  day,  during  which 
Fort  Pickens  had  been  as  active  with  its 
guns  as  the  men-of-war.  "My  fire," 
says  Colonel  Brown,  "was  incessant, 
from  the  time  of  opening  until  it  was  too 
dark  to  see,  at  the  rate  of  a  shot  for 
each  gun  every  fifteen  or  twenty  minutes, 
the  fire  of  the  enemy  being  somewhat 
slower.  By  noon  the  guns  of  Fort  Mc 
Rae  were  all  silenced  but  one. 
We  reduced  very  perceptibly  the  fire  of 
Barrancas,  entirely  silenced  that  in  the 
navy  yard  and  in  one  or  two  other  bat 
teries,  the  efficiency  of  our  fire  at  the 
close  of  the  day  not  being  the  least  im 
paired." 

Early  on  the  next  morning  the  bom- 
flOVl  bardment  was  renewed  from  Fort 
23.  Pickens.  The  steamers  not  being 
able  to  get  within  range,  owing  to  the 
shallowness  of  the  water,  were  prevented 
from  taking  any  effective  part  in  the  en 


gagement.  "  My  fire  this  day,"  wrote 
Colonel  Brown,  "was  less  rapid,  and  I 
think  more  efficient,  than  that  of  yester 
day.  Fort  McRae,  so  effectually  silenced 
yesterday,  did  not  fire  again  to-day. 
We  silenced  entirely  one  or  two  guns, 
and  had  one  of  ours  disabled  by  a  shot 
coming  through  the  embrasure. 

"About  three  o'clock,  fire  was  com 
municated  to  one  of  the  houses  in  War- 
rington,  and  shortly  afterwards  to  the 
church  steeple,  the  church  and  the  whole 
village  being  immediately  in  rear  of  the 
rebel  batteries,  they  apparently  having 
placed  them  purposely  directly  in  front 
of  the  largest  and  most  valuable  build 
ings.  The  fire  rapidly  communicated  to 
other  buildings  along  the  street,  until 
probably  two-thirds  of  it  was  consumed  ; 
and  about  the  same  time  fire  was  dis 
covered  issuing  from  the  back  part  of 
the  navy  yard,  probably  in  Wolcott,  a 
village  to  the  north,  immediately  adjoin 
ing  the  yard  as  Warrington  does  on  the 
west.  Finally,  it  penetrated  to  the  yard, 
and  as  it  continued  to  burn  brightly  all 
night,  I  concluded  that  either  in  it  or  in 
Wolcott  many  buildings  were  destroyed. 
Yery  heavy  damage  was  also  done  to 
the  buildings  of  the  yard  by  the  ava 
lanche  of  shot,  shell,  and  splinters  show 
ered  unceasingly  on  them  for  two  days, 
but  as  they  were  nearly  fire-proof,  being 
-built  of  brick  and  covered  with  slate,  I 
could  not  succeed  in  firing  them,  my  hot 
shot  and  shells  not  having  any  power  of 
igniting  them. 

"The  steamer  Time,  which  was  then 
lying  at  the  wharf,  was  abandoned  on 
the  first  day  and  exposed  to  our  fire, 


568 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE   SOUTH. 


which  probably  entirely  disabled  her. 
The  fire  was  again  continued  till  dark, 
and  with  mortars,  occasionally,  until  two 
o'clock  the  next  morning,  when  the 
combat  ceased." 

Colonel  Brown  thus  briefly  sums  up 
the  damage  sustained  by  Fort  Pickens  : 
"The  fort,  though  it  has  received  a  great 
many  shot  and  shell,  is,  in  every  respect, 
save  the  disabling  of  one  gun-carriage 
and  the  loss  of  service  of  six  men,  as 
efficient  as  it  was  at  the  commencement 
of  the  combat." 

The  most  serious  damage  done  by  the 
enemy  was  suffered  by  the  Richmond 
on  the  first  day  of  the  engagement.  A 
shot  struck  her  on  the  water-line,  and 
penetrating  the  side,  dropped  in  the  pur 
ser's  room,  and,  in  spite  of  her  steam 
pumps,  she  made  water  so  fast  that  it 
was  found  necessary  to  send  her  to  Key 
West  for  repairs.  An  accident  occur 
red  in  Fort  Pickens  which  was  more 
fatal  than  any  of  the  direct  blows  of  the 


enemy.  One  of  the  men  was  trying  tc 
empty  a  shell  which  had  fallen  in  the 
fort,  by  knocking  it  against  another. 
An  explosion  followed,  which  discharged 
another  shell,  and  resulted  in  instantly 
killing  five  soldiers  and  wounding  seven 
more. 

After  this  heavy  bombardment — 
which,  notwithstanding  it  lasted  two 
days,  did  little  damage  to  either  side — 
the  old  sta,te  of  quiet  ensued  between  the 
enemy  about  Pensacola  and  our  forces 
on  Santa  Rosa  Island,  but  was  again  dis 
turbed  at  the  opening  of  the  new  year 
(January  1,  1862)  by  a  fire  from  Fort 
Pickens  upon  one  of  the  enemy's  steam 
ers.  The  Confederate  commander,  Gen 
eral  Bragg,  responded  from  his  batteries, 
and  the  bombardment  was  continued  on 
both  sides  for  a  whole  day.  Next  morn 
ing  the  enemy  renewed  his  fire,  but  it 
not  being  responded  to,  no  further  en 
gagement  took  place.  Little  damage 
was  done  to  either  antagonist. 


THE  PUBLIC  ON  BULL  RUN. 


569 


CHAPTER    LIV. 

The  effect  of  the  Defeat  at  Bull  Run  upon  Public  Opinion  at  the  North.— Popular  Indignation.— Indiscriminate  cen- 
sure.— The  Innocent  confounded  with  the  Guilty.— Frank  confession  of  the  Commander-in-Chief.—  Injustice  to 
General  McDowell.— Vicarious  suffering.— Who  were  to  blame  ?-Graceful  resignation  of  a  victim  of  popular 
Prejudice.— A  new  Candidate  for  Public  Fame.— General  McClellan  appointed  to  the  chief  command  on  the  Poto 
mac.— His  journey  to  Washington.— Modesty.— The  single  speech.— Arrival  at  the  Capital.— Immediate  attention 
to  Business.— Improved  Police  and  better  Discipline.— Checks  to  secession  in  Washington.— Regulation  of  the  Press. 
—The  Department  of  McClellan  defined.— Organization.— Fortifications  on  the  Potomac.— Their  extent  and  strength. 
—Safety  of  Washington  secured.— Maryland  Tranquillized.— General  Dix  at  Baltimore.— General  Banks  on  the 
Potomac. — "  All  is  quiet  on  the  Potomac."— Skirmishes.— The  affair  at  Bolivar.— Success  of  the  Unionists.— Sup 
posed  change  in  the  position  of  the  Enemy.— Position  of  Banks'  Division.— Strengthening  of  the  Enemy's  right, 
and  supposed  drawing  in  of  their  left.— The  cause  of  the  attack  at  Ball's  Bluff.— Prudence  of  McClellan.— Recon- 
noissanceof  Drainesville.—  Leesburg.  —  Reported  evacuation  of  the  two  places. —Instructions  of  McClellan.— Stone's 
notification  of  his  movement  across  the  Potomac,  and  the  disaster  at  Ball's  Bluff. 


1861. 


AFTER  the  reckless  attack  and  conse 
quent  defeat  of  the  Federal  forces 
at  Bull  Run,  the  country  was  sud 
denly  awakened  from  the  delusion  in 
which  it  had  indulged  as  to  the  all-con 
quering  might  of  its  own  undisciplined 
troops  and  the  inferiority  of  those  of 
the  Confederates.  The  people  naturally 
turned  against  those  who  had  designedly 
or  ignorantly  excited  their  hopes.  The 
"On  to  Richmond"  cry  was  drowned 
in  a  flood  of  popular  indignation.  Public 
opinion  is  seldom  discriminating,  and 
often  not  only  confounds  the  innocent 
with  the  guilty,  but  visits  the  sins  of 
the  latter  upon  the  former.  This  was 
emphatically  the  case  in  the  popular  ver 
dict  in  regard  to  the  battle  at  Bull  Run. 
The  penitent  whimperings  of  the  instiga 
tors  of  that  movement  were  readily  list 
ened  to  and  their  sins  forgiven,  while  the 
innocent  actors  in  it  were  forced  to  submit 
to  the  rigors  of  an  unsparing  penance. 

72 


The  veteran  Commander-in-chief  fore 
stalled  popular  censure  by  his  frank  con 
fession,  that  he  had  been  the  greatest 
coward  of  all,  in  having  yielded,  in  op 
position  to  his  own  judgment,  to  the  im 
pulse  of  public  sentiment.  General  Mc 
Dowell,  who  had  led  the  army  to  that 
fatal  battle-field  merely  in  obedience  to 
a  military  superior,  suffered  most  in  rep 
utation.  The  public  censure  was  chiefly 
directed  against  him,  and  there  lingered 
a  prejudice  against  McDowell,  which, 
by  consigning  him  to  a  subordinate  posi 
tion,  thus  deprived  the  country  of  the 
services  of  one  of  its  ablest  and  most 
patriotic  leaders. 

To  appease  the  popular  anger  at  the 
defeat  at  Bull  Run,  the  sacrifice  of  a 
victim  became  necessary,  and  the  unfor 
tunate  general  was  made  to  atone  vica 
riously  for  the  ignorant  excitement  of 
the  multitude,  the  artful  provocations 
of  an  unscrupulous  press,  the  partisan 


570 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


schemes  of  designing  politicians,  the  fac 
ile  concurrence  of  a  dependent  adminis 
tration,  and  the  confessed  weakness  of 
the  commander-in-chief.  For  all  these 
combined  were  the  causes  of  the  fatal 
movement,  and  upon  their  authors  the 
popular  indignation  should  have  been 
heaped,  and  not  upon  the  head  of  the 
brave  and  skilful  McDowell. 

Fortunately  for  the  country,  there 
were  those  who,  in  their  devotion  to  its 
interests,  were  willing  to  come  to  its 
rescue,  though  at  the  risk  of  sacrificing 
reputation  more  dear  to  a  soldier  than 
his  life.  A  successor  was  found  to  the 
sacrificed  McDowell,  who  yielded  with 
graceful  resignation  to  his  substitute,  and 
with  patriotic  submissiveness  became  his 
subordinate.  The  successful  campaign 
of  General  McClellan  in  Western  Vir 
ginia  had  won  for  him  great  renown,  and 
July  when  the  Government  selected  him 
22.  to  command  our  army  on  the  Poto 
mac,  the  people  welcomed  the  choice 
with  acclamation. 

The  young  General  hurried  rapidly  to 
his  post  of  duty,  and,  modestly  disclaim 
ing  those  expressions  of  applause  which 
the  American  people  so  bountifully  be 
stow  even  in  advance,  kept  aloof  from  the 
crowd  eager  to  exalt  and  idolize  him. 
In  his  native  Philadelphia,  however,  he 
could  not  escape  the  importunate  mul 
titude,  but  even  while  yielding  so  far  as 
to  address  them,  the  brevity  of  his 
speech,  and  its  deprecation  of  unearned 
favor,  proved  his  distaste  for  indiscrim 
inate  applause. 

11  My  friends  and  old  townsmen,"  he 
said,  "  I  thank  you  for  your  reception, 


and  might  reply,  if  this  were  not  a  time 
for  action,  and  not  for  speech.  Your 
applause,  as  I  take  it,  is  intended  for  my 
brave  soldiers  in  Western  Virginia.  I 
am  going  to  fulfil  new  duties,  and  I 
trust  that  your  kindness  will  give  me 
courage  and  strength.  Good-bye." 

As  soon  as  General  McClellan  reached 
Washington,  he  immediately  as-  jujy 
sumed  command  on  the  Potomac,  26. 
and  began  a  rigorous  course  of  or 
ganization  and  discipline,  by  which,  it 
was  heped,  the  unformed  mass  of  raw 
recruits  might  be  converted  into  a  power 
ful  army  of  orderly  soldiers.  His  first 
act  was  to  enforce  a  rigid  system  of 
military  police.  The  indulgent  Mans 
field  having  been  transferred  to  a  com 
mand  at  Fortress  Monroe,  General  Porter 
was  appointed  provost  marshal,  and  the 
capital  soon  ceased  to  be  scandalized  by 
the  debauchery  of  idle  officers  filling  the 
hotels,  and  vagrant  soldiers  roaming  the 
streets. 

General  McClellan  thus  indicated  in 
an  "  order"  his  determination  to  re-  jujy 
form  the  prevailing  abuse  :  30. 

'  The  General  commanding  the  divi 
sion  has  with  much  regret  observed  that 
large  numbers  of  officers  and  men  sta 
tioned  in  the  vicinity  of  Washington. 
are  in  the  habit  of  frequenting  the  streets 
and  hotels  of  the  city.  This  practice  is 
eminently  prejudicial  to  good  order  and 
military  discipline,  and  must  at  once  be 
discontinued. 

'  The  time  and  services  of  all  persons 
connected  with  this  division  should  be 
devoted  to  their  appropriate  duties  with 
their  respective  commands.  It  is  there- 


McCLELLAX  ON  THE  POTOMAC. 


571 


fore  directed  that  hereafter  no  officer  or 
soldier  be  allowed  to  absent  himself  from 
his  camp  and  visit  Washington,  except 
for  the  performance  of  some  public  duty, 
or  the  transaction  of  important  private 
business,  for  which  purposes  written 
permits  will  be  given  by  the  command 
ers  of  brigades.  The  permit  will  state 
the  object  of  the  visit.  Brigade  com 
manders  will  be  held  responsible  for  the 
strict  execution  of  this  order." 

The  severe  scrutiny  which  ensued  as 
to  the  loyalty  of  many  employed  in  the 
public  offices,  and  of  the  citizens,  male 
and  female,  of  Washington,  in  which  city 
it  was  suspected  there  was  much  active 
sympathy  with  the  enemy,  was  supposed 
to  have  been  suggested  by  the  newly-ap 
pointed  General.  The  representatives, 
in  the  capital,  of  the  newspaper  press 
throughout  the  North,  were  especially 
invited  by  General  McClellan  to  "  con 
sult"  with  him,  and  the  result  of  the 
conference  was  the  unanimous  decision, 
that  the  following  "  suggestions"  be  trans 
mitted  to  the  editors  of  all  the  newspa 
pers  in  all  the  loyal  States  and  in  the 
District  of  Columbia  : 

"  1st.  That  all  such  editors  be  required 
to  refrain  from  publishing,  either  as  ed 
itorial  or  correspondence,  any  descrip 
tion,  from  any  point  of  view,  of  any 
matter  that  might  furnish  aid  and  com 
fort  to  the  enemy. 

"  2d.  That  they  be  also  requested  and 
earnestly  solicited  to  signify  to  their 
correspondents  here  and  elsewhere  their 
approval  of  the  foregoing  suggestion,  and 
to  comply  with  it  in  spirit  and  letter." 

It  was,  moreover,  resolved  that  the 


Government  be  respectfully  requested 
to  afford  the  representatives  of  the  press 
facilities  for  obtaining  and  immediately 
transmitting  all  information  suitable  for 
publication,  particularly  touching  en 
gagements  with  the  enemy. 

By  a  general  order,  the  extent  of  Gen 
eral  McClellan's  command  was  defined. 
His  military  control  was  greatly  enlarged 
beyond  that  of  any  serving  under  the 
veteran  Scott,  still  the  commander-in- 
chief. 

"  There  will  be  added,"  are  the  terms 
of  the  order,  "to  the  Department  of  the 
Shenandoah  the  counties  of  Washington, 
Alleghany,  in  Maryland,  and  such  other 
parts  of  Virginia  as  may  be  covered  by 
the  army  in  its  operations.  And  there 
will  be  added  to  the  Department  of  Wash 
ington  the  counties  of  Prince  George, 
Montgomery,  and  Frederick.  The  re 
mainder  of  Maryland,  and  all  of  Penn 
sylvania  and  Delaware,  will  constitute 
the  Department  of  Pennsylvania,  head 
quarters  Baltimore.  The  Department 
of  Washington  and  the  Department  of 
Northeastern  Virginia  will  constitute  a 
geographical  division  under  Major-Gen- 
eral  McClellan,  United  States  Army, 
headquarters  Washington.'' 

The  organization  of  the  large  army  on 
the  Potomac — which  had  rapidly  increas 
ed  after  the  battle  of  Bull  Run,  under  the 
inspiring  influence  of  the  new  and  trust 
ed  leader — now  absorbed  the  interest  of 
General  McClellan.  He  devoted  him 
self  with  ceaseless  activity  to  the  work. 
His  staff  was  appointed,  and  new  appoint 
ments  and  promotions  to  generalships 
and  other  ranks  rapidly  made.  The 


572 


THE   WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


whole  army  was  divided  into  brigades 
and  divisions,  and  chiefs  selected  to  com 
mand  them.  An  attempt  was  made  to 
secure  efficiency  of  officers,  by  establish 
ing  commissions  to  examine  into  their 
military  knowledge.  A  large  number 
of  resignations  followed,  some  of  which 
were  voluntary,  from  self-confessed,  and 
many  compulsory  in  consequence  of 
proved,  incompetence. 

The  fortifications  on  the  Potomac,  under 
the  eye  and  direction  of  McClellan,  were 
Dec,  so  rapidly  extended  and  perfected, 

?•  that  the  chief  engineer,  Brigadier- 
General  Barnard,  was  enabled  to  state 
in  his  report  that  the  defences  of 
Washington  "consisted  of  about  forty- 
eight  works,  mounting  over  300  guns, 
some  of  which  are  of  very  large  size," 
and,  to  add,  "that  the  actual  defensive 
perimeter  occupied  is  about  thirty-five 
miles,  exceeding  the  length  of  the 
famous,  and  hitherto  the  most  extensive 
—fortified  by  extemporized  field-works 
— lines  of  Torres  Yedras  by  several 
miles." 

With  the  great  increase  of  the  national 
forces  and  the  extension  and  comple 
tion  of  the  defensive  works  on  the  Po 
tomac,  there  was  no  longer  any  fear  for 
the  safety  of  Washington.  Maryland, 
too,  remained  tranquil  and  loyal.  Gen 
eral  Dix  had  succeeded  General  Banks 
in  the  command  of  this  department,  and 
was  pursuing,  with  the  same  good  effect, 
his  predecessor's  policy  of  awing  the 
secessionists  and  encouraging  the  friends 
of  the  Union.  General  Banks,  super 
seding  General  Patterson,  had  been  trans 
ferred  to  the  upper  Potomac,  whither  we 


shall  follow  him,  to  record  the  only 
military  movements  which  for  many 
months  called  for  a  variation  in  the  oft- 
repeated  dispatch,  "All  is  quiet  to-day 
on  the  Potomac." 

Occasional  skirmishes  occurred  along 
the  whole  line  of  the  Potomac.     Of  these 
the  most  important  occurred  at  Bolivar 
Heights,  in  the  neighborhood  of  Harper's 
Ferry.     The  enemy  held  this  posi-  QCjt 
tion  with  a  force  estimated  at  3,000    M»» 
men,   under   the    command   of  Colonel 
Ashby.     The  Federal  troops,  consisting 
of  portions  of  the  Twenty-eighth  Penn 
sylvania,  the  Thirteenth  Massachusetts, 
and    the    Third    Wisconsin   Regiments, 
numbered    a    little    more    than    1,000 
men.     The   enemy   attacked   the   three 
companies  belonging  to  the  Massachu 
setts  Regiment — commanded  by  Major 
J.   P.   Gould — which  were  garrisoning 
Harper's  Ferry  ;  these  having  been  re 
inforced,  drove   back  the   secessionists, 
but  in  turn  were  forced  to  retire.     Col 
onel  Geary  now  hastened,  from  his  post 
at  Point  of  Rocks,  on  the  opposite  side 
of  the  river,  with  more  troops  and  some 
artillery,  and  succeeded  in  forcing  the 
enemy  from  their  position  on  the  com 
manding  Heights  of  Bolivar  with  great 
loss.     Their  leader,  Ashby,  was  killed, 
and  some  hundred  or  more  of  their  men 
either  lost  their  lives  or  were  severely 
wounded.     A  thirty-two  pound  colum- 
biad  was  taken  from  them  with  other 
trophies.     The  Unionists  were  reported 
to  have  lost  only  thirteen  men  in  the 
engagement. 

The  enemy,  in  shifting  the  position  of 
their  forces,  having  strengthened  their 


DRAINESVILLE   OCCUPIED. 


573 


centre  at  Manassas  and  extended  their 
right  toward  the  creeks  and  rivers 
below  Alexandria,  were  supposed  to 
have  drawn  back  their  left,  which  had 
been  resting  on  Drainesville  and  Lees- 
burgh  above  Washington.  It  was  from 
these  points  or  their  neighborhood  that 
Maryland  had  been  for  a  long  time 
threatened,  and  it  had  evidently  been 
the  intention  of  the  enemy  to  cross  the 
Potomac  somewhere  in  this  direction 
and  approach  the  capital  by  a  flank 
movement.  To  provide  against  such  a 
movement,  a  large  force  had  been  concen 
trated  on  the  Maryland  side  of  the  river. 
This  wa3  the  division  under  the  com 
mand  of  Major-General  Banks,  stationed 
on  a  line  extending  from  Great  Falls  to 
Harper's  Ferry.  Banks  commanded  in 
person  from  Great  Falls  to  Edward's 
Ferry,  with  his  headquarters  near 
Darnestown,  twenty-tv-o  miles  above 
Washington.  General  Stone  held  with 
his  brigade  the  position  between  Ed 
ward's  and  Conrad's  ferries,  and  Colonels 
Lander  and  Gear}^  and  others  with  their 
regiments  completed  the  line  from  the 
latter  point  to  Harper's  Ferry. 

When  the  enemy  began  to  change 
their  position  on  the  Potomac — a  move 
ment  which  had  become  manifest  from 
their  retiring  from  Munson's  Hill  and 
the  immediate  neighborhood  of  Alexan 
dria,  and  from  the  strengthening  of  their 
right  on  Acquia  Creek  and  the  other 
streams  toward  the  mouth  of  the  Poto 
mac,  where  they  had  laboriously  con- 
str  acted  a  series  of  powerful  batteries — 
it  was  supposed  that  they  had  entirely 
changed  their  plans.  It  appeared  evi 


dent  that  they  had  given  up  all  hope  of 
crossing  the  upper  Potomac,  and  it  was 
concluded  that  they  had  withdrawn  the 
main  force  which  they  had  so  long  re 
tained  in  that  direction.  This  presump 
tion  led  to  the  fatal  encounter  at  Ball's 
Bluff. 

General  McClellan,  although  he  un 
doubtedly  was  of  the  opinion  that  the 
force  on  the  enemy's  left  had  been 
greatly  diminished  in  the  course  of  the 
change  in  their  line  of  operations,  seemed 
to  have  acted  with  a  prudence  that  it 
would  have  been  well  if  some  of  his 
subordinates  had  emulated. 

Drainesville,  lower  down  and  on  the 
same  side  of  the  Potomac,  had  been,  like 
Leesburgh,  a  point  of  concentration  for 
the  forces  of  the  enemy's  left.  The 
troops  at  both  places  were  supposed  to 
have  been  greatly  diminished.  In  order 
to  ascertain  the  fact  in  regard  to  Draines 
ville,  General  McClellan  ordered  General 
McCall  to  make  a  reconnoissance  in  force 
in  that  direction.  McCall  succeeded 
in  reaching  Drainesville  without  any  QC^t 
show  of  resistance,  and  moreover  19, 
learned  that  Leesburgh  had  been  also 
evacuated.  At  the  same  time,  General 
McClellan,  anxious  to  ascertain  more 
accurately  the  state  of  things  at  Lees 
burgh,  ordered  General  Stone  to  be  ou 
the  watch  in  that  direction.  His  in 
structions  were  conveyed  in  this  dis 
patch  : 

"  General  McClellan  desires  me  to  in 
form  you  that  General  McCall  occu-  Oct. 
pied  Drainesville  yesterday,  and  is  20» 
still  there.     Will  send  out  heavy  recon- 
noissances  to-dav  in  all  directions  from 


574 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


that  point.  The  General  desires  that 
you  keep  a  good  look-out  upon  Lees- 
burgh,  to  see  if  this  movement  has  the 
effect  to  drive  them  away.  Perhaps  a 
slight  demonstration  on  your  part  would 
have  the  effect  to  move  them. 

"A.  V.  COLBURN, 
"Assistant  Adjutant-General. 
"Headquarters  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac, 
October  20,  1861." 

General  McClellan,  probably  not  ex 
pecting  that  the  enemy  would  be  found 
in  any  considerable  force,  or  if  they 
were,  not  intending  to  give  them  battle, 
had  recalled  General  McCall,  who,  after 
Oct.  completing  the  object  of  his  recon- 
2I«  noitring  expedition,  returned  to  his 
former  camp  at  Longley,  nearer  the 
centre  of  the  Federal  line  on  the  Vir 
ginian  side  of  the  Potomac.  In  the 


mean  time  General  Stone  having  received 
the  dispatch  of  General  McClellan,  dated 
the  20th  of  October,  answered  it  from 
Poolsville  on  the  same  day,  as  fol 
lows  : 

"  Made  a  feint  of  crossing  at  this  place, 
this  afternoon,  and  at  the  same  time 
started  a  reconnoitring  party  toward 
Leesburgh  from  Harrison's  Island.  The 
enemy's  pickets  retired  to  intrench- 
ments.  Report  of  reconnoitring  party 
not  yet  received.  I  have  means  of 
crossing  125  men  once  in  ten  minutes  at 
each  of  two  points.  River  falling  slowly. 
"  C.  P.  STONE,  Brigadier-General." 
This  dispatch  conveyed  the  first  infor 
mation  to  headquarters  of  that  move 
ment  across  the  Potomac  which  re 
sulted  in  the  fatal  disaster  of  Ball's 
Bluff. 


CHAPTER     LY. 

General  Stone's  movements  across  the  Potomac.— Edward's  Ferry.— Harrison's  Island.— The  Reconnoissance  toward 
Leeshnrgh.— Conclusions  of  General  Stone.— His  determination.— A  Demonstration  made.— Troops  thrown  across 
the  Potomac.— A  gallant  Reconnoissance.— Movements  of  Colonel  Devens.— Report  of  no  Enemy  to  be  seen.— Orders 
of  Stone.— Disobedience  of  them.— General  Baker  arrives  at  the  Headquarters  of  Stone.— His  orders.— Colonel 
Devens  attacked  by  the  Enemy  at  Ball's  Bluff.— Baker  to  the  Rescue.— Crossing  of  the  Potomac.— The  Difficulties 
for  want  of  proper  means.— Criminal  Neglect.— The  fatal  consequences.— The  struggle  at  Ball's  Bluff.— Defeat.— 
Fatal  disaster.— General  Stone's  movements  on  the  Left.— General  McClellan's  orders  in  the  emergency.— Fresh 
Troops  ordered  across  the  Potomac.— Banks  ordered  to  advance.— McClellan  at  Edward's  Ferry.— A  bridge  for  cross 
ing  the  Potomac  secured.— Troops  withdrawn  from  the  Virginia  shore.— The  losses  at  Ball's  Bluff.— The  causes  of 
the  disaster.— Who  was  to  blame.— What  General  Stone  says  for  himself.— Exultation  of  the  Enemy.— Death  of 
laker.—  His  Life  and  Character.— The  causes  of  his  popularity.— His  obscure  origin.— His  early  destitution.— His 
spirited  efforts  for  support.— His  aspirations.— An  emigrant  to  the  West.— A  lawyer.— A  member  of  Congress.— 
Colonel  in  the  War  with  Mexico  —On  the  Isthmus  of  Panama.— In  California.— Oregon.— Colonel  of  California 
Regiment.— Promotion  offered,  but  refused.— Eloquence. 


GENERAL  STONE,  in  accordance  with  the 
instructions  he  had  received  from 
General  McClellan,  and  as  he  stated 
to  him  in  his  dispatch,  made  a  feint  of 


1861. 


crossing  the  Potomac  at  Edward's  Ferry, 
and  sent  a  reconnoitring  party,  consist 
ing  of  four  companies  of  the  Fifteenth 
Massachusetts  Regiment,  then  stationed 


RECONNOISSANCE  OF  DEVENS. 


575 


at  Harrison's  Island,  situated  between 
Edward's  and  Conrad's  ferry,  and  lying 
about  midway  of  the  two  banks  of  the 
river  Potomac.  This  reconnoitring  party 
crossed  from  the  island  to  the  Virginian 
shore,  and  after  penetrating  the  country 
to  within  a  mile  of  Leesburgh,  returned 
without  having  met  even  a  picket  guard, 
although  they  reported  they  had  dis 
covered  an  encampment  of  thirty  tents, 
in,  a  wood  near  the  town.  Presuming 
upon  the  reports  thus  brought  back, 
General  Stone  seems  to  have  concluded 
that  the  enemy  was  no  longer  in  force 
at  Leesburgh,  and  doubtless  believed 
that  there  was  now  an  opportunity,  if 
any  troops  were  left  in  that  place,  to 
carry  out  the  suggestion  of  McClellan  thus 
given  to  him  :  "  Perhaps  a  slight  demon 
stration  on  your  part  would  have  the 
effect  to  move  them."  He  determined  to 
cross  the  river  for  that  purpose.  Accord 
ingly,  having  proceeded  in  person  to  Ed 
ward's  Ferry,  he  prepared  to  throw  across 
at  that  point  a  considerable  force  to  make 
the  main  attack  upon  the  enemy,  while 
at  Conrad's  Ferry  above,  he  ordered  a 
feint  to  be  made,  and  from  Harrison's 
Island,  between  the  two  places,  the  small 
force  there  was  directed  to  cross  into 
Virginia  and  destroy  the  encampment 
reported  to  have  been  seen  near  Lees 
burgh.  Colonel  Devens,  in  command  of 
Oct.  the  Massachusetts  men,  accordingly 
2k  crossed  from  the  island  and  pro 
ceeded  to  carry  out  this  purpose.  At 
the  same  time,  to  distract  the  attention 
of  the  enemy  from  this  movement  from 
Harrison's  Island,  and  in  order  to  recon 
noitre  in  the  direction  of  Leesburgh  from 


Edward's  Ferry,  General  Stone  sent  from 
this  point  across  the  river  two  companies 
of  the  First  Minnesota  Regiment,  and  a 
company  of  thirty-one  of  the  Van  Alen 
cavalry,  under  the  command  of  Major 
Mix,  accompanied  by  several  staff  offi 
cers.  They  were  ordered  to  advance 
along  the  road  to  Leesburgh  until  they 
arrived  in  the  vicinity  of  a  battery  known 
to  be  hidden  there.  "  This  reconnois- 
sance  was  most  gallantly  conducted,  and 
the  party  proceeded  along  the  Leesburgh 
road,  nearly  two  miles  from  the  ferry, 
and  when  near  the  position  of  the  hid 
den  battery  came  suddenly  upon  a  Mis 
sissippi  Regiment,  about  thirty- five  yards 
distant,  received  its  fire,  and  returned 
it  with  their  pistols.  The  fire  of  the 
enemy  killed  one  horse,  but  Lieutenant 
Gouraud  seized  the  dismounted  man, 
and  drawing  him  on  his  horse  behind 
him,  carried  him  unhurt  from  the  field. 
One  private  of  the  Fourth  Virginia  cav 
alry  was  brought  off  by  the  party  a 
prisoner,  and  being  well  mounted  and 
armed,  his  mount  replaced  the  one  lost 
by  the  fire  of  the  enemy."" 

Colonel  Devens,  in  the  mean  time,  had 
got  his  four  companies  of  Massachusetts 
men  across  the  stream  from  Harrison's 
Island,  and  had  reached  the  position  of 
the  reported  camp  near  Leesburgh.  He 
sent  back  word  that  no  such  camp  could 
be  found,  and  that  the  scouts  of  the  pre 
vious  day  who  had  reported  its  existence 
had  been  deceived  by  the  uncertain 
light,  and  had  mistaken  the  open  spaces 
between  the  trees  for  tents.  D  evens  hav 
ing  at  the  same  time  discovered  a  place 

0  General  Stone's  official  report. 


r,76 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


of  supposed  security  in  a  wood  for  his 
small  force,  proceeded  to  make  an  exam 
ination  of  the  country  between  his  posi 
tion  and  Leesburgh,  with  the  result,  as 
he  reported,  that  "  thus  far  he  could  find 
no  enemy."* 

"Immediately  on  the  receipt  of  this 
intelligence,  brought  rne  by  Lieutenant 
Howe,  who  accompanied  both  parties 
(of  the  20th  and  21st),  I  ordered,"  says 
General  Stone,  "a  non-commissioned 
officer  and  ten  cavalry  to  join  Colonel 
Devens  for  the  purpose  of  scouring  the 
country  near  him  while  engaged  in  his 
reconnoissance,  and  giving  due  notice  of 
the  approach  of  any  force,  and  that 
Lieutenant-Colonel  Ward,  with  his  bat 
talion  of  the  Fifteenth  Massachusetts, 
should  move  on  to  Stuart's  Mills,  half  a 
mile  to  the  right  of  the  landing-place  of 
Colonel  Devens,  and  see  where,  in  a 
strong  position,  he  could  watch  and  pro 
tect  the  flank  of  Colonel  Devens  on  his 
return,  and  secure  a  second  crossing 
more  favorable  than  the  first,  and  con 
nected  by  a  good  road  with  Leesburgh. 
Captain  Candy,  assistant  adjutant-gen 
eral,  and  General  Lander  accompanied 
the  cavalry  to  serve  with  it. 

"For  some  reason  never  explained  to 
me,"  adds  General  Stone,  "neither  of 
these  orders  was  carried  out." 

General  Baker  now  presented  him 
self  at  headquarters,  stating  that  his 
California  Regiment  was  at  Conrad's 
Ferry,  and  that  the  rest  of  his  brigade 
was  ready  to  march.  General  Stone  at 
once  directed  him  to  Harrison's  Island, 
and  to  assume  the  command  there.  The 

*  General  Stone's  official  report 


written  orders  Baker  received  were  as 
follows  : 

"EDWARD'S  FEBKY,  October  21,  1861. 
"  COLONEL  E.  D.  BAKER,  COMMANDER  OF  BRI 
GADE  : 

' '  COLONEL  :  In  case  of  heavy  firing  in 
front  of  Harrison's  Island,  you  will  ad 
vance  the  California  Regiment  of  your 
brigade,  or  retire  the  regiments  under 
Colonels  Lee  and  Devens,  now  on  the 
Virginia  side  of  the  river,  at  your  discre 
tion,  assuming  command  on  arrival. 
"Very  respectfully,  Colonel, 
"Your  most  obedient  servant, 

"CHARLES  P.  STONE, 
"  Brigadier- General  Commanding." 
This,  the   next  dispatch  from   head 
quarters,  came  on  the  same  day : 

"  HEADQUARTERS  CORPS  OF  OBSERVATION,  ) 
EDWARD'S  FERRY,  Oct.  21,  11.50.          } 
"  E.  D.  BAKER,  COMMANDING  BRIGADE  : 

"COLONEL:  I  am  informed  that  the 
force  of  the  enemy  is  about  4,000  all 
told.  If  you  can  push  them,  you  may 
do  so,  as  far  as  to  have  a  strong  position 
near  Leesburgh,  if  you  can  keep  them 
before  you,  avoiding  their  batteries.  If 
they  pass  Leesburgh  and  take  the  Green 
Spring  Road,  you  will  not  follow  far, 
but  seize  the  first  good  position  to  cover 
that  road.  Their  design  is  to  draw  us 
on,  if  they  are  obliged  to  retreat,  as  far 
as  Goose  Creek,  where  they  can  be  re 
inforced  from  Manassas  and  have  a 
strong  position. 

"  Report  frequently,  so  that,  when  they 
are  pushed,  Grover  can  come  up  on  their 
flank.     Yours,  respectfully  and  truly, 
"CHARLES  P.  STONE, 

"  Brigadier-General  Commanding." 


BALL'S   BLUFF. 


577 


Before  General  Baker,  in  obedience  to 
his  first  order,  could  throw  any  of  his 
force  across  the  river  to  the  Virginia 
bank,  Colonel  Devens,  who  had  formed 
his  four  companies  in  line  on  Ball's 
Bluff,  in  a  cornfield  surrounded  by  a 
dense  wood,  had  been  already  assailed. 
An  irregular  skirmishing  fire  was  the 
only  result  until  the  arrival  of  more 
troops,  which  the  enemy  were  evidently 
awaiting  that  they  might  reap  a  bloodier 
harvest.  At  about  noon  three  companies 
of  the  Massachusetts  Regiment  had 
crossed,  followed  by  600  of  the  California 
Brigade,  two  companies  of  the  Tammany 
Regiment,  accompanied  by  howitzers  and 
one  rifled  cannon  under  the  direction  of 
Lieutenant  Bramhall,  of  the  Ninth  New 
York. 

The  crossing  of  the  two  branches  of 
the  river,  formed  by  Harrison's  Island, 
and  the  Chesapeake  and  Ohio  Canal, 
which  runs  along  the  Maryland  shore, 
though  easily  made  with  proper  means 
of  transport,  was  exceedingly  slow,  in 
consequence  of  the  small  number  of  boats 
and  their  bad  condition,  and  caused  the 
defeat  of  the  whole  enterprise.  The  en 
tire  means  of  transportation,  even  at  Ed 
ward's  Ferry,  where  General  Stone  com 
manded  in  person  and  proposed  to  throw 
across  the  river  his  main  force,  consisted 
only  of  "  two  shaky  scows,  and  one  ship's 
yawl  into  which  fifteen  persons  might 
perhaps  be  crowded.  The  consequence 
was,  that  General  Stone  was  only  able  to 
throw  a  very  small  portion  of  his  force 
into  Virginia,  when  there  was  a  pressing 
need  for  all." 

The   means   of    transport    from    the 

73 


Maryland  shore  to  Harrison's  Island  and 
thence  to  the  Virginia  shore  were  equally 
deficient.  To  cross  the  canal,  recourse 
was  had  to  the  expedient  of  placing 
a  canal  boat  lengthwise  between  the 
banks.  The  only  provision  for  crossing 
thence  to  Harrison's  Island,  over  a  swift 
channel  two  hundred  yards  in  width, 
were  two  scows  or  flat-bottomed  boats, 
holding  thirty  persons  each.  It  was 
found  impossible  to  transport  by  this  in 
adequate  means  more  than  a  hundred 
and  twenty  soldiers  an  hour.  From 
Harrison's  Island  again  to  the  Virginia 
shore,  the  only  means  of  transportation 
consisted  of  a  scow  and  a  yawl  or  life 
boat.  The  stream  on  this  side  is  narrow, 
being  only  a  hundred  yards  wide,  but  its 
current  is  rapid,  and  the  Virginian  bank 
is  ten  feet  high,  clayey  and  slippery, 
while  it  is  backed  by  the  wooded  bluff 
known  as  Ball's  Bluff,  from  eighty  to  a 
hundred  and  fifty  feet  in  height. 

General  Baker  having  been  ordered 
with  his  brigade  to  reinforce  the  remain 
ing  Massachusetts  men,  reached  the  river 
bank  as  the  latter  were  crossing.  "  The 
reinforcements  from  the  Massachusetts 
regiments  were  using  the  boats  to  cross, 
and  the  rate  at  which  troops  went  over 
was  painfully  slow,"  says  a  careful 
chronicler.*  "  By  and  by  a  scow  capable 
of  holding  forty  persons  was  discovered 
in  the  canal,  and  with  infinite  pains 
dumped  over  into  the  river.  Late  in 
the  morning  Wistar's  [lieutenant-colonel 
of  California  First  Regiment]  battalion 
began  to  cross  in  this,  and,  finally,  getting 
the  other  boats,  had  all  landed  on  Harri- 

»  New  York  World. 


578 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


son's  Island  in  the  early  afternoon.  •  The 
transit  of  the  Virginia  channel  was  still 
slower.  Here  there  were  only  the  scow 
and  life-boat.  The  current  was  very 
swift,  and,  as  on  the  Maryland  side, 
each  boat  had  to  be  pushed  up  stream  a 
dozen  rods  with  setting-poles  in  order 
to  hit  the  landing  on  the  opposite  side. 
The  men  worked  heroically,  but  the  last 
of  the  California  battalion  did  not  reach 
the  Virginia  heights  until  four  o'clock  P.M. 
At  that  time  a  smart  conflict  had  been 
continuing  for  two  hours,  while  skir 
mishing  shots  had  been  exchanged  since 
breakfast.  Large  numbers  of  our  killed 
or  wounded  on  the  heights  were  brought 
down  the  bluff  and  passed  over  to  the 
island  in  the  returning  boats.  There  was 
a  farm-house  on  the  island,  directly  in 
the  line  of  our  transit,  round  which  the 
troops  made  a  detour  in  crossing.  Long 
before  Wistar's  battalion  had  all  passed  to 
the  Virginia  side,  this  house  was  turned 
into  a  hospital,  every  room  being  occu 
pied  by  our  sufferers. 

"  Meanwhile  Baker  had  accompanied 
the  first  half  of  Wistar's  command  to  the 
opposite  shore,  had  visited  the  battle 
field,  conferred  with  Devens  and  Lee, 
seen  at  a  glance  the  prospects  of  the 
day,  and  come  down  again  to  the  bank 
of  the  river.  The  Virginia  channel 
was  so  narrow  that  commands  could  be 
shouted  from  the  island  to  the  shore. 
Rittman,  the  senior  captain  of  Wistar's 
battalion,  was  in  command  on  the  island, 
superintending  the  transit  on  the  Vir 
ginia  side. 

"Baker  shouted  to  Rittman  to  send 
word  to  General  Stone  that  the  enemy 


were  pressing  him  in  force  ;  that  he  was 
in  need  of  instant  assistance,  but  would 
endeavor  to  hold  his  ground  till  Gorman 
could  effect  a  junction.  Rittman  dis 
patched  an  orderly  to  headquarters  with 
this  statement.  General  Stone  says  that 
it  failed  to  reach  him.  If  it  had,  it 
would  in  any  event  have  reached  him 
too  late. 

"We  may  now  leave  the  island,  the 
twin  river  branches,  and  ascend  the 
slippery  banks  and  the  precipitous  wood 
ed  bluff,  by  a  winding  blood-stained 
path,  to  the  fire  and  carnage  of  the 
deathful  opening  above.  By  some  ap 
propriate  chance  the  enemy  did  not 
make  his  concerted  onset,  his  final  and 
fatal  charges,  until  the  greater  portion 
of  our  reinforcements  had  reached  the 
field,  and  Baker,  taking  command,  and 
knowing  that  no  further  help  could 
reach  him,  was  disposing  his  little  col 
umn  in  brave  battle  order.  Brave,  but 
less  strategic,  since  he  retained  the 
position  which  he  found  Devens,  Lee, 
and  Coggswell  had  chosen  before  him 
(that,  perhaps,  into  which  Devens,  re 
turning,  had  been  forced),  he  refused 
to  imitate  the  Indian  warfare  of  the  tree- 
sheltered  and  skulking  foe.  The  field 
was  a  parallelogram,  seventy-five  yards 
wide  by  two  hundred  in  length.  At  the 
distant  front,  and  down  the  right  and 
left,  a  thick,  dark  forest  skirted  its  sides. 
Behind,  the  bluff  fell  steeply  off  to  the 
river.  About  a  hundred  feet  from  the 
edge  occurred  the  only  interruption  to 
the  dead  level  of  this  arena,  a  gentle  roll 
stretching  in  front  of  our  lines,  certainly 
not  more  than  a  yard  in  height,  yet 


BATTLE  OF  BALL'S  BLUFF. 


579 


affording  some  little  cover  for  both 
artillery  and  infantry.  A  spur  of  the 
field,  shaped  like  a  cow's  horn,  extended 
a  dozen  rods  into  the  woods  on  the  left, 
half  way  between  the  enemy's  front  and 
our  own.  Directly  on  the  left,  and  near 
where  the  winding  path  led  our  forces 
to  the  fight,  a  ravine  fell  slightly  off,  its 
opposite  bank  ascending  to  the  thicket 
of  woods  which  thus  totally  surrounded 
the  field. 

"At  nsrir  four  o'clock,  then,  Baker 
took  the  action  in  hand,  looking  around 
him  to  note  the  position  of  affairs.  No 
enemy  was  anywhere  visible  in  rank, 
but  from  the  woods  in  the  extreme  front 
a  galling  irregular  fire  poured  out  upon 
our  men.  The  latter  were  ranged  in  no 
very  exact  order  from  right  to  left,  the 
wings  partially  covered  by  the  thicket ; 
portions  of  the  centre  lying  close  to  the 
edge  of  the  hill,  while  others  boldly 
stepped  forward,  delivered  their  fire  at 
the  woods,  returned  to  load,  and  advance 
again  and  again.  It  was  not  certain 
that  we  were  doing  much  execution,  but 
not  a  moment  passed  unmarked  by  the 
fall  of  some  of  our  gallant  boys.  Baker 
told  Devens  and  Lee  to  keep  their 
Massachusetts  men  on  the  right  and 
stretched  along  the  centre  ;  placed  Wis- 
tar  and  the  Californians  in  charge  of  the 
left,  and  gave  the  artillery  in  charge 
of  Colonel  Coggswell,  whose  Tammany 
companies  were  also  located  in  the 
centre. 

"Here  also  was  placed  the  one  piece 
which  alone  proved  of  the  slightest  use 
to  us  in  the  battle.  A  James'  rifled 
cannon,  throwing  a  thirteen-pound  shell, 


passed  over  to  the  Virginia  shore  in  the 
afternoon,  manned  by  nine  or  ten  of  the 
Rhode  Island  marines,  to  whose  batter} 
(B)  it  belonged.  As  there  was  no  com 
missioned  officer  of  the  company  present, 
the  brave  Lieutenant  Bramhall,  of  the 
battery  attached  to  the  New  York  Ninth 
Regiment,  volunteered  to  act  as  captain 
of  the  gun.  Arriving  on  the  Virginia 
shore,  his  men  dismounted  the  gun,  took 
the  carriage  to  pieces,  and  with  ropes 
dragged  gun,  wheels,  and  ammunition 
up  the  precipice,  getting  in  position  on 
the  field  at  a  quarter  past  four.  The 
other  guns  carried  over  were  two  little 
mountain  howitzers,  belonging  to  Rick- 
etts'  (regular  battery),  one  placed  on 
each  flank  of  our  line,  and  apparently 
entirely  neglected  throughout  the  battle. 
"Some  disposition  having  thus  been 
made  of  our  forces  (which,  as  I  shall 
hereafter  show,  at  no  one  time  mustered 
over  1,300  men),  the  more  serious  busi 
ness  commenced  ;  not,  however,  till 
General  Baker  had  received  another 
message  from  General  Stone,  stating 
that  4,000  rebels  had  marched  against 
the  former  from  Leesburgh  at  two  and  a 
quarter  P.  M.  This  he  showed  to  Wistar, 
who  said  that  if  they  moved  so  long 
ago,  the  distance  being  only  two  miles, 
they  must  now  be  close  at  hand.  Baker 
said:  'It's  an  ugly  business.'  A  quick 
consultation  was  held.  Evidently  no 
retreat  could  be  effected  in  safety.  The 
fire  was  growing  hot  in  front.  A  retro 
grade  movement  would  undoubtedly  call 
forth  a  rush  in  force  from  the  woods, 
and  at  the  river  bank  there  were  only 
two  boats,  carrying  sixty  persons,  to 


580 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


take  a  column  of  thirteen  hundred  men 
over  a  swift  channel  one  hundred  yards 
in  width.  Oh,  yes  ;  retreat  was  impos 
sible  !  All  that  could  be  done — all  that 
our  noble  officers,  with  their  leader, 
could  or  dared  think  of — was  the  chance 
of  maintaining  their  ground  until  Gor 
man  could  force  his  way  to  their  aid 
from  Edward's  Ferry  on  the  left,  with 
the  alternative,  in  probable  default  of 
his  success,  of  sacrificing  their  commands 
at  as  great  loss  to  the  enemy  as  their 
desperate  courage  could  inflict. 

"The  real  battle  commenced  on  the 
left.  Baker  threw  the  whole  responsi 
bility  of  that  wing  upon  Wistar.  The 
latter  did  not  like  the  appearance  of  the 
adjacent  wood  region,  and  threw  for 
ward  companies  A  and  D  of  his  battalion 
to  'feel'  them.  Captains  Markoe  and 
Wade,  the  former  well  ahead,  accord 
ingly  advanced  on  their  hazardous  duty  ; 
passed  through  the  forest  to  the  cow's- 
horn  projection  of  the  field,  crossed  it, 
and  had  arrived  within  ten  paces  of  the 
farther  thicket,  when  a  murderous  fire 
blazed  out  upon  them.  The  poor  fel 
lows  gallantly  sprang  through  it  upon 
their  assailants,  and  were  in  a  moment 
fighting  in  the  woods.  Not  half  of  them 
ever  came  back.  But  the  rebels,  taking 
this  as  a  signal  for  the  commencement 
of  the  action,  now  bestirred  themselves 
in  force,  and,  with  hideous  yells,  fired  a 
terrific  volley  along  their  whole  front. 
Only  the  sheeted  flash  showed  itself  from 
those  fronting  forests  ;  the  foe  still  clung 
to  cover  ;  but  the  infernal  hail  of  bullets 
rattled  against  our  whole  line,  and  many 
brave  souls  were  loosed  by  that  first 


fiery  revelation  of  the  enemy's  strength. 
Our  reply  was  instant  and  extended. 
In  a  second  both  ends  of  the  field  were 
clouded  with  smoke,  the  day's  skirmish 
ing  was  over,  and  the  contest  that  was 
to  rage  so  hotly  for  an  hour  had  fiercely 
commenced. 

"We  are  all  tired  of  accounts  of  the 
petty  conflicts  which  have  marked  this 
war,  in  which  forces  have  engaged 
at  long  distances,  and  the  so-called 
'  murderous'  fire  and  '  desperate  attacks' 
have  resulted  in  three  or  four  chance 
losses  and  the  success  of  no  one  in  par 
ticular.  But  I  say  that  this  contest,  on 
the  Northern  side,  was  most  heroically 
fought,  and  in  a  true  sacrificial  spirit. 
There  is  nothing  like  it  in  our  history. 
See  what  was  crowded  into  that  terrible 
hour !  Our  little  band  was  pent  up  in  a 
narrow  and  defenceless  slaughter  pen. 
The  enemy  was  in  force  in  front ;  he 
began  to  creep  down  the  treacherous 
sides  of  the  inclosure  ;  his  sharpshooters 
climbed  the  trees  everywhere,  picking 
out  the  stateliest  and  gallantest  forms 
for  the  death  they  so  unerringly  dealt 
us.  Our  lines  thus  received  a  scathing 
fire  from  the  front,  from  above,  and  a 
cross-fire  at  angles  right  and  left.  All 
they  could  do  in  reply  was  to  aim 
steadily  and  swiftly  at  the  places  whence 
the  loudest  yells  and  deadliest  volleys 
proceeded.  But  they  dropped  every 
where,  and  were  borne  by  dozens  to  the 
gory  skiffs  below.  On  the  right  the 
Massachusetts  men  were  more  than 
decimated  by  the  regular,  unavoidable 
shower  of  bullets.  But  against  our  left, 
where  Wistar  commanded,  the  rebels. 


BRAMHALL'S   CANNON. 


581 


confident  of  their  force  and  the  effect  of 
their  deadly  fire  in  front,  began  to  make 
venturesome  charges,  each  one  repelled 
by  the  gallant  fire  of  the  Californians, 
but  each  one  getting  nearer  our  lines 
than  the  last.  On  the  fourth  charge  they 
actually  flanked  our  left  and  sprang  forth, 
savage  and  eager,  from  the  thicket  be 
yond  the  ravine.  Down  this  they  were 
about  to  plunge,  showing  a  bravery  not 
part  of  their  usual  tactics,  and  our  fel 
lows  lifted  their  muskets  for  a  volley. 
'Hold!'  cried  Wistar  to  his  men;  'not 
a  man  of  you  must  fire  ;'  and  he  dashed 
at  the  piece  of  one  ;  '  wait  till  they  reach 
the  bottom  of  the  ravine  ;  then  we'll 
have  them.'  So  they  charged  down  the 
hill,  only  to  meet  the  most  effective  vol 
ley  fired  on  our  side  during  the  day. 
When  the  smoke  rose,  their  front  ranks 
lay  fallen  in  the  hollow  of  the  valley  of 
death ;  the  rear  had  broken  and  fled  in 
disorder  through  the  forest.  The  fifth 
charge — but  this  brings  me  to  the  main 
feature  of  the  field,  a  splendid  central 
picture,  which  will  furnish  a  theme  for 
American  poets  and  painters  long  after 
the  feebler  tints  and  groupings  of  this 
tumult  shall  have  faded  out. 

"  Lieutenant  Bramhall  had  posted  his 
gun  near  the  centre  of  our  line,  and 
opened  fire  to  the  best  advantage  possi 
ble.  When  he  mounted  the  piece  he 
had  with  him  eight  artillerists,  three 
riders,  a  corporal  and  sergeant.  In  ten 
minutes  five  of  these  were  shot  down ; 
in  the  end  all  but  two  were  killed, 
wounded  ;>r  missing.  Lieutenant  Bram 
hall  himself  was  severely  wounded,  but 
stood  by  his  gun.  Colonel  Coggswell 


saw  the  necessity  of  the  case,  informed 
Colonels  Wistar  and  Lee,  Adjutant 
Harvey  (of  Baker's  brigade),  and  Cap 
tain  Stewart  (of  General  Stone's  staff, 
present  on  the  field),  and  those  five  dis 
tinguished  officers  and  determined  men 
manned  the  piece  themselves.  Coggs 
well  and  Harvey,  understanding  the 
business,  would  load  while  Lee  and 
Wistar  were  giving  orders  to  their  com 
mands  and  spurring  them  into  the  fight ; 
then  Wistar  and  Stewart  would  wheel 
the  gun  forward  to  position  ;  Coggswell 
would  take  aim  and  give  the  word  to 
Harvey,  who  held  the  percussion  lanyard. 
In  this  way  and  by  these  men  a  dozen 
of  the  twenty  rounds  used  were  fired, 
doing  more  effect  than  all  our  mus 
ketry  volleys.  When  the  enemy  was 
making  his  fifth  charge  on  the  left,  the 
cannon  had  just  been  loaded  and  was 
pointed  at  the  woods  in  front.  Captain 
Beiral,  of  the  Californians,  who  was  with 
his  company  supporting  the  piece,  ex 
claimed  to  Coggswell,  '  Look  to  the  left ! 
look  to  the  left!'  Coggswell  saw  the 
dark  column  of  the  rebels  sweeping 
across  the  spur  of  the  field,  wheeled  the 
terrible  gun  around,  and  discharged  it. 
square  at  their  centre.  The  shell  opened 
a  lane  through  the  charging  force,  a 
score  of  traitors  falling  to  fight  no  more, 
and  the  column  shut  itself  up  on  the 
main  body  behind. 

"  But  the  end  was  fast  approaching. 
Our  thinning  forces  were  assailed  by  four 
times  their  number.  From  every  side 
death  stormed  upon  their  unsheltered 
bodies.  Half  their  line  officers  were 
wounded  or  killed.  The  undaunted  lead- 


582 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


ers  were  also  falling.  Ward,  lieutenant- 
colonel  of  the  Fifteenth,  had  received  a 
frightful  wound ;  Coggswell  was  shot 
through  the  wrist ;  Lee,  Devens,  Har 
vey,  and  Stewart  were  still  fighting 
sadly  and  in  vain  ;  a  ball  shattered  Wis- 
tar's  sword-arm — he  dropped  the  weap 
on,  picked  it  up  with  his  left  hand,  and 
General  Baker  himself  restored  it  to  the 
scabbard.  Alas,  that  the  chivalric  lead 
er  should  never  again  do  such  kindly 
service  for  a  brother-in-arms !  The  yell 
ing  enemy  began  to  break  from  the 
wood  and  through  the  smoke  upon  our 
confused  lines.  The  crisis  had  come. 
There  was  some  hand-to-hand  fighting  ; 
a  few  of  the  grey-coats  got  entangled 
with  our  own  forces  ;  we  took  a  prison 
er  and  passed  him  to  the  rear  ;  they  took 
a  dozen,  and  made  charge  after  charge. 
Just  then  a  body  of  men  appeared, 
pressing  down  from  the  left.  The  Gen 
eral  ordered  the  troops  around  him  to 
stand  firm,  and  cried,  'Who  are  those 
men  ?'  '  Confederate  troops,  you  d — d 
Yankees !'  was  the  reply  ;  and  they  rush 
ed  almost  within  bayonet  distance.  One 
huge  red-haired  ruffian  drew  a  revolver, 
came  close  to  Baker,  and  fired  four  balls 
at  the  General's  head,  every  one  of  which 
took  effect,  and  a  glorious  soul  fled 
through  their  ghastly  openings.  Cap 
tain  Beiral  seized  the  slayer  by  the 
throat  and  blew  out  his  brains — the  hero 
and  the  traitor  falling  within  the  same 
minute,  and  face  to  face.  In  a  second 
the  enemy  swarmed  over  the  spot.  '  For 
God's  sake,  boys!'  cried  Adjutant  Har 
vey,  in  his  hot  English  way,  '  are  you 
going  to  let  them  have  the  General's 


body  ?'  An  angry  howl  was  the  answer, 
and  a  dozen  of  our  fellows  charged,  with 
set  teeth  and  bayonets  fixed,  upon  the 
rebels,  who  recoiled  from  the  shock  and 
surrendered  their  priceless  trophy.  This 
was  passed  down  the  bluff  and  safely 
conveyed  to  the  island.  But  now  our 
lines  were  hopelessly  disordered.  The 
rebels  came  through  both  field  and 
woods  in  final  force.  Coggswell  saw 
that  the  day  was  lost,  and  that  the  des 
perate,  impossible  retreat  had  come.  So 
he  ordered  our  men  to  retire  for  em 
barkation,  and  the  field  was  yielded  to 
the  foe. 

"Large  numbers  of  the  Northern  troops 
had  anticipated  his  order  ;  for  an  hour 
the  shore  had  been  lined  with  stragglers 
and  wearied  men.  Still,  the  reinforcing 
business  had  not  ceased  from  the  island, 
and  during  the  fiercest  of  the  action  the 
two  boats,  which  were  bringing  away 
the  dead  and  wounded,  returned  from 
each  trip  laden  with  the  residue  of  the 
Tammany  and  Massachusetts  regiments. 
A  distressing  event  occurred  which  I 
have  not  seen  elsewhere  recorded.  The 
life-boat  proved  a  death-boat  soonest  of 
the  two,  swamping,  from  some  cause, 
while  conveying  to  the  battle-field  the  last- 
twenty  members  of  the  Tammany  com 
panies.  Nearly  all  the  occupants  were 
drowned,  and  only  one  boat  remained 
for  the  use  of  our  overpowered  and  re 
treating  forces. 

"  Down  the  hill  they  came,  in  every 
direction  and  without  order,  hotly  fol 
lowed  by  the  rebels  to  the  very  edge  of 
the  descent.  Then  the  pursuers  paused, 
too  cautious  to  meet  the  chance  of  voJ 


RETREAT  FROM  BALL'S  BLUFF. 


583 


leys  from  Harrison's  Island,  but  throw 
ing  a  plunging  fire  upon  the  retiring 
loyalists,  and  aiming  ruthlessly  at  the 
hundreds  trying  to  swim  the  rapid  river 
channel.  Why  should  I  describe  that 
final  scene  ? — the  tumult  and  agony  of 
that  headlong  descent,  the  clamor  and 
crowd  along  the  shore,  the  rush  into  one 
wretched  skiff,  already  over-laden  with 
wounded  men,  which  forced  it  beneath 
the  surface  and  brought  the  horror  of 
death  by  water  upon  men  who  had 
already  so  fairly  faced  the  battle-field. 
I  recoil  from  thinking  of  those  who, 
struck  down  by  the  fire  from  above, 
slipped  in  their  own  blood  upon  the 
clayey  river  bank  ;  of  those  who  wasted 
too  feeble  strength  in  swimming  half 
way  across  the  cruel  stream ;  of  the 
shouts  for  help  where  no  help  came. 
But  I  record  with  satisfaction  the  de 
termination  of  Beiral  and  his  few  asso- 
cates,  who  dragged  their  cannon  to  the 
edge  of  the  hill,  rolling  it  over  and  be 
yond  the  enemy's  reach.  And  what 
more  gallant  than  the  stubborn  refusal 
of  the  beleaguered  colonels  to  surrender 
while  the  rebels  were  decimating  their 
commands  from  the  bluff  above  ?  Led 
by  Coggswell  and  Lee,  several  organized 
companies  charged  up  at  their  torment 
ors,  once  and  again  returning  dangerous 
volleys  from  our  side.  At  all  events, 
they  kept  the  enemy  at  bay  till  long  after 
nightfall  closed  upon  the  scene.  All 
who  could  escape  to  the  island  had  es 
caped,  and  midnight  was  close  at  hand 
before  the  two  colonels  and  the  other 
field  officers  still  on  the  shore  saw  that 
their  duty  was  accomplished,  and  sur 


rendered  themselves  and  the  remnant  of 
their  commands  to  the  enemy." 

General  Stone,  in  the  mean  time,  re 
mained  at  Edward's  Ferry,  unaware  of 
the  disastrous  issue  of  the  conflict  of 
General  Baker  with  the  enemy  at  Ball's 
Bluff.  '  While  these  scenes  were  being 
enacted  on  the  right,"  says  General 
Stone  in  his  official  report,  "I  was  pre 
paring  on  the  left  for  a  rapid  push  for 
ward  to  the  road  by  which  the  enemy 
would  retreat,  if  driven,  and  entirely  un 
suspicious  of  the  perilous  condition  of 
our  troops.  The  additional  artillery  had 
already  been  sent,  and  when  the  messen 
ger,  who  did  not  leave  the  field  until 
after  three  o'clock,  was  questioned  as  to 
Colonel  Baker's  position,  he  informed  me 
that  the  Colonel,  when  he  left,  seemed 
to  feel  perfectly  secure,  and  could  doubt 
less  hold  his  position  in  case  he  should 
not  advance.  The  same  statement  was 
made  by  another  messenger  half  an  hour 
later,  and  I  watched  anxiously  for  a  sign 
of  advance  on  the  right,  in  order  to  push 
forward  General  Gorman.  It  was,  as  had 
been  explained  to  Colonel  Baker,  imprac 
ticable  to  throw  General  Gorman's  brig 
ade  directly  to  the  right  by  reason  of  the 
battery  in  the  woods,  between  which  we 
had  never  been  able  to  reconnoitre. 

"At  four  P.M.,  or  thereabouts,  I  tele 
graphed  to  General  Banks  for  a  brigade 
of  his  division,  intending  it  to  occupy  the 
ground  on  this  side  of  the  river  near 
Harrison's  Island,  which  would  be  aban 
doned  in  case  of  a  rapid  advance,  and 
shortly  after,  as  the  fire  slackened,  a 
messenger  was  waited  for  on  whose  tid 
ings  should  be  given  orders  either  for  the 


584 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


advance  of  General  Gorman  to  cut  off 
the  retreat  of  the  enemy,  or  for  the  dis 
position  for  the  night  in  the  position  then 
held. 

"  At  five  P.M.  Captain  Candy  arrived 
from  the  field  and  announced  the  melan 
choly  tidings  of  Colonel  Baker's  death, 
but  with  no  intelligence  of  any  further 
disaster.  I  immediately  apprised  Gen 
eral  Banks  of  Colonel  Baker's  death,  and 
I  rode  quickly  to  the  right  to  assume 
command.  Before  arriving  opposite  the 
island,  men  who  had  crossed  the  river 
plainly  gave  evidence  of  the  disaster,  and 
on  reaching  the  same  I  was  satisfied  of 
it  by  the  conduct  of  the  men  then  land 
ing  in  boats. 

"  The  reports  made  to  me  were  that 
the  enemy's  force  was  10,000  men.  This 
I  considered,  as  it  proved  to  be,  an  ex 
aggeration.  Orders  were  then  given  to 
hold  the  island  and  establish  a  patrol  on 
the  tow-path  from  opposite  the  island  to 
the  line  of  pickets  near  the  Monocacy, 
and  I  returned  to  the  left  to  secure  the 
troops  there  from  disaster  and  make 
preparations  for  moving  them  as  rapidly 
as  possible." 

General  McClellan  had  now  heard  of 
the  disaster,  and  telegraphed  from  head 
quarters  the  order  to  hold  Harrison's 
Island  and  the  Virginia  shore  opposite  to 
Edward's  Ferry  at  all  hazards.  Troops 
were  accordingly  ordered  again  to  cross 
the  river  at  the  latter  point,  though  with 
out  any  more  adequate  means  of  trans- 
Oct,  portation  being  provided.  By  next 
22t  morning  some  4,400  infantry  had 
reached  the  opposite  shore,  together  with 
a  section  of  Ricketts'  battery  and  a  de 


tachment  of  Yan  Alen's  cavalry.  Harri 
son's  Island  had  been  entirely  evacuated 
before  daybreak,  a  flag  of  truce  having 
in  the  mean  time  gone  to  the  enemy  on 
Ball's  Bluff  and  come  back  with  boat-loads 
of  the  dead  and  wounded,  gathered  from 
that  fatal  field. 

McClellan  having  previously  ordered 
Gen.  Banks  to  advance,  now  rode  himself 
to  Edward's  Ferry.  His  first  operation 
was  to  construct  a  bridge  of  boats  across 
the  river,  and  he  was  about  throwing  to 
the  opposite  side  large  reinforcements, 
when  he  discovered  that  the  enemy  were 
being  rapidly  strengthened  by  great  num 
bers  of  men  from  Manassas,  and  on  the 
following  day  he  ordered  all  the  troops  to 
be  withdrawn  from  the  Virginia  shore. 

In  this  disaster  the  Federal  loss  in 
wounded,  drowned,  killed,  and  taken 
captive  amounted  to  about  a  thousand 
out  of  the  nineteen  hundred  men  en 
gaged.  The  enemy's  loss  was  estimated 
at  less  than  four  hundred,  and  their  whole 
force  engaged  at  nearly  four  thousand 
strong. 

As  the  disaster  at  Ball's  Bluff  was 
unquestionably  due  to  a  reckless  disre 
gard  of  ordinary  prudence,  the  command 
ing  general  was  very  naturally  anxious 
to  be  acquitted  of  the  blame.  It  is 
therefore  witli  a  desire  to  allow  General 
Stone  a  fair  hearing,  that  the  following 
account  in  the  official  report  of  his  in 
terview  with  General  Baker  and  his  in 
structions  is  given  at  length. 

"  General  Baker  having  arrived  at 
Conrad's  Ferry  with  the  First  California 
Regiment,  at  an  early  hour  proceeded 
(Monday,  21st  October)  to  Edward's 


EXULTATION   OF  THE  ENEMY. 


585 


Ferry  and  reported  to  me  in  person,  stat 
ing  that  his  regiment  was  at  the  former 
place  and  the  three  other  regiments  of 
his  brigade  ready  to  march.     I  directed 
him  to  Harrison's  Island  to  assume  the 
command,  and  in  a  full  conversation  ex 
plained  to  him  the  position  as  it  then 
stood.     I  told  him  that  General  McCall 
had  advanced  his  troops  to  Drainesville, 
and  that  I  was  extremely  desirous  of  as 
certaining  the  exact  position  and  force  of 
the  enemy  in  our  front,  and  of  explor 
ing  as  far  as  it  was  safe  on  the  right 
toward  Leesburgh  and  on  the  left  toward 
the  Leesburgh  and  Gum  Spring  road.     I 
also  informed  Colonel  Baker  that  Gen 
eral  Gorman,  opposite  Edward's  Ferry, 
should  be  reinforced,  and  that  I  would 
make    every   effort    to   push    Gorman's 
troops  carefully  forward  to  discover  the 
best  line  from  that  ferry  to  the  Leesburgh 
and  Gum  Spring  road,  already  mentioned ; 
and  the  position  of  the  breast-works  and 
hidden   battery,    which    prevented    the 
movement  of  troops  directly  from  left  to 
right,  was  also  pointed  out  to  him.     The 
means  of  transportation  across,   of  the 
sufficiency  of  which  he  (Baker)  was  to 
be  judge,   was  detailed,   and  authority 
given  him  to  make  use  of  the  guns  of  a 
section  each  of  Yaughan's  and  Bunting's 
batteries,  together  with  French's  mount 
ain  howitzers,  all  the  troops  of  his  brig 
ade  and  the  Tammany  Regiment,  besides 
the  Nineteenth  and  part  of  the  Twentieth 
regiments  of  Massachusetts  Volunteers, 
and  I  left  it  to  his  discretion,  after  view 
ing  the  ground,  to  retire  from  the  Virginia 
shore  under  the  cover  of  his  guns  and 
the  fire  of  the  large  infantry  force,  or  to 
74 


pass  over  the  reinforcements  in  case  he 
found  it  practicable,  and  the  position  on 
the  other  side  favorable.  I  stated  that  I 
wished  no  advance  made  unless  the  en 
emy  were  of  inferior  force,  and  under  no 
circumstance  to  pass  beyond  Leesburgh 
or  a  strong  position  between  it  and  Goose 
Creek,  on  the  Gum  Spring — i.  e.,  the 
Manassas  road.  Colonel  Baker  was  cau 
tioned  in  reference  to  passing  artillery 
across  the  river,  and  I  begged  if  he  did 
do  so,  to  see  it  well  supported  by  good 
infantry.  The  General  pointed  out  to  him 
the  position  of  some  bluffs  on  this  side 
of  the  river,  from  which  artillery  could 
act  with  effect  on  the  other,  and,  leaving 
the  matter  of  crossing  more  troops  or 
retiring  what  were  already  over  to  his 
discretion,  gave  him  entire  control  of  op 
erations  on  the  right.  This  gallant  and 
energetic  officer  left  me  about  nine  A.M., 
or  half-past  nine,  and  galloped  off  quickly 
to  his  command." 

The  enemy  were  very  exultant  on  the 
occasion  of  this  success.  Colonel  Evans, 
their  commander,  was  made  a  general, 
and  his  victory  magnified  by  exaggerated 
reports.  His  force  engaged  was  said  to 
be  only  2,500  infantry  against  an  enemy 
of  "  10,000  men  with  five  batteries  of 
artillery."  "  One  man  to  four,  with  a 
strong  artillery  force  helping  the  four!" 
"History,"  said  they,  "shows  few  feats  of 
arms  so  splendid !  Henceforth  the  name 
of  General  Evans  will  take  its  place  on 
the  roll  of  heroes,  and  his  unconquerable 
troops  have  achieved  a  deed  that  wiU 
make  their  memories  glorious  for  genera 
tions  to  come." 

By  the  death  of  General  Baker  the 


586 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


country  lost  one  of  its  most  popular  favor 
ites.  The  events  of  his  life  and  the  qual 
ities  of  his  character  were  such  as  to  com 
mend  him  especially  to  popular  regard. 
His  humble  origin — his  successful  struggle 
with  the  trials  of  poverty — his  elevation 
to  a  distinguished  position  by  the  force 
of  his  own  talents  in  spite  of  every  social 
and  educational  disadvantage — his  eager 
enterprise  and  self-reliance,  which  led 
him  to  seek  with  the  pioneers  of  the 
West  the  freer  scope  of  a  new  country 
unrestrained  by  the  formalities  and  un 
restricted  by  the  prejudices  of  a  long- 
established  society — his  knowledge  of  the 
sentiments  and  habits  of  the  laborious 
classes — his  fervid  rhetoric — his  readiness 
to  take  up  arms  for  the  defence  of  his 
adopted  country — and  finally  the  gallant 
sacrifice  of  his  life  in  its  behalf,  combined 
to  endear  the  memory  of  Baker  to  the 
heart  of  the  American  people. 

Edward  D.  Baker  was  born  in  Ener- 

O 

land,  but  came  with  his  parents,  who 
were  Quakers,  to  this  country  when  an 
infant.  They  chose  Philadelphia  for 
their  home,  but  surviving  their  arrival 
but  a  short  time,  their  son  was  left  an 
orphan.  Destitute  of  friends  and  for 
tune,  he  was  at  an  early  age  left  to  his 
own  unaided  efforts  for  a  support.  He 
learned  the  trade  of  a  weaver,  and  sup 
ported  a  younger  brother  and  himself 
until  he  was  twenty  years  of  age.  Not 
satisfied,  however,  with  this  humble  con 
dition,  he  determined  to  try  his  fortune 
in  the  far  West.  He  accordingly  started 
on  foot,  taking  his  brother  with  him,  in 
search  of  the  promised  land.  They 
walked  across  the  Alleghany  Mountains 


and  traversed  the  States  of  Ohio  and 
Indiana,  then  partially  a  wilderness,  until 
they  finally  reached  the  Wabash.  De 
scending  this  river  in  a  canoe,  they  landed 
in  an  uncleared  region  of  Illinois.  With 
the  rapid  influx  of  immigrants,  the  place 
they  had  chosen  for  their  new  home  soon 
became  a  prosperous  settlement,  and  the 
elder  Baker,  the  subject  of  this  biogra 
phy,  conscious  of  his  talents,  sought  a 
wider  scope  for  them  in  the  study  of  the 
law.  On  being  admitted  to  the  bar,  he 
acquired  eminence  as  a  lawyer,  and  with 
increasing  aspirations  for  distinction,  be 
came  a  politician.  In  1845  he  was 
elected,  by  the  Whigs  of  Illinois,  one  of 
the  representatives  of  the  State  to  the 
Federal  Congress,  where  his  singular 
readiness  as  a  speaker  and  aptitude  for 
business  made  him  conspicuous.  On  the 
declaration  of  war  with  Mexico  he  re 
turned  to  Illinois,  and  raising  a  volunteer 
regiment,  of  which  he  became  the  col 
onel,  he  at  once  led  it  to  the  Rio  Grande. 
During  a  temporary  cessation  of  active 
hostility  Baker  returned  to  Washington, 
where  he  had  an  opportunity  of  express 
ing  his  opinion  on  the  policy  of  the  war 
and  giving  his  vote.  This  accomplished, 
he  returned  to  his  command,  and  accom 
panied  the  army  of  Scott  on  its  triumph 
ant  march  from  Yera  Cruz  to  the  capital 
of  Mexico,  showing  himself  a  valiant 
officer  in  the  various  conflicts  in  which 
he  shared.  At  the  battle  of  Cerro  G-ordo, 
when  General  Shields  was  disabled  by  a 
shot,  Baker  succeeded  to  the  temporary 
command  of  the  brigade  of  New  York 
regiments,  which  he  skilfully  led,  to  the 
end  of  that  fierce  conflict. 


GENERAL   BAKER. 


587 


After  the  war,  Baker  was  again  elected 
to  Congress,  and  served  until  the  com 
pletion  of  his  term  in  1850.  Seeking  a 
fresh  field  of  enterprise,  he  followed  the 
rush  of  emigration  to  the  gold  fields  of 
California,  but  was  induced  to  remain  at 
Panama,  where  he  formed  a  contract  with 
the  Panama  Railroad  Company,  to  pre 
pare  the  Isthmus  for  the  contemplated 
railway.  He  accordingly  assembled  four 
hundred  laborers,  and  having  equipped 
them,  set  to  work.  After  having  survey 
ed  and  cleared  a  considerable  portion  of 
the  track,  he  was  taken  ill  with  the  Pan 
ama  fever,  and  was  obliged  to  forfeit  his 
contract  and  return  home. 

In  1852,  Baker  went  with  his  family 
to  California,  in  the  hope  of  retrieving 
his  health  and  fortune,  both  greatly  im 
paired  by  his  enterprise  on  the  fatal 
Isthmus  of  Panama.  He  established 
himself  in  San  Francisco,  and  soon 
secured  a  high  position  as  a  lawyer. 
His  fame  as  an  orator  continued  to  in 
crease  with  every  occasion  for  the  dis 
play  of  his  eloquence.  On  the  death  of 
Broderick,  the  United  States  senator 
from  California,  who  had  fallen  in  a 
duel,  Baker  delivered  the  funeral  eulogy. 
Those  who  heard  it  were  greatly  im 
pressed  with  its  rhetorical  power,  which 
is  said  to  have  wrought  such  an  effect 
upon  his  immense  audience,  that  each  lis 
tener  broke  forth  in  sobs  and  cries. 

Baker  was  again,  by  his  restless  spirit 
of  adventure,  stirred  to  another  change. 
He  removed  to  Oregon,  where  his  fame 
had  preceded  him,  and  being  at  once 
accepted  as  worthy  of  the  highest  honors 
of  the  State,  he  was  chosen,  in  1860, 


United  States  senator  for  six  years. 
In  the  Senate,  as  in  the  lower  house,  he 
was  acknowledged  as  a  leader,  and  in 
the  conflict  with  the  disunionists  of  the 
South  was  one  of  the  most  eloquent 
defenders  of  the  Union.  When  war  be 
came  unavoidable,  he  raised  a  regiment 
of  Californians  and  led  them  to  the 
anticipated  field  of  battle  on  the  Poto 
mac.  He  was  soon  after  placed  in  com 
mand  of  a  brigade  as  acting  briga 
dier-general,  and  would  have  enjoyed 
that  rank,  and  the  still  higher  one  of 
major-general,  had  he  not,  with  re 
markable  devotion  to  the  State  of 
Oregon,  refused  the  proffered  honors. 
These  he  could  not  have  accepted  with 
out  resigning  his  senatorship,  which  he 
preferred  to  hold  and  thus  continue  in 
the  service  of  Oregon. 

This  extract  from  his  last  speech  in  the 
Senate,  in  answer  to  Senator  Breckin- 
ridge's  ill-concealed  attempts  to  thwart 
the  action  of  the  Federal  Government  and 
further  the  interest  of  the  Southern  Con 
federacy,  of  which  he  subsequently  be 
came  an  open  adherent,  will  illustrate  the 
style  of  General  Baker's  rhetoric  : 

"I  tell  the  senator  that  his  predic 
tions,  sometimes  for  the  South,  some 
times  for  the  Middle  States,  sometimes 
for  the  North-east,  and  then  wandering 
away  in  airy  visions  out  to  the  far  Pacific, 
about  the  dread  of  our  people,  as  for  loss 
of  blood  and  treasure,  provoking  them 
to  disloyalty,  are  false  in  sentiment,  false 
in  fact,  and  false  in  loyalty.  The  senator 
from  Kentucky  is  mistaken  in  them  all. 
Five  hundred  million  dollars !  What 
then  ?  Great  Britain  gave  more  than  two 


588 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


thousand  millions  in  the  great  battle  for 
constitutional  liberty,  which  she  led  at 
one  tune  almost  single-handed  against 
the  world.  Five  hundred  thousand  men ! 
What  then  ?  We  have  them  ;  they  are 
ours  ;  they  are  the  children  of  the  coun 
try.  They  belong  to  the  whole  country  ; 
they  are  our  sons,  our  kinsmen ;  and 
there  are  many  of  us  who  will  give  them 
all  up  before  we  will  abate  one  word  of 
our  just  demand,  or  retreat  one  inch 
from  the  line  which  divides  right  from 
wrong. 

"  Sir,  it  is  not  a  question  of  men  or 
money  in  that  sense.  All  the  money, 
all  the  men,  are,  in  our  judgment,  well 
bestowed  in  such  a  cause.  When  we 
give  them,  we  know  their  value.  Know 
ing  their  value  well,  we  give  them  with 
the  more  pride  and  the  more  joy.  Sir, 
how  can  we  retreat  ?  Sir,  how  can  we 
make  peace  ?  Who  shall  treat  ?  What 
commissioners  ?  Who  would  go  ?  Upon 
what  terms?  Where  is  to  be  your 
boundary  line  ?  Where  the  end  of  the 
principles  we  shall  have  to  give  up? 
What  will  become  of  constitutional  gov 
ernment  ?  What  will  become  of  public 
liberty  ?  What  of  past  glories  ?  What 
of  future  hopes  ?  Shall  we  sink  into  the 
insignificance  of  the  grave — a  degraded, 
defeated,  emasculated  people,  frightened 
by  the  results  of  one  battle,  and  scared 
at  the  visions  raised  by  the  imagination 
of  the  senator  from  Kentucky  upon  this 
floor  ?  No,  sir :  a  thousand  times,  no, 


sir !  We  will  rally,  if,  indeed,  our 
swords  be  necessary — we  will  rally  the 
people,  the  loyal  people  of  the  whole 
country.  They  will  pour  forth  their 
treasure,  their  money,  their  men,  with 
out  stint,  without  measure.  The  most 
peaceable  man  in  this  body  may  stamp 
his  foot  upon  this  senate  chamber  floor, 
as  of  old  a  warrior  and  a  senator  did, 
and  from  that  single  tramp  there  will 
spring  forth  armed  legions.  Shall  one 
battle  determine  the  fate  of  an  empire, 
or  a  dozen  ?  The  loss  of  one  thousand 
men  or  twenty  thousand  men,  one  hun 
dred  million  dollars  or  five  hundred  mil 
lion  dollars  ?  In  a  year's  peace,  or  ten 
years  at  most  of  peaceful  progress,  we 
can  restore  them  all.  There  will  be 
some  graves  reeking  with  blood,  watered 
by  the  tears  of  affection.  There  will  be 
some  privation  :  there  will  be  some  loss 
of  luxury  ?  There  will  be  somewhat 
more  need  for  labor  to  procure  the 
necessaries  of  life.  When  that  is  said, 
all  is  said.  If  we  have  the  country,  the 
whole  country,  the  Union,  the  Constitu 
tion,  free  government — with  these  there 
will  return  all  the  blessings  of  well- 
ordered  civilization  ;  the  path  of  the 
country  will  be  a  career  of  greatness  and 
of  glory  such  as,  in  the  olden  time,  our 
fathers  saw  in  the  dim  visions  of  years 
yet  to  come,  and  such  as  would  have 
been  ours  now,  to-day,  if  it  had  not 
been  for  the  treason  for  which  the 
senator  too  often  seeks  to  apologize." 


BATTLE   OF  DRAINESVILLE. 


589 


CHAPTER    LVI. 

Drainesville.— Description  of  the  place.— Position  of  General  McCall's  Division.— Its  relations  to  the  rest  of  the  Army 
of  the  Potomac.— Change  of  the  Enemy's  Line.— Repeated  Collisions.— Audacity  of  the  Confederates.— Attack  on 
Unionists.— McCall  resolved  to  Punish.— Orders  to  General  Ord.— Movements  of  his  Brigade.— Movement  of  Gen 
eral  Reynolds. — Engagement  of  General  Ord  with  the  Enemy. — A  Union  Victory. — A  successful  Forage.— Strength 
of  the  Enemy.— Exaggerations.— Comparative  Losses.— Retirement  of  Union  troops.— The  Enemy  confess  their 
Disasters. — A  resolute  Secessionist  in  the  agonies  of  death. — The  Enemy  more  cautious. — General  Jackson  at  Win 
chester.— Lander  at  Romney.— The  Enemy  strengthen  and  extend  their  Fortifications  on  the  Potomac.— The  River 
Communication  with  Washington  Blockaded.— General  Magruder  active  at  Yorktown.— Hampton  Burned.— The 
Movements  of  the  Union  troops  in  preparation  for  an  Attack.— A  Cruel  Work  thoroughly  done.— Magruder  retires 
to  the  security  of  his  Intrenchments. — Progress  of  Loyalty  in  Maryland.— Judicious  Military  Administration  of 
General  Dix. — Union  Success  in  the  Maryland  Elections. — A  valuable  Accession  to  the  Union. — Accomack  and  North 
ampton  restored  to  the  Federal  Authority. — General  Dix's  Operations. — Resignation  of  General  Scott. — Proceed 
ings  on  the  occasion. 


OUR  army  on  the  Potomac  had  soon 
an  opportunity  of  redeeming  the 
'  fatal  blunder  at  Ball's  Bluff,  by  a 
successful  engagement  with  the  enemy 
at  Drainesville.  This  place  is  situated 
in  Fairfax  County,  Virginia,  opposite  to 
Coon's  Ferry  and  Great  Falls  on  the 
Maryland  bank  of  the  Potomac,  about 
seventeen  miles  distant  from  Washington, 
in  a  north-westerly  direction.  General 
McCall  held  the  command  of  the  division 
in  this  quarter,  with  his  main  encamp 
ments  at  Langley's  and  Prospect  Hill,  a 
few  miles  to  the  north  of  the  chain  bridge, 
on  the  Virginia  side  of  the  Potomac,  and 
near  the  Leesburgh  road,  running  not 
far  from  the  river.  McCall's  division 
thus  formed  the  extreme  right  of  the 
line  under  the  immediate  command  of 
McClellan,  and  was,  as  it  were,  the  point 
of  junction  between  the  main  body  of 
our  army  opposite  Washington  and  the 
forces  under  Banks  on  the  upper  Potomac. 


The  lines  of  the  enemy  having  closed 
in  the  form  of  a  semicircle  around  Mc- 
Clellan's  position  in  Virginia,  were  thus 
brought  very  near  to  his  right  and  his 
left.  This  was  especially  the  case  in  re 
gard  to  the  former,  where  General  Mc 
Call  was  in  command,  whose  troops  were 
thus  frequently  brought  into  collision 
with  parties  of  the  enemy  during  their 
respective  foraging  expeditions. 

The  Confederates  having  become  very 
bold  in  their  movements,  General  Mc 
Call  determined  to  punish  them.  The 
immediate  provocation  was  the  advance 
of  their  picket  guards  to  within  four  or 
five  miles  of  the  national  line,  the  seizure 
of  two  "good  Union  men,"  and  the 
plunder  and  threatening  of  others.  Mc 
Call  having  discovered  that  the  enemy 
held  a  reserve  force  near  Drainesville, 
whenever  they  were  making  these  pro 
voking  incursions,  gave  orders  to  Brig 
adier-General  Ord  to  move  with  his 


590 


WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


brigade  "to  surround  and  capture  their 
party,  and  at  the  same  time  to  collect  a 
supply  of  forage  from  the  farms  of  some 
of  the  rank  secessionists  in  that  vicinity." 
At  the  same  time  Brigadier- General  S. 
J.  Reynolds  with  the  First  Brigade  was 
directed  to  move  on  to  Difficult  Creek, 
in  the  direction  of  Leesburgh,  in  order 
to  support  General  Ord,  in  case  the  en 
emy  should  come  from  the  latter  place, 
where  they  were  in  force,  to  the  rescue 
of  Drainesville. 

General  Ord,  in  accordance  with  his 
DeCt  orders,  moved  with  his  force — con- 
20«  sisting  of  the  Sixth,  Ninth,  and 
Twelfth  Pennsylvania  regiments,  the 
Bucktail  Rifles,  five  companies  of  the 
First  Pennsylvania  cavalry,  and  Captain 
Easton's  battery  of  four  guns.  The  en 
gagement  which  ensued  is  thus  succinctly 
described  by  General  McCall : 

"  At  half-past  ten  o'clock  A.M.,  on  the 
20th,  I  received  a  dispatch  from  General 
Ord,  written  on  the  march,  informing  me 
that  the  guide  had  learned  on  the  way 
that  there  was  a  full  brigade,  but  with 
out  artillery,  at  Hendon's  Station,  500 
infantry  and  cavalry  at  Hunter's  Mills, 
and  200  infantry  between  Drainesville 
and  the  Potomac.  I  immediately  mounted 
my  horse,  and  with  my  staff  and  an  es 
cort  of  cavalry  moved  rapidly  forward 
to  overtake,  if  possible,  General  Ord's 
brigade.  I  stopped  a  few  moments  with 
Brigadier-General  Reynolds  at  Difficult 
Creek,  and  having  directed  him  to  be  in 
readiness  to  move  forward  rapidly  in 
case  he  should  be  required  to  support 
General  Ord,  I  rode  on.  When  within 
about  two  miles  of  Drainesville,  I  heard 


the  first  gun  fired  by  the  enemy.  It  was 
soon  answered  by  Easton's  battery,  which 
imparted  to  me  the  fact  that  the  enemy 
had  artillery  with  them.  A  rapid  ride 
soon  brought  me  to  the  field,  where 
General  Ord  was  hotly  engaged.  I  found 
Easton's  battery  judiciously  placed,  and 
in  full  blast  upon  the  enemy's  battery 
about  500  yards  in  front,  on  the  Centre- 
ville  road.  Here  I  stopped  to  observe 
the  practice  of  our  battery,  while  one  of 
my  staff  rode  off  to  ascertain  where  Gen 
eral  Ord  was. 

"  While  here,  admiring  the  accuracy 
of  the  shot  and  shell  thrown  by  this  bat 
tery  upon  the  battery  of  the  enemy,  a 
force  of  infantry  and  cavalry  made  their 
appearance  from  cover  on  the  enemy's 
right,  moving  in  a  direction  to  turn  our 
left.  Colonel  McCalmont,  whose  regi 
ment  was  on  the  left,  was  notified  of  this 
movement ;  but  a  few  shell  from  our  bat 
tery,  skillfully  thrown  into  their  midst, 
checked  their  advance,  and  drove  them 
back  ingloriously  to  cover. 

"Not  hearing  anything  of  General 
Ord,  I  set  out  in  search  of  him  on  our 
right,  where  brisk  firing  was  at  the  time 
going  on.  Here  was  the  Ninth  Infantry. 
Colonel  Jackson,  who  had  gallantly  met 
the  enemy  at  close  quarters,  and  nobly 
sustained  the  credit  of  his  State. 

"  By  this  time  Captain  Sheets,  of  my 
staff,  reported  that  he  found  General 
Ord  near  the  centre  of  the  front.  Pro 
ceeding  there,  I  found  the  Rifles  and  a 
party  of  the  Sixth  Infantry  Pennsylvania 
Reserve,  engaged  under  a  brisk  fire  with 
the  enemy.  Having  met  General  Ord, 
we  moved  forward,  and  the  position 


"GLORIOUS   SUCCESS." 


591 


where  the  enemy's  battery  had  been 
placed  was  soon  gained,  and  here  we 
had  evidence  of  the  fine  artillery  practice 
of  Easton's  battery.  The  road  was 
strewed  with  men  and  horses,  two  cais 
sons — one  of  them  blown  up — a  limber, 
a  gun-carriage  wheel,  and  a  quantity  of 
artillery  ammunition,  small-arms,  and 
an  immense  quantity  of  heavy  clothing, 
blankets,  etc. 

"  The  battle  was  now  over,  and  the 
victory  won.  With  my  consent,  Gen 
eral  Ord  made  an  advance  of  about  half 
a  mile,  but  nothing  further  was  to  be 
seen,  as  the  enemy,  in  full  flight,  had 
pressed  beyond  our  reach." 

The  total  loss  of  the  Nationals  was 
but  seven  killed,  sixty-one  wounded— 
including  a  lieutenant-colonel  and  four 
captains — and  three  missing.  The  forag 
ing  object  of  the  expedition  was  no  less 
triumphantly  achieved.  Sixteen  wagon- 
loads  of  "excellent"  hay  and  twenty-two 
of  corn  were  secured. 

The  enemy's  force  consisted,  as  re 
ported  by  General  McCall,  of  the  First 
Kentucky  Regiment,  about  eight  hun 
dred  strong,  the  Tenth  Alabama,  nine 
hundred  strong,  a  South  Carolina  regi 
ment,  a  Virginia  regiment,  and  prob 
ably  several  others.  The  commander- 
in-chief  of  the  enemy,  General  J.  E.  B. 
Stuart,  in  his  report  to  General  Beaure- 
gard,  gives  the  following  as  the  compo 
sition  of  his  force  : 

"  Eleventh  Virginia  Volunteers,  Col. 
S.  Garland,  Jr.  ;  Sixth  South  Carolina 
Volunteers,  Lieutenant-Colonel  Secrest ; 
Tenth  Alabama  Volunteers,  Colonel  J. 
H.  Harvey  ;  First  Kentucky  Volunteers, 


Colonel  Thomas  H.  Taylor— making  an 
aggregate  force  of  1,600  infantry  ;  Sum- 
ter  Flying  Artillery,  four  pieces,  Captain 
A.  S.  Gutts  ;  1,000  North  Carolina  Cav 
alry,  Major  Gordon." 

While  Stuart  thus  apparently  dimin 
ished  his  own  force,  he  seemed  desirous 
of  exaggerating  that  of  McCalFs,  by 
giving  currency  to  the  rumor  that  "he 
had  fifteen  regiments  of  infantry,  several 
batteries,  and  seven  companies  of  cav 
alry."  In  his  report,  General  Stuart 
confessed  to  a  loss  of  forty-three  killed, 
a  hundred  and  forty-three  wounded,  and 
eight  missing,  and  consoled  himself  for 
his  defeat  by  calling  it  "  a  glorious  suc 
cess." 

It  is  true  General  McCall  did  not  think 
it  prudent  to  hold  the  ground  he  had 
won,  but  drew  back  his  troops  to  their 
old  encampment ;  but  the  enemy,  not 
withstanding  their  boasting  report,  were 
fain,  at  last,  to  acknowledge  that  the 
"heavy  skirmish"  at  Drainesville  had 
"resulted  disastrously."*  One  brave 
fellow,  even  in  the  agonies  of  death,  ac 
knowledged  the  defeat,  while  he  consoled 
himself  with  exulting  over  a  previous  suc 
cess.  "  We  whipped  you  at  Manassas," 
he  cried  out  to  our  victorious  soldiers, 
"  but  you  have  the  best  of  us  to-day." 

The  enemy,  although  they  had  so  long 
threatened  the  seizure  of  Washington 
and  the  invasion  of  Maryland,  were  evi 
dently  not  much  disposed  to  venture  be 
yond  their  intrenched  lines  on  the  south 
of  the  Potomac.  A  defiant  demonstra 
tion,  however,  was  made  on  their  ex 
treme  left  by  General  Jackson,  with  ten 


0  Richmond  Dispatch. 


592 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


thousand  men,  in  the  course  of  which  he 
damaged  the  Chesapeake  and  Ohio  Ca 
nal,  compelled  the  evacuation  of  Han 
cock,  and  seemed  to  threaten  an  advance 
into  Maryland.  Subsequently,  he  with 
drew  to  Winchester,  and  General  Lander, 
who  had  been  watching  his  movements, 
took  possession  of  Romney. 

The  enemy  laboriously  extended  their 
works  of  defence,  and  added  to  their 
strength.  The  result  was  shown  by  the 
fortifications  they  erected  on  the  right 
bank  of  the  lower  Potomac — a  series 
of  formidable  batteries,  which  extended 
from  Accomack  Creek,  near  Mount  Yer- 
non,  to  the  Chesapeake  Bay.  These 
were  connected  with  the  enemy's  centre 
at  Manassas  by  the  forts  on  the  Occoquan 
lliver,  and  stretched  from  headland  to 
headland,  at  the  mouths  of  the  numer 
ous  streams,  which,  after  seaming  the 
Virginia  shore,  pass  into  the  Potomac. 
They  thus  were  enabled,  as  it  were,  to 
blockade  the  river  communication  with 
Washington  ;  but  the  navigation,  though 
it  was  greatly  impeded  by  the  heavy  guns 
of  the  enemy,  was  by  no  means  entirely 
checked,  and  the  national  vessels  con 
tinued  to  pass  and  repass,  and  with  but 
little  damage. 

Beyond  a  frequent  but  generally  in 
effective  fire  from  these  numerous  bat 
teries  on  the  lower  Potomac,  the  enemy 
in  that  quarter  generally  showed  great 
reserve  in  commencing  offensive  opera 
tions.  General  Magruder,  however,  who 
commanded  a  force  of  the  enemy  at 
Yorktown,  would  occasionally  exhibit  an 
activity  which  kept  the  national  troops  at 
Fortress  Monroe  and  in  the  neighboring 


encampments  on  the  alert.  Hampton,  in 
consequence,  which  had  been  early  seized 
by  General  Butler,  was  abandoned  as  of 
no  immediate  strategic  importance,  and 
because  it  exposed  an  occupying  force  to 
danger  without  a  compensating  benefit. 

Magruder,  informed  that  it  was  the 
intention  of  General  Butler  again  to  oc 
cupy  Hampton,  with  the  view  of  making 
it  the  winter  quarters  of  his  troops,  deter 
mined  upon  thwarting  that  purpose,  by 
the  cruel  expedient  of  burning  the  town. 
He,  at  the  same  time,  hoped  to  take  the 
Federalists  at  a  disadvantage,  and  accord 
ingly  advanced  with  a  large  force,  esti 
mated  at  seven  thousand  infantry,  with 
the  addition  of  two  hundred  cavalry  and 
eight  pieces  of  artillery,  and  made  a  de 
monstration  in  the  neighborhood  of  the 
Federal  encampment  at  Newport  News 
Information  of  this  movement  .was  at 
once  dispatched  to  General  Phelps,  in 
command  at  this  latter  place,  and  thence 
conveyed  to  Fortress  Monroe.  Measures 
were  now  taken  to  prepare  for  the  enemy 
in  case  they  should  venture  upon  an 
offensive  movement.  The  garrison  at 
Fortress  Monroe  and  the  fleet  were  got 
ready  for  action,  and  the  troops  from  the 
various  encampments  at  Newport  News 
and  elsewhere  mustered  for  defence. 

The  enemy,  in  the  mean  time,  having 
set  out  late  in  the  day,  had  occupied  \u*t 
Hampton  with  an  advanced  guard  ?• 
in  the  afternoon.  Thence  they  marched 
forward  to  the  bridge  leading  out  of 
the  town  toward  Newport  News.  The 
Federalists  had  made  ready  to  receive 
them. 

"At  ten  o'clock  P.M.,"  wrote  a  chron- 


HAMPTON   BURNED. 


503 


icier*  then  at  Fortress  Monroe,  "Gen 
eral  Butler,  after  visiting  Camp  Hamilton, 
went  to  Hampton  Bridge  and  instructed 
the  force  posted  there  to  hold  the  position, 
and  resist  any  attempt  either  to  destroy 
or  pass  the  bridge.  About  twenty-five 
feet  of  the  planks  had  been  taken  up, 
and  the  timbers  cut  away  on  the  Hamp 
ton  side.  At  that  point  our  force,  con 
sisting  of  a  detachment  of  Max  Weber's 
riflemen,  erected  a  barricade.  When 
General  Butler  left,  everything  was 
quiet  in  the  village,  and  there  was  no 
appearance  of  anything  unusual.  Shortly 
after  a  rebel  force  came  to  the  bridge, 
and  commenced  a  vigorous  attack  on  our 
force  there.  A  sharp  contest  ensued, 
which  resulted  in  loss  to  the  enemy  and 
their  retreat.  The  rebels  then  com 
menced  to  fire  the  town.  Fire  was  first 
set  to  the  buildings  nearest  to  the  bridge. 
Those  who  committed  this  act  of  van 
dalism  were,  to  a  considerable  extent, 
former  leading  citizens  of  Hampton  and 
owners  of  property,  and  consequently 
among  the  greatest  sufferers.  They  dis 
tributed  themselves  through  the  village, 
went  to  the  residences  of  the  few  re 
maining  white  inhabitants,  and  warned 
them  to  prepare  for  the  event  that  was 
at  hand.  No  other  reason  was  given 
than  that  they  had  orders  to  burn  the 
village,  and  that  it  would  be  done.  No 
time  was  given  to  remove  furniture  or 
other  effects,  and  scarcely  enough  to  al 
low  the  terrified  people  to  dress  and  es 
cape  to  the  street." 

The  reports  of  the  enemy  testified  to 
the  thoroughness  of  the  cruel  work. 

°  New  York  Tribune. 


"  The  town,"  says  one,  "  was  burned 
to  the  ground  on  Wednesday  night  (Au 
gust  7),  by  the  order  of  General  Magru- 
der.  The  expedition  for  its  destruction 
was  composed  of  the  Mecklenburg  Cav 
alry,  Captain  Goode  ;  Old  Dominion 
Dragoons,  Captain  Phillips  ;  York  Rang 
ers,  Captain  Sinclair  ;  Warwick  Beaure- 
gards,  Captain  Custis  ;  and  six  companies 
of  the  Fourteenth  Virginia  Regiment ; 
the  whole  force  being  under  the  command 
of  Colonel  James  J.  Hodges,  of  the  Four 
teenth.  The  town  was  most  effectually 
fired.  But  a  single  house  was  left  stand 
ing.  The  village  church  was  intended 
to  be  spared,  but  caught  fire  accidentally, 
and  was  consumed  to  the  ground.  Many 
of  the  members  of  the  companies  were 
citizens  of  Hampton,  and  set  fire  to  their 
own  houses." 

General  Magruder,  finding  that  any 
further  advance  had  been  checked  by  the 
alertness  of  General  Butler,  retired  after 
the  destruction  of  Hampton  to  his  in 
trenched  position  at  Great  Bethel,  which 
he  subsequently  abandoned,  and  kept 
within  the  more  secure  limits  of  York- 
town. 

Maryland,  in  the  mean  time,  under  the 
judicious  military  administration  of  Gen 
eral  Dix,  who  had  succeeded  General 
Banks  in  that  department,  was  daily  re 
vealing  its  latent  loyalty,  or  becoming 
more  discreet  in  its  manifestations  of  dis 
affection.  The  elections  throughout  the 
State  had  resulted  in  large  majorities  in 
favor  of  the  "  Union"  candidates.  In  the 
choice  of  Governor,  Bradford  the  loyal 
competitor  received  39,731  votes,  while 
his  antagonist,  Howard,  the  candidate  of 


594: 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE   SOUTH. 


the  "  Peace  Party,"  as  the  disaffected  of 
Maryland  now  termed  themselves,  ob 
tained  only  8,987.  The  congressional 
and  legislative  elections  were  equally  tri 
umphant  for  the  Unionists,  who,  encour 
aged  by  the  formidable  display  of  Fed 
eral  might,  no  longer  hesitated  openly  to 
profess  sentiments  of  loyalty. 

General  Dix  was  enabled,  also,  by  a 
mere  demonstration  of  the  great  force 
at  his  command,  to  secure  a  valuable  ac 
cession  to  the  Federal  authority.  This 
consisted  of  Accomack  and  Northampton, 
the  two  counties  of  Virginia  which  con 
stitute  the  lower  end  of  the  peninsula, 
formed  by  the  Chesapeake  Bay  on  the 
west  and  the  Atlantic  Ocean  on  the  east. 
Though  geographically  continuous  with 
the  State  of  Delaware,  and  entirely  sev 
ered  by  the  whole  breadth  of  the  Chesa 
peake  Bay  from  Virginia,  the  counties  of 
Accomack  and  Northampton  belong  to 
the  domain  of  the  latter  State.  Their 
inhabitants,  moreover,  if  not  sympathiz 
ing  with  the  secession  of  the  parent  State, 
had  submitted  to  the  authority  of  the 
Southern  Confederacy.  A  Confederate 
force  held  Drummondtown,  the  county 
seat  of  Accomack.  Intrenchments  had 
been  raised,  the  roads  obstructed  by  fallen 
trees,  the  light-houses  on  the  coasts  ex 
tinguished,  and  a  general  defiance  offered 
to  the  authority  of  the  United  States. 
As  the  counties  of  Accomack  and  North 
ampton,  from  their  territorial  position, 
had  been  included  within  the  Department 
of  Baltimore,  commanded  by  General 
Dix,  it  devolved  upon  him  to  make  the 
effort  to  restore  them  to  the  Federal  ju 
risdiction. 


General  Dix  accordingly  mustered  a 
force  of  5,000  troops,  composed  of  the 
Second  Delaware,  the  Seventeenth  Mas* 
sachusetts,  the  Fifth  New  York,  Twenty - 
first  Indiana,  Tenth  Wisconsin,  and  Sixth 
Michigan  regiments,  and  giving  the  com 
mand  to  General  Lockwood,  of  Dela 
ware,  ordered  them  to  advance  through 
that  State  into  the  two  Virginia  counties. 

General  Dix  anticipated  their  march, 
by  the  issue  of  a  conciliatory  proclama 
tion,  which  was  distributed  among  the 
inhabitants  of  Accomack  and  Northamp 
ton.* 


°  PROCLAMATION  TO  THE  PEOPLE  OF  ACCQMACK  AND  NORTH 
AMPTON  COUNTIES,  VA. — The  military  forces  of  the  United 
States  are  about  to  enter  your  counties  as  a  part  of  the 
Union.  They  will  go  among  you  as  friends,  and  with  the 
earnest  hope  that  they  may  not,  by  your  own  acts,  be 
forced  to  become  your  enemies.  They  will  invade  no 
rights  of  person  or  property.  On  the  contrary,  your 
laws,  your  institutions,  your  usages  will  be  scrupulously 
respected.  There  need  be  no  fear  that  the  quietude  of 
any  fireside  will  be  disturbed,  unless  the  disturbance  is 
caused  by  yourselves. 

Special  directions  have  been  given  not  to  interfere  with 
the  condition  of  any  persons  held  to  domestic  service ; 
and,  in  order  that  there  may  be  no  ground  for  mistake  or 
pretext  for  misrepresentation,  commanders  of  regiments 
and  corps  have  been  instructed  not  to  permit  any  such 
persons  to  come  within  their  lines.  The  command  of  the 
expedition  is  intrusted  to  Brigadier-General  Henry  H. 
Lockwood,  of  Delaware,  .a  State  identical,  in  some  of  the 
distinctive  features  of  its  social  organization,  with  your 
own.  Portions  of  his  force  come  from  counties  in  Mary 
land  bordering  on  one  of  yours.  From  him,  and  from 
them,  you  may  be  assured  of  the  sympathy  of  near  neigh 
bors,  as  well  as  friends,  if  you  do  not  repel  it  by  hostile 
resistance  or  attack.  Their  mission  is  to  assert  the  author 
ity  of  the  United  States ;  to  reopen  your  intercourse  with 
the  loyal  States,  and  especially  with  Maryland,  which  has 
just  proclaimed  her  devotion  to  the  Union  by  the  most 
triumphant  vote  in  her  political  annals ;  to  restore  to 
commerce  its  accustomed  guides,  by  re-establishing  the 
lights  on  your  coast ;  to  afford  you  a  free  export  for  the 
products  of  your  labor,  and  a  free  ingress  for  the  neces 
saries  and  comforts  of  life,  which  you  require  in  exchauge  ; 
and,  in  a  word,  to  put  an  end  to  the  embarrassments  and 
restrictions  brought  upon  you  by  a  causeless  and  unjusti 
fiable  rebellion. 

If  the  calamities  of  intestine  war,  which  are  desolating 


ACCOMACK  AND   NORTHAMPTON. 


595 


This  politic  proclamation  had  been 
Nov.  sent  to  the  people  of  Accomack  and 
16.  Northampton  the  day  before  the 
arrival  of  General  Lockwood,  who  landed 
in  the  former  county  on  the  17th  of  No 
vember.  His  reception  was  by  no  means 
unfriendly,  and  he  marched  to  Drum- 
mondtown  without  opposition,  the  en 
emy,  numbering  about  3,000  men,  who 
held  that  place,  having  abandoned  their 
works  of  defence  and  disbanded  on  his 
approach.  Having  effected  what  was 
necessary  to  re-establish  the  Federal  au 
thority,  and  left  a  force  to  secure  it,  Gen 
eral  Lockwood  returned  in  a  few  weeks 
with  the  rest  of  his  troops. 

To  preserve  the  continuity  of  this  nar 
rative  of  the  military  operations  of  the 
army  of  the  Potomac,  the  record  of  an 
event  of  profound  interest  to  the  coun 
try,  though  in  time  it  preceded  much 
already  related,  has  been  postponed  until 
now.  We  refer  to  the  resignation  of 

other  districts  of  Virginia,  and  have  already  crimsoned 
her  fields  with  fraternal  blood,  fall  also  upon  you,  it  will 
not  be  the  fault  of  the  Government.  It  asks  only  that  its 
authority  may  be  recognized.  It  sends  among  you  a  force 
too  strong  to  be  successfully  opposed— a  force  which  can 
not  be  resisted  in  any  other  spirit  than  that  of  wanton 
ness  and  malignity.  If  there  are  any  among  you,  who, 
rejecting  all  overtures  of  friendship,  thus  provoke  retali 
ation,  and  draw  down  upon  themselves  consequences 
which  the  Government  is  most  anxious  to  avert,  to  their 
account  must  be  laid  the  blood  which  may  be  shed,  and 
the  desolation  which  may  be  brought  upon  peaceful  homes. 
On  all  who  are  thus  reckless  of  the  obligations  of  human 
ity  and  duty,  and  on  all  who  are  found  in  arms,  the  severest 
punishment  warranted  by  the  laws  of  war  will  be  visited. 
To  those  who  remain  in  the  quiet  pursuit  of  their  do 
mestic  occupations,  the  public  authorities  assure  all  they 
can  give — peace,  freedom  from  annoyance,  protection  from 
foreign  and  internal  enemies,  a  guarantee  of  all  constitu 
tional  and  legal  rights,  and  the  blessings  of  a  just  and 
parental  Government.  JOHN  A.  Dix, 

Major-General  Commanding. 
BALTIMORE,  Nov.  13.  1861. 


General  Winfield  Scott,  the  veteran  com- 
mander-in-chief.      On  the   31st  of<)ct. 
October  the  secretary  of  war,  Mr.   31. 
Cameron,  received  this  letter  from  Gen 
eral  Scott  : 

"  HEADQUARTERS  OF  THE  ARMY,  WASH-  j 
INGTON,  October  31,  1861.  f 

"  THE  HON.  S.  CAMEROX,  SECRETARY  OF  WAR  : 
"  SIR  :  For  more  than  three  years  I 
have  been  unable,  from  a  hurt,  to  mount 
a  horse  or  to  walk  more  than  three  paces 
at  a  time,  and  that  with  much  pain. 
Other  and  new  infirmities,  dropsy  and 
vertigo,  admonish  me  that  repose  of  mind 
and  body,  with  the  appliances  of  surgery 
and  medicine,  are  necessary  to  add  a  little 
more  to  a  life  already  protracted  much 
beyond  the  usual  span  of  man.  It  is 
under  such  circumstances,  made  doubly 
painful  by  the  unnatural  and  unjust  re 
bellion  now  raging  in  the  Southern  States 
of  our  so  lately  prosperous  and  happy 
Union,  that  I  am  compelled  to  request 
that  my  name  shall  be  placed  on  the  list 
of  army  officers  retired  from  active  ser 
vice.  As  this  request  is  founded  on  an 
absolute  right,  granted  by  a  recent  act 
of  Congress,  I  am  entirely  at  liberty  to 
say  it  is  with  deep  regret  that  I  withdraw 
myself  in  these  momentous  times  from 
the  orders  of  a  President  who  has  treated 
me  with  much  distinguished  kindness  and 
courtesy  ;  whom  I  know,  upon  much 
personal  intercourse,  to  be  patriotic 
without  sectional  partialities  or  preju 
dices  ;  to  be  highly  conscientious  in  the 
performance  of  every  duty,  and  of  un 
rivaled  activity  and  perseverance  ;  and 
to  you,  Mr.  Secretary,  whom  I  now  offi 
cially  address  for  the  last  time,  I  beg  to 


596 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


acknowledge  my  many  obligations  for 
the  uniform  high  consideration  I  have 
received  at  your  hands,  and  have  the 
honor  to  remain,  sir,  with  high  respect, 
your  obedient  servant, 

"  WINFIELD  SCOTT." 

This  communication  was  transmitted 
to  the  President,  and  by  him  laid  before 
a  cabinet  council  convened  for  the  pur 
pose  of  considering  it.  The  request  of 
the  veteran  General  was,  of  course,  com 
plied  with,  as  the  motive  which  impelled 
it,  that  of  age  and  infirmity,  could  not 
be  courteously  resisted. 

This  resignation  having  thus  been  ac 
cepted,  General  McClellan  was  at  once 
notified  that  he  had  been  selected  as  the 
successor  of  the  late  Commander-in- 
chief.  The  President,  accompanied  by 
every  member  of  the  cabinet,  now  vis 
ited  General  Scott  at  his  own  residence, 
and  read  to  him  the  following  order  : 

"  On  the  1st  day  of  November,  A.D. 
1861,  upon  his  own  application  to  the 
President  of  the  United  States,  Brevet 
Lieutenant-General  Winfield  Scott  is  or 
dered  to  be  placed,  and  hereby  is  placed, 
upon  the  list  of  retired  officers  of  the 
army  of  the  United  States,  without  re 
duction  in  his  current  pay,  subsistence, 
or  allowances. 

'  The  American  people  will  hear  with 
sadness  and  deep  emotion  that  General 
Scott  has  withdrawn  from  the  active  con 
trol  of  the  army,  while  the  President 
and  unanimous  cabinet  express  their  own 
and  the  nation's  sympathy  in  his  personal 
affliction,  and  their  profound  sense  of  the 
important  public  services  rendered  by 
iun  to  his  country  during  his  long  and 


brilliant  career,  among  which  will  ever 
be  gratefully  distinguished  his  faithful 
devotion  to  the  Constitution,  the  Union, 
and  the  flag,  when  assailed  by  parricidal 
rebellion.  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN." 

The  aged  General  stood  up,  and  with 
him  rose  the  President  and  the  members 
of  the  cabinet.  Deeply  affected  by  the 
occasion,  Scott  feelingly  said  : 

"  President,  this  hour  overwhelms  me. 
It  overpays  all  services  I  have  attempted 
to  render  to  my  country.  If  I  had  any 
claims  before,  they  are  all  obliterated  by 
this  expression  of  approval  by  the  Presi 
dent,  with  the  remaining  support  of  hw 
cabinet.  I  know  the  President  and  his 
cabinet  well.  I  know  that  the  country 
has  placed  its  interests  in  this  trying  crisis 
in  safe  keeping.  Their  counsels  are  wise  ; 
their  labors  are  as  untiring  as  they  are 
loyal,  and  their  course  is  the  right  one." 

After  these  few  words,  overcome  by 
emotion  and  tottering  from  the  effects  of 
a  wound  received  in  battle,  and  from 
the  infirmities  that  accompany  age,  the 
veteran  General  sank  to  his  seat,  saying  : 
"  President,  you  must  excuse  me.  I  am 
unable  to  stand  longer  to  give  utterance 
to  the  feelings  of  gratitude  which  oppress 
me.  In  my  retirement,  I  shall  offer  up 
my  prayers  to  God  for  this  Administra 
tion,  and  for  my  country.  I  shall  pray 
for  it  with  confidence  in  its  success  over 
all  enemies,  and  that  speedily." 

The  President  and  each  member  of 
his  cabinet  now  bade  farewell  to  the 
General,  after  an  assurance  from  Mr. 
Lincoln  that  provision  would  be  made 
for  the  members  of  his  staff.  On 
the  next  day,  the  Secretary  of  War 


RESIGNATION   OF   GENERAL   SCOTT. 


597 


thus  officially  answered  General  Scott's 
letter  of  resignation  : 

"  WAR  DEPARTMENT,  WASHINGTON, 

Nov.  1,  1861. 
"  GENERAL  :  It  was  my  duty  to  lay 
before  the  President  your  letter  of  yes 
terday,  asking  to  he  relieved,  under  the 
recent  act  of  Congress.  In  separating 
from  you  I  can  not  refrain  from  express 
ing  my  deep  regret  that  your  health, 
shattered  by  long  service  and  repeated 
wounds  received  in  your  country's  de 
fence,  should  render  it  necessary  for  you 
to  retire  from  your  high  position  at  this 
momentous  period  of  our  history.  Al 
though  you  are  not  to  remain  in  active 
service,  I  yet  hope  that  while  I  continue 
in  charge  of  the  department  over  which 
I  now  preside,  I  shall  at  times  be  per 
mitted  to  avail  myself  of  the  benefits  of 
your  wise  counsels  and  sage  experience. 
It  has  been  my  good  fortune  to  enjoy  a 
personal  acquaintance  with  you  for  over 
thirty  years,  and  the  pleasant  relations 
of  that  long  time  have  been  greatly 
strengthened  by  your  cordial  and  entire 
co-operation  in  all  the  great  questions 
which  have  occupied  the  department 
and  convulsed  the  country  for  the  last 
six  months.  In  parting  from  you,  I  can 
only  express  the  hope  that  a  merciful 
Providence,  that  has  protected  you  amid 
so  many  trials,  will  improve  your  health 
and  continue  your  life  long  after  the  peo 
ple  of  the  country  shall  have  been  restored 
to  their  former  happiness  and  prosperity. 
' '  I  am,  General,  very  sincerely,  your 
friend  and  servant, 

"  SIMON  CAMERON,  Sec.  of  War. 
**  LIEUT.-GEN.  WINFIELD  SCOTT,  Present." 


General  McClellan,  in  his  order  assum 
ing  the  command  of  the  armios  of  the 
United  States,  paid  a  graceful  tribute  to 
his  veteran  predecessor  : 

"  In  the  midst  of  the  difficulties  which 
encompass  and  divide  the  nation,  hesi 
tation  and  self-distrust  may  well  ac 
company  the  assumption  of  so  vast  a 
responsibility,  but  confiding  as  I  do,  in 
the  loyalty,  discipline,  and  courage  of 
our  troops,  and  believing  as  I  do,  that 
Providence  will  favor  ours  as  the  just 
cause,  I  can  not  doubt  that  success  will 
crown  our  efforts  and  sacrifices.  The 
army  will  unite  with  me  in  the  feeling 
of  regret  that  the  weight  of  many  years, 
and  the  effect  of  increasing  infirmities, 
contracted  and  intensified  in  his  coun 
try's  service,  should  just  now  remove 
from  our  head  the  great  soldier  of  our 
nation,  the  hero  who,  in  his  youth,  raised 
high  the  reputation  of  his  country  in  the 
fields  of  Canada,  which  he  sanctified  with 
his  blood  ;  who  in  more  mature  years 
proved  to  the  world  that  American  skill 
and  valor  could  repeat,  if  not  eclipse,  the 
exploits  of  Cortez  in  the  land  of  the 
Montezumas  ;  whose  whole  life  has  been 
devoted  to  the  service  of  his  country  ; 
whose  whole  efforts  have  been  directed 
to  uphold  our  honor  at  the  smallest  sac 
rifice  of  life  ;  a  warrior  who  scorned  the 
selfish  glories  of  the  battle-field  when 
his  great  qualities  as  a  statesman  could 
be  employed  more  profitably  for  his 
country ;  a  citizen  who  in  his  declining 
years  has  given  to  the  world  the  most 
shining  instance  of  loyalty  in  disregard 
ing  all  ties  of  birth  and  clinging  still  to 
the  cause  of  truth  and  honor.  Such  has 


598 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


been  the  career  and  character  of  Win- 
field  Scott,  whom  it  has  long  been  the 
delight  of  the  nation  to  honor,  both  as 
a  man  and  a  soldier.  While  we  regret 
his  loss,  there  is  one  thing  we  can  not 
regret — the  bright  example  he  has  left 
for  our  emulation.  Let  us  all  hope  and 
pray  that  his  declining  years  may  be 
passed  in  peace  and  happiness,  and  that 
they  may  be  cheered  by  the  success  of 


the  country  and  the  cause  he  has  fought 
for  and  loved  so  well.  Beyond  all  thai, 
let  us  do  nothing  that  can  cause  him  to 
blush  for  us ;  let  no  defeat  of  the  army 
he  has  so  long  commanded  embitter  his 
last  years,  but  let  our  victories  illumin 
ate  the  close  of  a  life  so  grand. 

"  GEORGE  B.  MCCLELLAN, 
"  Major-General  Commanding  U.  S.  A." 


CHAPTER    LYII. 

The  development  of  the  Naval  Resources  of  the  United  States.— Great  Naval  Expeditions. — The  first  Naval  Expedi 
tion. — Rendezvous  in  Hampton  Roads. — Life  of  Commodore  Dupont. — The  composition  of  the  Naval  and  Military 
portions  of  the  Expedition. — Life  of  General  Sherman. — Sailing  of  the  Expedition. — Favorable  auspices. — Eagerness 
of  the  Public  Interest. — Destination  and  object  of  the  Expedition. — A  great  storm. — Its  effects. — Port  Royal. — De 
scription  of  Port  Royal  and  neighboring  coasts. — Preparations  of  the  Enemy  for  defence. — The  Forts  described. — The 
victory  of  Dupont. — Official  Reports. 


1861. 


THE  great  naval  resources  of  the 
Northern  States  were  being  rapidly 
applied  to  the  use  of  the  war  power 
of  the  Government.  Though  its  organ 
ized  navy  had  been  always  small  in  pro 
portion  to  the  commercial  importance  of 
the  nation,  and  though  it  had  been  tem 
porarily  rendered  almost  powerless  by 
the  traitorous  action  of  men  who  had 
been  intrusted  with  its  control,  there  ex 
isted  in  the  trading  marine  of  the  North 
ern  people  a  resource  of  naval  might 
which  was  destined  to  exert  a  most  im 
portant  influence  in  the  great  conflict 
with  the  South. 

The  magnitude  of  this  resource  be 
came  manifest  in  the  large  naval  ex 
peditions  which  were  sent  to  the  coasts 


of  the  enemy.  One  of  the  most  exten 
sive  and  important  of  these,  after  QC^ 
several  months  of  laborious  prep-  29. 
aration,  sailed  from  Hampton  Roads  on 
the  29th  of  October.  The  number  of 
vessels  amounted  to  seventy-seven,  of 
which  sixteen  were  armed  naval  vessels, 
twenty-three  steam  transports,  twenty- 
six  sailing  vessels,  and  twelve  steam 
boats,  such  as  steam-tugs,  ferry-boats, 
and  other  small  craft.* 

°  WAR  VESSELS. — 1.  Steam  frigate  Wabash,  flag-ship, 
8,200  tons,  40  guns,  carrying  Flag  Officer  Commodore 
Samuel  F.  Dupont ;  Captain  Charles  H.  Davis.  GUN-BOATS. 
— 2.  Augusta,  Captain  E.  G.  Parrot ;  3.  Curlew,  Captain 
Geo.  H.  Cooper  ;  4.  Florida,  Captain  J.  R.  Goldsborough  ; 
o.  Georgia,  Captain—  — ;  6.  Isaac  Smith,  Captain  J. 
W.  A.  Nicholson ;  7.  Mohican,  Captain  S.  W.  Gordon  ;  8. 
Ottawa,  Captain  Thomas  H.  Stevens  ;  9.  Pawnee,  Captain 
R.  H.  Wyman  ;  10.  Pembina,  Captain  P.  Crosby  ;  11 .  Pen 


EXPEDITION   TO  PORT  ROYAL. 


009 


Commodore  Samuel  F.  Dupont,  the 
naval  commander-in-chief  of  this  for 
midable  expedition,  was  born  at  Bergen 
Point,  in  New  Jersey,  in  1803.  His 
origin,  as  the  name  indicates,  is  French, 
his  father  having  emigrated  from  France 
to  the  United  States  in  1799.  An  uncle 
established  the  mills  near  Wilmington, 
Delaware,  where  the  famous  "Dupont 
powder"  is  fabricated,  and  the  works  are 


guin,  Captain  T.  A.  Budd ;  12.  Pocahontas,  Captain  P. 
Drayton  ;  13.  R.  B.  Forbes,  Captain  H.  S.  Newcomb  ;  14. 
Seminole,  Captain  J.  P.  Gillies  ;  15.  Seneca,  Captain  Dan 
iel  Ammen  ;  16.  Unadilla,  Captain  N.  Collins. 

STEAM  TRANSPORTS.— 1.  Ariel,  Captain  Terry;  2.  Atlan 
tic,  Captain ;  3.  Baltic,  Captain  Comstock  ;  4.  Ben. 

Deford,  Captain ;  5.  Cahawba,  Captain  Baker ;  6. 

Coatzacoalcos,  Captain  Bocock  ;  7.  Daniel  Webster,  Cap 
tain  Johnson  ;  8.  Empire  City,  Captain  Baxter  ;  9.  Erics 
son,  Captain  Cowles ;  10.  Locust  Point,  Captain  French; 
11.  Marion,  Captain  Philips  ;  12.  Matanzas,  Captain  Lees- 
burg  ;  13.  Ocean  Queen,  Captain  Seabury  ;  14.  Oriental, 
Captain  Tuzo ;  15.  Parkersburg,  Captain—  — ;  16. 
Philadelphia,  Captain  Barton  ;  17.  Potomac,  Captain  Hil- 
liard  ;  18.  Roanoke,  Captain  Couch  ;  19.  Star  of  the  South, 

Captain  Kearnley;  20.  Union,  Captain ;  21.  Van- 

deibilt,  Captain  Lefevre  ;  22.  Winfield  Scott,  Captain 
Litchfield  ;  23.  Osceola,  Captain  Morrill. 

STEAM-TUGS.— 1.  0.  M.  Petit;  2.  Mercury. 

FERRY-BOATS. — 1.  Commodore  Perry;  2.  Ethan  Allen; 
8.  Stepping  Stone. 

STEAMBOATS. — 1.  May  Flower ;  2.  Belvidere;  3.  Gov 
ernor  ;  4.  Baltimore ;  5.  Philadelphia ;  6.  Peerless ;  7. 
Pilot  Boy. 

SAILING  VESSELS.— 1.  Ship  Great  Republic  ;  2.  Ship  Ocean 
Express;  3.  Ship  Golden  Eagle  ;  4.  Ship  Zenas  Coffin  ;  5. 
Bark  J.  A.  Bishop ;  6.  Brig  Belle  of  the  Bay ;  7.  Brig 
Ellen  P.  Stewart ;  8.  Schooner  S.  F.  Abbott ;  9.  Schooner 
E.  D.  Allen;  10.  Schooner  Aid;  11.  Schooner  J.  M 
Vance;  12.  Schooner  M.  E.  Clark  ;  13.  Schooner  D.  Jones  ; 
14.  Schooner  E.  English ;  15.  Schooner  J.  Frambes ;  16. 
Schooner  G.  Barthol ;  17.  Schooner  Western  Star;  18. 
Schooner  Saratoga;  19.  Schooner  S.  J.  Bright;  20. 
Schooner  G.  M.  Neil ;  21.  Schooner  David  Faust ;  22. 
Schooner  R.  S.  Misler ;  23.  Schooner  G  Chester;  24. 
Schooner  J.  Satterthwaite  ;  25.  Schooner  Snowflake ;  26. 
Schooner  Arden  Reid. 

RECAPITULATION  OF  VESSELS. — Naval  vessels,  16  ;  Steam- 
tugs,  2;  Ferry-boats,  3;  Steam  transports,  23;  Sailing 
vessels,  20  ;  Steamboats,  7  ;  Total,  77. 

The  Vandalia,  from  the  blockading  squadron  off  Sa 
vannah,  joined  at  Port  Royal. 


still  carried  on  by  members  of  the  Du 
pont  family.  The  subject  of  this  sketch 
received  from  President  Madison  his 
warrant  as  a  midshipman  in  the  United 
States  navy,  December  19th,  1815.  His 
first  cruise  was  in  the  Franklin,  a  seventy- 
four-gun  ship,  in  the  year  1817.  After 
various  and  almost  constant  active  ser 
vice,  in  1845  he  commanded  the  frigate 
Congress,  on  a  cruise  in  the  Pacific. 
Being  in  the  bay  of  San  Francisco,  in 
Upper  California,  at  the  moment  when 
the  war  with  Mexico  began,  Captain 
Dupont  was  transferred  to  the  command 
of  the  Cyane.  His  first  duty  was  to 
transport  Colonel  Fremont  and  his  ad 
venturous  band  of  trappers  and  Indians 
to  San  Diego,  the  little  harbor  of  which 
Dupont  was  thus  the  first  to  enter  with 
a  United  States  man-of-war.  He  con 
tinued  during  the  conflict  with  Mexico 
to  cruise  on  the  California  coast,  and  his 
good  services  in  aiding  the  military  op 
erations  on  land,  gained  him  a  high  trib 
ute  of  praise. 

After  Captain  Dupont's  return  from 
the  Pacific  in  October,  1848,  he  remain 
ed  on  land  in  various  employments  at 
several  of  our  naval  depots  until  1857, 
when  he  sailed  to  China  in  command  of 
the  Minnesota.  Having  again  returned 
to  the  United  States,  he  was,  in  1860, 
placed  at  the  head  of  the  navy  yard  in 
Philadelphia.  His  latest  and  crowning 
command  was  that  of  the  great  naval 
expedition,  the  operations  of  which  are 
about  to  be  related. 

Commodore  Dupont  has  the  repute 
of  being  one  of  the  most  able  and  en 
ergetic,  as  well  as  faithful,  of  our  naval 


600 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE   SOUTH. 


officers.  In  all  the  higher  departments 
of  his  profession  his  conscientious  prin 
ciple,  ability  of  organization,  and  scien 
tific  skill  have  been  fully  tested,  and 
proved  to  be  equal  to  every  trial.  His 
services  in  the  Ordnance  Department ; 
his  counsels  in  the  organization  of  the 
Naval  School  at  Annapolis  ;  his  co-oper 
ation  in  the  establishment  of  the  light 
house  system  ;  his  aid  in  revising  the 
navy  regulations  ;  his  conscientious  dis 
charge  of  the  delicate  duty,  as  a  member 
of  the  Naval  Retiring  Board,  of  remov 
ing  inefficient  officers  ;  his  endeavors  to 
substitute  for  flogging  some  less  degrad 
ing  punishment ;  and  his  continued  zeal 
for  the  elevation  of  the  character  both 
of  the  sailors  and  their  officers,  have 
shown  Dupont  to  be  a  man  who  can  rise 
beyond  the  mere  technical  routine  of  his 
profession,  and  reach  the  nobler  sphere  of 
social  and  patriotic  duty.  His  able  con 
duct  of  the  great  naval  expedition  has 
confirmed  the  estimate  of  his  character 
held  by  his  most  partial  admirers. 

The  military  portion  of  the  great  ex 
pedition  was  hardly  less  imposing  than 
that  of  the  naval.  Fifteen  thousand 
troops*  embarked  on  board  the  trans- 

°    LAND   FORCES. 

The  division  of  the  army  accompanying  the  expedition 
under  command  of  Brigadier-General  T.  W.  Sherman,  con 
sisted  of  three  brigades  and  several  unattached  regiments, 
as  follows : 

FIHST  BRIGADE.— General  Egbert  L.  Viele.  New  Hamp 
shire  Third,  Colonel  E.  W.  Fellows;  Maine  Eighth, 
Colonel  Lee  Strickland  ;  New  York  Forty-sixth,  Colonel 
Rudolph  Rosa  ;  New  York  Forty-seventh,  Colonel  Henry 
Moore  ;  New  York  Forty-eighth,  Colonel  James  H.  Perry. 

SECOND  BRIGADE. — General  Isaac  Ingalls  Stevens.  Penn 
sylvania  Fiftieth,  Colonel  Benjamin  C.  Christ ;  Pennsyl 
vania  Roundhead  Volunteers,  Colonel  David  Leasure ; 
Michigan  Eighth,  Colonel  William  M.  Fenton  ;  New  York 
Seventy  ninth,  Lieutenant-Colonel  William  H.  Nobles. 


ports,  carrying  with  them  immense 
supplies  of  provisions,  munitions  of 
war,  horses,  and  engineering  imple 
ments.  The  chief  command  of  this  force 
was  given  to  Brigadier-General  T.  W. 
Sherman,  whose  previous  career  is  thus 
briefly  sketched  : 

Thomas  W.  Sherman  was  born  in 
Rhode  Island,  graduated  at  the  West 
Point  Military  Academy  in  1836,  stand 
ing  number  eighteen  in  a  class  of  forty- 
six  cadets,  and  was  appointed  second 
lieutenant  in  the  Third  United  States 
Artillery  in  July,  1836.  In  March,  1837, 
he  became  assistant  commissarv  of  sub- 

•/ 

sistence,  and  in  the  same  month  of  the 
following  year  was  promoted  to  a  first 
lieutenancy.  Just  at  the  breaking  out 
of  the  troubles  with  Mexico  he  was  pro 
moted  to  a  captaincy,  his  commission 
bearing  date  May  28,  1846.  He  served 
with  distinction  previously  in  the  Florida 
wars,  and  accompanied  General  Taylor 
to  Mexico,  rendering  himself  conspicu 
ous  for  the  zeal  and  efficiency  with  which 
he  performed  his  duty.  He  was  brevet- 
ted  major  for  his  gallant  and  meritorious 
conduct  at  the  battle  of  Buena  Vista, 
February  23,  1847.  After  the  close  of 
the  Mexican  war  he  had  been  on  duty  in 
various  parts  of  the  country,  always 
rendering  efficient  service.  In  August, 
1857,  while  on  duty  at  the  Minnesota 
Agency,  in  the  Indian  country,  he  was 


THIRD  BRIGADE. — General  Horatio  Gates  Wright.  New 
Hampshire  Fourth,  Colonel  Thomas  J  Wbipple;  Connec 
ticut  Sixth,  Colonel  James  L.  Chatfield ;  Connecticut 
Seventh,  Colonel  A.  A.  Terry ;  Maine  Ninth,  ColoueJ 
Rich  worth  Rich. 

UNCLASSIFIED  REGIMENTS. — Third  Rhode  Island,  Colonel 
Brown  ;  Massachusetts  Twenty-first,  Colonel  Morse  ;  Ne-vr 
York  Engineer  Volunteer  battalion,  Colonel  W.  Serrill. 


THE  FORTS  AT  PORT  ROYAL. 


603 


side  strong  fortifications.  At  Bay  Point, 
on  St.  Philip's  Island,  on  the  right  of 

rix  wide.  On  the  east  side  of  the  island,  and  about  mid 
way,  stands  the  town  of  Beaufort,  on  Beaufort  River,  the 
approach  of  which  does  not  admit  vessels  of  over  eleven 
feet  draft.  Beaufort  is  about  ten  miles  from  the  sea,  and 
sixteen  miles  from  the  Charleston  and  Savannah  Railroad, 
and  this  important  line  is  itself  directly  approachable  by 
water  through  Broad  River  and  St.  Helena  Sound  and 
Combahee  River.  A  force  moving  up  the  river  from  Beau 
fort,  via  Beaufort  and  Coosaw  and  Port  Royal  rivers, 
would  strike  the  Charleston  and  Savannah  Railroad  at 
about  midway  between  Charleston  and  Savannah,  and 
about  fifty  miles  from  either  city — a  fact  which  renders 
obvious  the  immense  strategic  importance  of  that  line. 
Beaufort  District  has  an  area  of  1,540  square  miles.  The 
surface  is  low  and  level,  and  the  soil  sandy  and  alluvial, 
producing  cotton,  rice,  etc.,  in  great  abundance.  The  an 
nual  yield  of  the  district  is  about  50,000,000  pounds  of 
rice,  and  13.000  bales  of  Sea  Island  cotton,  annually,  al 
together  valued  at  upward  of  $5,000,000.  It  is  one  of 
the  most  densely  populated  portions  of  South  Carolina. 
Its  inhabitants,  according  to  the  census  of  1860,  num 
bered  40,014,  divided  as  follows  : 

Whites 6,714 

Free  colored 800 

Slaves 32,500 

Total  colored 33,300 

"The  region  around  Port  Royal  entrance  and  island 
has  a  strange  and  romantic  history.  It  was,  in  fact,  the 
first  settled  spot  on  the  coast  of  North  America.  How 
interesting,  in  view  of  our  expedition,  to  read  the  history 
of  another  expedition  to  the  same  locality,  just  three  hun 
dred  years  ago.  The  first  colony  was  sent  out  by  Admiral 
Coligni,  a  zealous  Protestant,  and  then  one  of  the  Minis 
ters  of  the  Crown,  who,  at  the  time  of  the  war  between 
the  French  Protestants  and  Catholics,  obtained  permission 
of  Charles  IX.  to  plant  a  colony  of  Protestants  in  Florida 
—  a  name  then  applied  also  to  a  great  part  of  the  Southern 
coast.  Command  of  two  vessels  was  accordingly  given  to 
Jean  Ribault,  a  'man  expert  in  sea  cruises,'  and  in  the 
spring  of  1562  he  landed  on  the  Florida  coast.  Sailing 
northward,  he  discovered  several  rivers,  one  of  which, 
from  'the  fairness  and  largeness  of  its  harbor,'  he  called 
the  Port  Royal  River. 

"The  old  chronicler,  Landonniere,  who  accompanied 
the  expedition,  describes  the  scene  in  glowing  colors. 
Splendid  forests,  shores  festooned  with  rich  grape  clusters, 
birds  of  brilliant  plumage,  stags  and  deer  in  the  luxuriant 
savannas.  As  the  commander  cast  his  eye  across  the 
waters  of  the  beautiful  river  before  him,  says  Landontiiere, 
and  measured  the  breadth  of  its  mouth  and  the  depth  of 
its  sounding,  he  persuaded  himself  that  '  all  the  argosies 
of  Venice  could  ride  upon  its  bosom.'  Accordingly,  upon 
the  island  e  few  miles  up  Port  Royal  River,  he  erected,  it 


the  entrance,  was  Fort  Beaurcgard. 
This  work,  constructed  of  sand  and  pal- 
is  said,  on  the  very  spot  where  the  town  of  Beaufort  now 
stands,  a  pillar,  with  the  arms  of  France,  and  a  few  days 
after  built  a  fort,  which,  in  honor  of  his  king,  Charlea 
IX.,  he  called  'Charles'  Fort'—  Art  Carolina—  from  which 
circumstance  the  country  took  the  name  of  Carolina 
Thus  it  was  that  on  that  very  spot  that,  for  the  first  time, 
three  hundred  years  ago,  on  the  North  American  coast, 
the  flag  of  a  civilized  colony  might  be  seen  by  the  ap 
proaching  mariner.  But  this  first  French  colony  did  not 
flourish,  and  after  sending  out  another  to  the  same  locality, 
the  French,  in  1567,  gave  up  all  idea  of  making  settle 
ments. 

«  o  o  o  Early  in  the  seventeenth  century  Lord 
Cardross  led  a  colony  from  Scotland,  and  settled  in  Port 
Royal ;  but  this  place,  claiming,  from  an  agreement  with 
the  Lords  Proprietaries,  co-ordinate  authority  with  the  Gov 
ernor  and  Grand  Council  of  Charleston,  it  was  compelled, 
with  circumstances  of  outrage,  to  acknowledge  submission. 
Settlement,  however,  does  not  seem  to  have  progressed 
very  rapidly,  for  in  a  tract,  entitled,  '  A  New  Description  of 
that  Fertile  and  Pleasant  Province  of  Carolina,  by  John  Archdak, 
Governor  of  the  same,  1767,'  the  following  passage  occurs  : 
'  The  principal  place  is  Port  Royal— please  God  it  may  bo 
sealed  with  English  and  Scots  in  a  considerable  body, 
because  it  is  a  bold  port,  and  also  a  frontier  upon  the 
Spaniard  at  Augustine.  The  Scots  did,  about  twenty 
years  since,  begin  a  settlement  with  about  ten  families, 
but  were  distressed  by  the  Spaniards.  Oh !  how  might 
the  Scots,  that  go  now  as  Switzers  to  serve  foreign  nations, 
how  might  they,  I  say,  strengthen  our  American  colonies, 
and  increase  the  trade  of  Great  Britain,  and  enrich  them 
selves  at  home  and  abroad  !'  In  1670,  William  Sayle  was 
sent  out  as  governor,  and  in  his  letter  of  instructions  he 
was  told  to  *  cause  all  the  people  of  Port  Royal  to  swear 
allegiance  to  our  sovereign  lord  the  King,  and  subscribe 
fidelity  to  the  proprietors  and  the  form  of  government 
established  by  them.' 

"The  town  of  Beaufort  was  founded  about  1700.  It 
was  called  Beauford,  in  honor  of  Prince  Henry,  Duke  of 
Beauford,  Lord  Palatine.  It  ig  thus  described  just  a  cen 
tury  ago  :  '  Beaufort  is  the  next  most  considerable  place, 
though  a  small  town,  pleasantly  situated  on  the  south  side 
of  a  sea  island,  named  Port  Royal,  from  its  harbor,  which 
is  capacious  and  safe,  and  into  which  ships  of  a  large  size 
may  sail.' 

"  Sir  Charles  Lyell,  in  his  '  Travels  in  the  United  States,' 
says : 

"  'Beaufort,  a  picturesque  town  composed  of  an  assem 
blage  of  villas,  the  summer  residences  of  numerous  plant 
ers,  who  retire  here  during  the  hot  season,  when  the 
interior  of  South  Carolina  is  unhealthy  for  the  whites. 
Each  villa  is  shaded  by  a  verandah,  surrounded  by  live 
oaks  and  orange  trees.'  " 


6(14: 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


metto  logs,  stood  upon  a  sand- spit  jut 
ting  out  from  the  island.  On  the  front, 
toward  the  sea,  was  a  lunette,  mounting 
twelve  guns,  to  the  right  of  which  was  a 
small  salient  with  three,  and  to  the  left 
a  small  redan  with  two  guns.  A  wide 
swamp  gave  a  natural  defence  to  the 
rear,  and  an  artificial  ditch,  with  a  stock 
ade,  protected  the  front.  The  armament 
of  the  fort  was  sixteen  guns  in  all,  con 
sisting  of  eight  thirty-two  pounders  en 
barbette,  one  ten-inch  columbiad  for  shell, 
one  eleven-inch  columbiad,  two  twenty- 
four  pounders  with  smooth  bores,  one 
twenty-four  pounder  rifled,  and  three 
forty-two  pounder  guns  in  casemates. 
A  large  magazine  for  ammunition  was 
constructed  within  the  works,  and  an  ex 
tensive  wooden  barrack  outside,  in  the 
ear.  The  garrison  was  computed  to 
amount  to  about  five  hundred  men. 

On  the  left  of  the  entrance  of  Port 
Royal,  on  going  in,  there  was  Fort 
Walker.  This  was  built  upon  a  bluff 
eight  feet  high,  on  the  island  of  Hilton 
Head.  It  was  a  regular  work,  with 
bastions  and  curtains,  and  required 
three  months  of  negro  labor  to  con 
struct.  Its  position  commanded  the  Port 
Royal  entrance  and  the  approach  to  the 
town  of  Beaufort  by  the  Beaufort  River. 
The  enemy  had  mounted  it  with  twenty- 
three  guns,  of  excellent  workmanship 
and  great  range.  There  were  two  ten- 
inch  shell  guns,  one  thirty-two  pounder 
rifle  cannon,*  ten  eight-inch  columbiads, 
and  three  twenty-four  pounders.  On 

0  On  this  there  was  found  the  inscription,  "Presented 
to  Brigadier-General  Beauregard,  by  his  friends  in  England, 
in  haste." 


the  land  side,  there  was  a  redan  crossing 
the  entrance  to  the  fort  upon  which  the 
three  twenty-four  pounders  were  mount 
ed  ;  the  rest  of  the  cannon  were  all  en 
barbette,  arranged  on  carriages  of  the 
most  approved  construction.  A  ditch, 
fifteen  feet  wide  and  ten  deep,  protected 
with  stockades,  surrounded  the  work. 
Traverses  and  covered  ways  had  been 
added  to  secure  the  garrison  from  ex 
posure,  and  a  shelter  provided  as  a  cover 
for  sharpshooters.  Three  magazines  had 
been  built  and  filled  with  ammunition, 
several  wells  dug,  containing  a  good  sup- 
p\y  of  water,  and  every  possible  pro 
vision  for  the  large  garrison,  said  to 
number  no  less  than  thirteen  hundred 
men. 

When  the  first  intelligence  was  re 
ceived  at  the  North,  through  the  enemy's 
reports,  of  the  disastrous  effects  of  the 
storm  upon  the  "  Great  Armada,"  and 
its  subsequent  attack  in  a  crippled  con 
dition  upon  the  formidable  defences  at 
Port  Royal,  there  was  great  anxiety  as 
to  the  result.  A  suspense  for  several 
days  ensued,  during  which  rumors  still 
came  from  the  enemy  of  disaster  to  the 
expedition.  A  dispatch-boat  finally  ar 
rived  with  authentic  statements,  which 
disclosed  the  joyful  intelligence  of  the 
success  of  the  great  enterprise.  The 
fleet  had,  indeed,  been  exposed  to  a  se 
vere  storm  on  the  third  day  after  sailing, 
off  the  coast  of  Hatteras.  The  vessels 
had  been  scattered ;  some  had  been 
forced  to  return  to  Fortress  Monroe  ; 
some  had  been  driven  ashore,  and  all 
had  been  battered  and  much  delayed  by 
the  gale.  A  victory,  however,  had,  in 


REPORT   OF   DUPONT. 


605 


spite  of  these  disasters,  crowned  the  per 
severance  and  skill  of  the  resolute  naval 
chief,  Commodore  Dupont,  to  whose 
spirit,  unappalled  by  misfortune,  the 
glorious  success  of  the  enterprise  was 
mainly  due.  His  direct  and  modest 
official  report  contains  the  best  account 
of  his  plan  of  operations  and  its  success 
ful  accomplishment : 

"From  the  reconnoissance  of  the  5th 
November  we  were  led,"  says  Dupont, 
"  to  believe  that  the  forts  on  Bay  Point 
arid  Hilton  Head  were  armed  with  more 
than  twenty  guns  each,  of  the  heaviest 
calibre  and  longest  range,  and  were  well 
constructed  and  well  manned  ;  but  that 
the  one  on  Hilton  Head  was  the  strongest. 
The  distance  between  them  is  two  and 
two-tenths  nautical  miles — too  great  to 
admit  of  their  being  advantageously  en 
gaged  at  the  same  time,  except  at  long 
shot.  I  resolved,  therefore,  to  under 
take  the  reduction  of  Hilton  Head — or, 
as  I  shall  hereafter  call  it,  Fort  Walker 
— first,  and  afterward  to  turn  my  atten 
tion  to  Fort  Beauregard,  the  fort  on  Bay 
Point. 

"  The  greater  part  of  the  guns  of  Fort 
Walker  were  presented  upon  two  water 
fronts,  and  the  flanks  were  but  slightly 
guarded,  especially  on  the  north,  on 
which  side  the  approach  of  an  enemy 
had  not  been  looked  for. 

"A  fleet  of  the  enemy,  consisting  of 
seven  steamers,  armed,  but  to  what  ex 
tent  I  was  not  informed  further  than  that 
they  carried  rifled  guns,  occupied  the 
northern  portion  of  the  harbor,  and 
stretched  along  from  the  mouth  of  Beau 
fort  River  to  Skull  Creek.  It  was  high 


water  on  the  7th  inst.  at  11.35  A.M.  by 
the  tables  of  the  Coast  Survey. 

'  These  circumstances,  the  superiority 
of  Fort  Walker  and  its  weakness  on  the 
northern  flank,  the  presence  of  the  rebel 
fleet,  and  the  flood-tide  of  the  morning, 
decided  the  plan  of  attack  and  the  order 
of  battle. 

'  The  order  of  battle  comprised  a  main 
squadron,  ranged  in  a  line  ahead,  and  a 
flanking  squadron,  which  was  to  be 
thrown  off  on  the  northern  section  of 
the  harbor  to  engage  the  enemy's  flotilla, 
and  prevent  them  raking  the  rear  ships 
of  the  main  line,  when  it  turned  to  the 
southward,  or  cutting  off  a  disabled 
vessel. 

"  The  main  squadron  consisted  of  the 
frigate  Wabash,  Commander  C.  K.  P. 
Rogers,  the  leading  ship  ;  the  frigate 
Susquehannah,  Captain  J.  S.  Lardner 
the  sloop  Mohican,  Commander  S.  W. 
Gordon  ;  the  sloop  Seminole,  Command 
er  J.  P.  Grillis  ;  the  sloop  Pawnee,  Lieu 
tenant-Commanding  R.  L.  C.  Wyinan  ; 
the  gun-boat  Unadilla,  Lieutenant-Com 
manding  J.  H.  Stevens  ;  the  gun-boat 
Pembina,  Lieutenant-Commanding  J.  P 
Bankhead  ;  and  the  sailing  sloop  Yan- 
dalia,  Commander  F.  S.  Haggerty,  towed 
by  the  Isaac  Smith,  Lieutenant-Com 
manding  W.  A.  Nicholson. 

"The  flanking  squadron  consisted  of 
the  gun-boat  Bienville,  Commander 
Charles  Stedman,  the  leading  ship  ;  the 
gun-boat  Seneca,  Lieutenant-Command 
ing  Daniel  Ammen ;  the  gun-boat  Curlew, 
Lieutenant-Commanding  P.  G.  Wat- 
mough  ;  the  gun-boat  Penguin,  Lieu 
tenant-Commanding  P.  A.  Budd  ;  and 


606 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


the  gun-boat  Augusta,  Commander  E. 
G.  Parrott,  the  closing  ship  of  that  line. 
"The  plan  of  attack  was  to  pass  up 
midway  between  Forts  Walker  and 
Beauregard,  receiving  and  returning  the 
fire  of  both  to  a  certain  distance,  about 
two  and  half  miles  north  of  the  latter. 
At  that  point  the  line  was  to  turn  to  the 
south  round  by  the  west,  and  close  in 
with  Fort  Walker,  encountering  it  on  its 
weakest  flank,  and  at  the  same  time  en 
filading  in  nearly  a  direct  line  its  two 
water  faces.  While  standing  to  the 
southward  the  vessels  of  the  line  were 
to  tide,  which  kept  them  under  com 
mand,  while  the  rate  of  going  was  di 
minished. 

"  When  abreast  of  the  fort  the  engine 
was  to  be  slowed  and  the  movement  re 
duced  to  only  as  much  as  would  be  just 
sufficient  to  overcome  the  tide,  to  pre 
serve  the  order  of  battle  by  passing  the 
batteries  in  slow  succession,  and  to  avoid 
becoming  a  fixed  mark  for  the  enemy's 
fire.  On  reaching  the  extremity  of  Hil 
ton  Head,  and  the  shoal  ground  making 
off  from  it,  the  line  was  to  turn  to  the 
north  by  the  east,  and,  passing  to  the 
northward,  to  engage  Fort  Walker  with 
the  port  battery,  nearer  than  when  first 
on  the  same  course.  These  evolutions 
were  to  be  repeated.  *  *  * 

'  The  captains  of  the  ships  had  been 
called  on  board  and  instructed  as  to  the 
general  formation  of  the  lines  and  their 
own  respective  places. 

"  At  8  o'clock  the  signal  was  made  to 

NOT,  get  under  way.     At  8.10  the  ship, 

7«     riding   to    the    flood,    tripped   her 

nchor,  and  at  8.30  the  ship  turned  and 


was  headed  in  for  the  forts.  At  9  o'clock 
the  signal  was  made  for  '  close  order.' 
At  9.26  the  action  commenced  by  a  gun 
from  Fort  Walker,  immediately  followed 
by  another  from  Fort  Beauregard.  This 
was  answered  at  once  from  this  ship  and 
immediately  after  from  the  Susquehan- 
nah.  At  10  o'clock  the  leading  ship  of 
the  line  turned  to  the  southward  and 
made  signal  to  the  Yandalia,  which  ship, 
in  tow  of  the  Isaac  Smith,  was  dropping 
astern,  and  was  exposed,  without  sup 
port,  to  the  fire  of  Fort  Beauregard,  to 
join  company.  At  10.15  the  signal  was 
made  for  closer  action,  the  Wabash  slowly 
passed  Fort  Walker  at  distance,  when 
abreast  of  800  yards.  At  11  o'clock 
the  signal  was  made  to  get  into  the 
preserve  stations,  and  at  11.15  to  fol 
low  the  motions  of  the  Commander-in- 
chief. 

"  Standing  to  the  northward,  *  *  * 
the  ship's  head  was  again  turned  to  the 
southward,  and  she  passed  the  guns  of 
Fort  Walker  at  a  distance  less  than  GOO 
yards.  (The  sights  were  adjusted  to 
550  yards.)  At  11.30  the  enemy's  flag 
was  shot  away. 

"The  second  fire  with  the  starboard 
guns  of  the  Wabash  and  of  Captain 
Lardner  in  the  Susquehannah,  my  second 
in  command,  who  always  kept  so  near  as 
to  give  me  the  entire  support  of  his 
formidable  battery,  seems,  at  this  short 
distance,  to  have-  discomfited  the  enemy. 
Its  effect  was  increased  by  the  shells 
thrown  from  the  smaller  vessels  at  the 
enfilading  point.  It  was  evident  that 
the  enemy's  fire  was  becoming  much  less 
frequent,  and  finally  it  was  kept  up  at 


CAPTURE   OF   PORT  ROYAL. 


607 


such  long  intervals  aud  with  so  few  guns 
as  to  be  of  little  consequence. 

"After  the  Wabash  and  Susquehan- 
nah  had  passed  to  the  northward,  and 
given  the  fort  the  fire  of  their  port  bat 
tery  the  third  time,  the  enemy  had  en 
tirely  ceased  to  reply  and  the  battle  was 
ended. 

"  At  1.15  the  Ottawa  signalled  that  the 
works  at  Hilton  Head  were  abandoned. 
This  information  was,  a  few  minutes  later, 
repeated  by  the  Pembina.  As  soon  as 
the  starboard  guns  of  this  ship  and  the 
Susquehannah  had  been  brought  to  bear 
a  third  time  upon  Fort  Walker,  I  sent 
Commander  John  Rodgers  on  shore  with 
a  flag  of  truce.  The  hasty  flight  of  the 
enemy  was  visible,  and  was  reported 
from  the  tops.  At  2.20  Captain  Rodgers 
hoisted  the  flag  of  the  Union  over  the 
deserted  post.  At  2.45  I  anchored,  and 
sent  Commander  C.  R.  P.  Rodgers  on 
shore  with  the  marines  and  a  party  of 
seamen  to  take  possession,  and  prevent, 
if  necessary,  the  destruction  of  public 
property. 

"  The  transports  now  got  under  way, 
and  came  up  rapidly,  and  by  nightfall 
Brigadier  General  Wright's  brigade  had 
landed  and  entered  upon  the  occupation 
of  the  ground. 

4 '  I  have  said  in  the  beginning  of  this 
report  that  the  plan  of  attack  designed 
making  the  reduction  of  Fort  Walker  the 
business  of  the  day.  In  passing  to  the 
northward,  however,  we  had  improved 
every  opportunity  of  firing  at  long  range 
upon  Fort  Beauregard.  As  soon  as  the 
fate  of  Fort  Walker  was  decided,  I  dis 
patched  a  small  squadron  to  Fort  Beau- 


regard  to  reconnoitre  and  ascertain  its 
condition,  and  to  prevent  the  rebel 
steamers  returning  to  carry  away  either 
persons  or  property. 

"Near  sunset  it  was  discovered  that 
the  flag  upon  this  fort  was  hauled  down, 
and  that  the  fort  was  apparently  aban 
doned. 

"  At  sunrise  the  next  day  the  Ameri 
can  ensign  was  hoisted  on  the  flagstaff 
of  Fort  Beauregard  by  Lieutenant-Com 
manding  Ammen. 

"The  Pocahontas,  Commander  Perci- 
val  Drayton,  had  suffered  from  the  gale 
of  Friday  night  so  badly  as  not  to  be 
able  to  enter  Port  Royal  until  the  morn 
ing  of  the  7th.  He  reached  the  scene 
of  action  about  12  o'clock,  and  rendered 
gallant  service  by  engaging  the  batteries 
on  both  sides  in  succession." 

The  whole  loss  of  the  Unionists  was 
eight  killed  and  twenty-three  wounded. 

The  enemy  sought  to  console  them 
selves  under  defeat  by  undervaluing  the 
importance  of  their  loss,  and  over-esti 
mating  the  spirit  of  their  resistance.* 


0  "  The  battle  of  Port  Royal  will  be  remembered,"  says  a 
writer  in  the  Charleston  Courier,  ' '  as  one  of  the  best  fought 
and  best  conducted  battles  which  have  signalized  the  war 
in  which  we  are  engaged.  If  General  Ripley  had  been  ap 
pointed  a  general  in  command  two  months  sooner,  every 
thing  would  have  been  in  a  better  state  of  preparation 
But  these  two  previous  months  were  wasted  in  doing 
nothing  for  our  defence.  Within  the  time  left  for  him, 
General  Ripley  did  all  that  untiring  energy  and  skill  could 
accomplish,  to  put  our  coast  in  a  state  of  preparation. 
The  two  islands  of  Hilton  Head  and  Bay  Point,  with  their 
extreme  limits,  constitute  the  two  points  which  guard  the 
entrance  to  Port  Royal  Sound,  about  three  miles  in  width. 
On  these  two  points  forts  were  erected— Fort  Walker  on 
Hilton  Head,  and  Fort  Beauregard  on  Bay  Point  The 
time  we  possessed  enabled  us  to  make  them  only  earth 
works,  without  any  protection  from  shells  or  bombs. 

"The  island  of  Hilton  Head  was  commanded  by  Gen 
eral  Drayton.  The  officers  immediately  superintending  the 


608 


THE    WAR  WITH  THE   SOUTH. 


"  Our  troops,"  said  a  writer  in  the 
Charleston  Courier,  "  did  their  duty  faith 
fully  and  bravely,  and  fought  until  to 

artillery  and  conducting  the  tire  of  Fort  Walker  were 
Colonel  Wagcner,  Major  Arthur  Hugcr,  and  Captain  Yates, 
of  the  regular  service,  especially  detailed  by  General  Rip- 
ley  to  aid  in  directing  the  artillery.  Colonel  Dunovant 
commanded  at  Fort  Bcauregard,  but  he  generally  allowed 
Captain  Elliott,  of  the  Beaufort  artillery,  to  direct  and  con 
duct  the  batteries  of  the  fort.  The  day  was  beautiful — 
calm  and  clear,  with  scarcely  a  cloud  in  the  heavens— just 
such  a  day  as  our  invaders  would  have  ordained,  if  they 
could,  to  carry  on  their  operations.  In  such  a  sketch  of 
the  battle  as,  amid  the  excitement  and  the  thousands  of 
baseless  rumors,  we  are  enabled  to  present  to  our  readers, 
a  brief  review  of  the  earlier  events  of  the  memorable  day 
will  not  be  uninteresting. 

"  The  great  fleet  of  the  enemy  passed  our  bar  on  Sunday, 
the  3d  inst.,  and  on  the  following  day  was  anchored  off 
Port  Royal  entrance.  About  five  o'clock  on  Monday  after 
noon,  Commodore  Tatnall,  with  his  '  mosquito  fleet,'  ran 
out  from  the  harbor,  and  made  the  first  hostile  demonstra 
tion.  The  immense  armada  of  the  invaders,  numbering 
at  that  time  thirty- six  vessels,  was  drawn  up  in  line  of 
battle,  and  as  our  little  flotilla  steamed  up  to  within  a  mile 
of  them  and  opened  its  fire,  the  scene  was  an  inspiring  one, 
but  almost  ludicrous  in  the  disparity  of  the  opposing  fleet. 
The  enemy  replied  to  our  fire  almost  immediately.  After 
an  exchange  of  some  twenty  shots  Commodore  Tatnall  re 
tired,  and  was  not  pursued. 

"About  seven  o'clock  on  Tuesday  morning,  several  of 
the  largest  Yankee  war  steamers  having  come  within  range, 
the  batteries  of  Forts  Walker  and  Beauregard  were  opened, 
and  the  steamers  threw  a  number  of  shells  in  over  our 
works,  inflicting  no  damage  on  Fort  Walker,  and  but 
slightly  wounding  two  of  the  garrison  of  Fort  Beauregard. 
This  engagement  lasted,  with  short  intervals,  for  nearly 
two  hours,  when  the  enemy  drew  off.  The  steamers  made 
a  similar  but  shorter  reconnoissance  on  Wednesday  even 
ing,  but  without  any  important  results.  On  the  next  day 
the  weather  was  rough,  and  the  fleet  lay  at  anchor  five  or 
six  miles  from  shore.  During  the  day  several  straggling 
transports  came  up,  swelling  the  number  of  vessels  to 
forty-one.  All  Tuesday  night,  and  all  day  Wednesday  and 
Wednesday  night,  our  men  stood  at  their  guns,  moment 
arily  expecting  an  attack,  and  receiving  only  such  scanty 
rest  and  refreshment  as  chance  afforded. 

"Thursday  dawned  gloriously  upon  our  wearied  but  un 
daunted  gunners,  and  all  felt  that  the  day  of  trial  had  at 
last  arrived.  Scarcely  had  breakfast  been  dispatched, 
when  the  hostile  fleet  was  observed  in  commotion.  The 
great  war  steamers  formed  rapidly  in  single  file,  and  with 
in  supporting  distance  of  each  other,  the  frigate  Wabash, 
the  flag-ship  of  Commodore  Dupont,  in  the  van.  As  the 
long  line  of  formidable-looking  vessels,  thirteen  in  num- 


fight  longer  would  have  been  sheer  folly. 
Though  encountering  immense  odds,  no 
signs  of  cowardice  marked  their  conduct. 

o 


ber,  most  of  them  powerful  propellers,  with  a  lew  sailing 
men-of-war  in  tow,  swept  rapidly  and  majestically  in,  with 
ports  open,  and  bristling  with  guns  of  the  heaviest  calibre, 
the  sight  was  grand  and  imposing.  This  was  at  half-past 
eight  o'clock.  Until  the  Wabash  came  within  the  range 
of  and  directly  opposite  our  batteries  on  Hilton  Head,  all 
was  still.  Suddenly  the  fifteen  heavy  guns  of  Fort  Walker, 
which  had  been  aimed  directly  at  the  huge  frigate,  belched 
forth  their  simultaneous  fire,  and  the  action  was  begun. 

"Almost  immediately  afterward,  the  batteries  of  Fort 
Beauregard,  on  the  other  side  of  the  entrance,  also  opened 
their  fire.  The  enemy  at  first  did  not  reply  :  but  as  the 
second  steamer  came  opposite  to  Fort  Walker,  the  hulls 
of  the  first  three  were  suddenly  wrapped  in  smoke,  and 
the  shot  and  shell  of  three  tremendous  broadsides,  making 
in  all  seventy-five  guns,  came  crashing  against  our  works. 

"From  this  moment  the  bombardment  was  incessant 
and  terrific ;  one  by  one  the  propellers  bore  down  upon 
our  forts,  delivered  their  fire  as  they  passed,  until  nine- 
had  gained  the  interior  of  the  harbor,  beyond  the  range 
of  our  guns.  The  Minnesota,  still  followed  by  the  others, 
then  turned  round  and  steamed  slowly  out,  giving  a  broad 
side  to  Fort  Beauregard  as  she  repassed.  Then  the  battle 
was  continued,  the  enemy's  vessels  sailing  in  an  elliptical 
course,  pouring  one  broadside  into  Bay  Point,  and  then 
sweeping  around  to  deliver  the  other  against  Hilton  Head. 
This  furious  fire  from  400  guns,  many  of  them  the  eleven- 
inch  Duhlgren  pattern,  and  some  even  thirteen-inch  bore 
(for  a  sabot  of  that  diameter  was  found  in  Fort  Beaure 
gard),  was  maintained  incessantly,  and  the  roar  of  the 
cannonade  seemed  continuous. 

"  Meanwhile  our  garrisons  were  making  a  gallant  de 
fence.  They  kept  up  a  vigorous  and  well-directed  fire 
against  their  assailants,  and,  notwithstanding  that  their 
best  gun  was  dismounted  at  the  beginning  of  the  action, 
they  succeeded  in  setting  fire  to  several  of  the  ships. 
Whenever  this  happened,  however,  the  enemy  would  haul 
off  and  soon  extinguish  the  flames.  The  effect  of  0111 
guns  was  in  many  instances  plainly  visible  from  the  forts 
Although  the  sides  of  the  Wabash  are  of  massive  strength, 
several  of  her  ports  were  knocked  into  one.  Nor  was  she 
the  only  vessel  upon  which  this  evidence  of  the  power  of 
our  fire  could  be  seen.  Many  of  the  other  steamers  were 
likewise  badly  hulled. 

"After  some  time  spent  in  sailing  round  and  delivering 
their  broadsides  in  rotation,  in  the  manner  we  have  de 
scribed,  the  enemy's  steamers  adopted  another  and  more 
successful  plan  of  attack.  One  of  them  took  a  position 
inside  the  harbor,  so  as  to  enfilade  the  batteries  of  Fort 
Walker,  while  several  opened  a  simultaneous  enfilading 
fire  from  the  outside.  Besides  this  terrific  cross-fire,  two 
of  the  largest  steamers  maintained  the  fire  in  front  of  the 


CAPTURE   OF  PORT  ROYAL. 


609 


Officers  and  soldiers  exemplified  the  an 
cient  character  of  the  State,  and  deserve 

fort.  Thus  three  various  converging  streams  of  shot  and 
shell  were  rained  amongst  the  brave  little  garrison  for 
hours.  The  vessels  came  up  within  a  half  mile  of  the 
Bhore,  but  nearly  all  our  guns  had  by  this  time  become 
dismounted,  and  were  no  longer  able  to  reply  with  serious 
effect. 

"Soon  after  eleven  o'clock,  the  batteries  of  Bay  Point 
were  silenced.  The  fire  of  Fort  Walker,  as  far  as  the  guns 
that  remained  were  concerned,  was  not  a  whit  slackened 
until  one  o'clock.  By  that  time  the  dreadful  condition  of 
the  fort  became  too  apparent  to  be  disregarded  longer. 
The  guns  lay  in  every  direction,  dismantled  and  useless  ; 
the  defences  were  terribly  shattered,  the  dead  and  dying 
were  to  be  seen  on  every  side,  and  still  the  iron  balls 
poured  pitilessly  in. 

"In  this  strait  it  was  determined  to  abandon  the  fort. 
A  long  waste,  about  a  mile  in  extent,  and  commanded  by 
the  enemy's  guns,  intervened  between  the  garrison  and 
the  woods.  Across  this  they  were  ordered  to  run  for  their 
lives,  each  man  for  himself,  the  object  being  to  scatter 
them  as  much  as  possible,  so  as  not  to  afford  a  target  for 
the  rifled  guns  of  the  fleet. 

"The  preparations  for  running  this  terrible  gauntlet 
were  soon  made.  Knapsacks  were  abandoned,  but  the 
jnen  retained  their  muskets.  Each  of  the  wounded  was 
placed  in  a  blanket,  and  carried  off  by  four  men.  The 
safety  of  the  living  precluded  the  idea  of  removing  the 
dead.  And  thus  the  gallant  little  band  quitted  the  scene 
of  their  glory  and  scampered  off,  each  one  as  best  lie  could, 
toward  the  woods.  The  retreat  was  covered  by  a  small 
detachment,  who  remained  in  the  fort  for  an  hour  after 
their  comrades  had  left.  Among  those  who  remained 
were  Captain  Harmes,  with  six  men  ;  Lieutenant  Milchers, 
with  four  men  ;  and  Lieutenant  Bischoff,  with  four  men. 
These  worked  three  guns  until  about  two  o'clock,  when 
they  also  quitted  the  post. 

"The  abandonment  of  Fort  Beauregard  was  equally  a 
necessity.  The  garrison  were  exhausted,  and  in  momen 
tary  danger  of  being  cut  off.  When  Colonel  Dunovant 
ordered  a  retreat,  tears  of  mortification  and  indignation 
filled  the  eyes  of  Captain  Elliott  at  the  sad  necessity.  The 
retreat  was  admirably  conducted,  and  rendered  entirely 
successful  by  the  prudent  energy  of  Captain  Hancket,  one 
of  General  Ripley's  aids,  who  had  gotten  together  some 
twelve  flats  at  Station  Creek,  by  which  the  troops  passed 
safely  over  to  St.  Helena  Island.  From  there  they  passed 
to  Beaufort  Island,  and  reached  the  train  at  Pocotaligo 
without  the  loss  or  injury  of  a  man.  In  this  fort  none 
were  killed,  and  but  five  were  wounded  ;  and  two  of  these 
were  wounded  by  negligence  in  loading  a  cannon,  by  which 
hot  shot  was  driven  on  the  powder  without  the  wet  wad 
preceding  it. 

"The  rest  of  the  story  is  briefly  told.  Late  Thursday 
77 


our     profound    gratitude    and    admira 
tion." 


night  the  garrison  of  Fort  Walker  had  collected  at  the 
landing,  in  the  hope  of  being  able  to  reach  Blufftou  by 
water.  Luckily  several  Confederate  steamers  were  within 
hail.  But  here  a  ludicrous  mistake  occurred.  The  re 
treating  troops  imagined  the  little  steamers  to  be  Yankee 
gun-boats,  while  the  crews  of  the  steamers  were  convinced 
that  the  troops  were  a  body  of  disembarked  Yankees. 
Acting  upon  this  double  delusion,  a  deal  of  mutual  re- 
connoitering  was  made,  and  it  was  only  after  a  vast  variety 
of  strategic  approaches  that  they  reached  the  conclusion 
that  it  was  'all  right.'  A  quick  trip  to  Bluffton  followed. 
Thence  the  troops  marched  to  Hardeeville,  seventeen 
miles  distant.  The  road  along  which  they  dragged  their 
exhausted  frames  was  filled  with  a  heterogeneous  throng 
of  fugitives  of  all  conditions,  carriages,  carts,  and  convey 
ances,  of  every  description,  that  could,  by  any  possibility, 
be  pressed  into  service.  The  spectacle  was  a  sad  one. 

"Thus  ended  the  defence  of  Port  Eoyal.  The  mortifi 
cation  of  the  disaster  is  lessened  by  the  consciousness  that 
our  troops  deserved  success. 

"  What  injury  we  did  the  enemy  we  do  not  know.  Our 
firing  was,  of  course,  less  efficient  than  theirs.  Our  troops 
were  volunteers — theirs  were  picked  artillerists ;  yet  it  is 
very  remarkable  how  very  few  were  killed  or  wounded 
amongst  our  troops. 

The  following  memoranda  found  in  the  forts  are  interest 
ing,  as  developments  of  the  spirit  of  our  Southern  enemy  : 

"November  5. — Private  Murdock,  B.  V.  A.,  concussion 
of  the  brain,  slight. 

"November  7. — Private  Crews,  W.  S.  G.,  fore-arm  and 
arm  torn  off  by  hot  shot  accidentally. 

"Amputation  of  the  arm  just  below  the  anatomical 
neck. 

"Private  Crews,  W.  S.  G.,  fore-arm  torn  badly  ;  ampu 
tation. 

' '  The  above  are  the  wounded  left  behind  in  charge  of 
the  enemy,  and  as  they  were  not  magnanimous  enough  to 
spare  these  poor  fellows  from  the  wounds  necessitating  the 
above  operations,  I  hope  they  will  not  prove  themselves 
doubly  Goths  and  Vandals  by  neglecting  them. 

"E.  B.  TURNFOLD,  Surgeon  of  Port." 


"BAY  POINT,  Nan.  7,  1861 

"Five  o'clock  P.M.— 12th  Regiment  S.  C.  V.,  November 
7,  1861. 

"I  am  compelled  to  leave  some  poor  fellows  who  can 
not  be  removed.  Treat  them  kindly  ;  let  your  motto  be, 
'  iffnaros  mali  miser os  succurrere  disco. ' 

"After  the  other  fort  had  fallen  we  preferred  leaving 
our  untenable  position  to  assist  in  establishing  the  South 
ern  Confederacy  to  better  purposes  than  we  can  in  Fort 
Lafayette.  STEPHEN  ELLIOTT, 

"Colonel  Com'tf  S  C.  V.,  Fort  Beauregard  " 


610 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


CHAPTER    LYIII. 

The  Expectations  from  the  Expedition  to  Port  Koyal  not  realized.— The  Enemy  prepared.— The  Troops  unable  to  move 
with  advantage. — Conciliatory  Proclamation  of  General  Sherman.— Its  reception  by  the  people  of  South  Carolina.— 
Welcome  from  the  Negroes.— Interviews  with  them. — Various  reports  of  the  conduct  of  the  Slaves.— Plundering 
and  destruction  by  the  Negroes.— Devastation  of  Beaufort.— Picturesqueness  of  the  city.— Tropical  beauty.— Aris 
tocratic  luxury.— Military  order  established  in  Beaufort.— Negroes  indisposed  to  labor.— Cotton.— How  much 
obtained.— Activity  of  Commodore  Dupont.— Expedition  to  the  Bay  of  St.  Helena  and  Warsaw  Sound.— The 
advantageous  results.— Occupation  of  Tybee  Island.— A  circuitous  route  to  Savannah.— An  unsuccessful  attempt  to 
secure  it. — A  combined  movement  of  the  Naval  and  Military  Forces  at  Port  Royal.  —Its  success. 


1861. 


SUCCESSFULLY  as  the  great  expedition 
to  Port  Royal  had  been  conducted, 
it  was  not  followed  immediately  by 
the  strategic  consequences  and  moral 
effects  expected  from  it.  South  Caro 
lina  and  Georgia  had  been  early  pre 
pared  for  an  invasion  of  their  coasts, 
and  by  an  excessive  strain  upon  their 
resources  had  provided  for  their  own 
defence,  without  calling  for  such  aid  from 
the  Confederacy  as  to  weaken,  as  was 
fondly  hoped,  its  military  force  on  the 
Potomac.  Though  the  well-constructed 
works  at  Port  Royal  had  fallen  before  the 
skilful  attack  of  the  naval  portion  of  the 
great  expedition,  the  troops  which  had 
been  landed  there  were  neither  in  num 
bers  nor  efficiency  sufficiently  strong  to 
venture  immediately  upon  a  march  into 
the  interior,  where  the  enemy  had  suc 
ceeded  in  mustering  a  formidable  force 
to  oppose  them.  Although  the  Con 
federacy  had  left  the  States  of  Georgia 
and  Carolina  to  trust  mainly  to  their  own 
efforts  for  protection,  it  had  sent  to  them 
one  of  its  ablest  officers,  General  Lee, 


of  Virginia,  to  direct  the  operations  for 
defence.  He,  accordingly,  holding  the 
chief  command,  so  placed  his  troops  as 
to  secure  the  railroad  communication 
between  Savannah  and  Charleston,  and 
constructed  such  hasty  fortifications  as 
he  hoped  might  check  the  progress  of 
the  Federal  gun- boats  through  the  nu 
merous  channels  which  led  from  the  sea 
into  the  interior.  In  spite  of  these 
preparations,  the  formidable  gun-boats, 
as  will  be  recorded,  did  succeed  in  ad 
vancing  as  far  as  the  depth  of  those 
shallow  waters  would  allow,  and  swept 
away  all  obstructions  to  their  approach  ; 
but  the  Federal  troops  were  forced  to 
remain  for  a  long  time  encamped  at  the 
island  of  Hilton  Head,  upon  which  they 
had  landed,  and  in  occupation  of  the 
forts  they  had  taken,  now  respectively 
called  by  the  names  of  Welles  and  Sew- 
ard,  in  honor  of  the  secretaries  of  state 
and  the  navy. 

General  Sherman  sought  by  a  concili 
atory  appeal  to  the  inhabitants  to  revive 
their  loyalty.  In  his  "proclamation  to 


HONEYED   WORDS. 


611 


the  people  of  South  Carolina,"  he  strove 
with  gentle  words  to  bring  them  back  to 
the  fold  of  the  Union.* 


0  "  la  obedience  to  the  orders  of  the  President  of  these 
United  States  of  America,  I  have  landc-d  on  your  shores, 
with  a  small  force  of  national  troops. 

"  The  dictates  of  a  duty  which,  under  the  Constitution, 
I  owe  to  a  great,  sovereign  State,  and  to  a  proud  and  hos 
pitable  people,  among  whom  I  have  passed  some  of  the 
pleasantest  days  of  my  life,  prompt  me  to  proclaim  that 
we  have  come  amongst  you  with  no  feelings  of  personal 
animosity,  no  design  to  harm  your  citizens,  destroy  your 
property,  or  interfere  with  any  of  your  lawful  rights,  or 
your  social  and  local  institutions,  beyond  what  the  causes 
herein  briefly  alluded  to  may  render  unavoidable. 

"  Citizens  of  South  Carolina  !  The  civilized  world  stands 
appalled  at  the  course  you  are  pursuing  ;  appalled  at  the 
crime  you  are  committing  against  your  own  mother — the 
best,  the  most  enlightened,  and  heretofore  the  most  pros 
perous  of  nations.  You  are  in  a  state  of  active  rebellion 
against  the  laws  of  your  country.  You  have  lawlessly 
seized  upon  the  forts,  arsenals,  and  other  property  belong 
ing  to  our  common  country,  and  within  your  own  borders 
with  this  property  you  are  in  arms  and  waging  a  ruthless 
war  against  your  constitutional  government,  and  thus 
threatening  the  existence  of  a  government  which  you  are 
bound  by  the  terms  of  the  solemn  compact  to  live  under 
and  faithfully  support. 

"  In  doing  this  you  are  not  only  undermining  and  pre 
paring  the  way  for  totally  ignoring  your  own  political  and 
social  existence,  but  you  are  threatening  the  civilized 
world  with  the  odious  sentiment,  that  self-government  is 
impossible  with  civilized  man. 

"Fellow-citizens.  I  implore  you  to  pause  and  reflect 
upon  the  tenor  and  consequences  of  your  acts.  If  the 
awful  sacrifices  made  by  the  destruction  of  your  property, 
the  shedding  of  fraternal  blood  in  battle,  the  mourning 
and  wailing  of  widows  and  orphans  throughout  our  land 
are  insufficient  to  deter  you  from  further  pursuing  this  un 
holy  war,  then  ponder,  I  beseech  you,  upon  the  ultimate, 
but  yet  not  less  certain  result  which  its  further  progress 
must  necessarily  and  naturally  entail  upon  your  once 
happy  and  prosperous  State.  Indeed,  can  you  pursue  this 
fratricidal  war,  and  continue  to  imbrue  your  hands  in  the 
loyal  blood  of  your  countrymen,  your  friends,  your  kins 
men,  for  no  other  object  than  to  unlawfully  disrupt  the 
confederacy  of  a  great  people — a  confederacy  established 
by  your  own  hands— in  order  to  set  up,  were  it  possible, 
an  independent  government,  under  which  you  can  never 
live  in  peace,  prosperity,  or  quietness  ? 

"  Carolinians,  we  have  come  among  you  as  loyal  men, 
fully  impressed  with  our  constitutional  obligations  to  the 
citizens  of  your  State.  Those  obligations  shall  be  per 
formed  as  far  as  in  our  power.  But  be  not  deceived  ;  the 
obligations  of  suppressing  armed  combinations  against  the 


The  reception  of  this  document,  as  de 
scribed  by  an  eye-witness,  will  illustrate 
the  spirit  of  the  people  to  whom  it  was 
addressed  : 

"  Lieutenant  Magner,  of  General  Sher 
man's  staff,  accompanied  by  Dr.  Bacon, 
of  the  Seventh  Connecticut,  was  detailed 
by  General  Sherman  this  morning  (No 
vember  13)  to  convey  to  the  rebels,  un 
der  a  flag  of  truce,  his  proclamation, 
which  was  addressed  to  the  loyal  citizens 
of  South  Carolina,  inviting  them  to  re 
turn  to  their  homes  and  promising  them 
protection.  The  bearers  of  the  flag  were 
sent  to  Beaufort  in  the  gun-boat  Seneca, 
Captain  Ammen,  accompanied  by  the 
Pernbina,  Captain  Bankhead,  and  the 
Isaac  Smith,  Captain  Nicholson.  The 
men  were  sent  to  quarters  while  going, 
as  an  attack  was  looked  for  at  any  mo 
ment  ;  but  the  flotilla  reached  Beaufort 
without  any  hostile  demonstration  being 
made  against  it.  The  bearers  of  dis 
patches  were  placed  ashore  in  the  cutter 
under  a  flag  of  truce,  accompanied  by  a 
negro,  who  was  picked  up  while  ascend 
ing  the  river,  who,  being  acquainted  with 
the  country,  was  to  act  as  guide.  Mules 
were  found,  and,  led  by  the  negro,  they 
proceeded  into  the  country,  and  after 
penetrating  about  ten  miles  they  were 
met  by  a  Rev.  Mr.  Walker,  a  Baptist 
clergyman,  formerly  of  Beaufort.  To 
their  inquiries  whether  there  were  any 


constitutional  authorities  is  paramount  to  all  others.  Ii 
in  the  performance  of  this  duty  other  minor  but  important 
obligations  should  be  neglected,  it  must  be  attributed  to 
the  necessities  of  the  case;  because  rights  dependent  on 
the  laws  of  the  State  must  be  necessarily  subordinate  to 
military  exigences,  created  by  insurrection  and  rebellion. 

"T.  W.  SHERMAN,  Brig. -Gen.  Com'g. 
"  HEADQUARTER,  E.  C.,  PORT  ROYAL,  S.  C.,  Xov.  8,  1861." 


612 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


rebel  camps  in  the  vicinity,  he  informed 
them  that  the  camps  they  were  looking 
after  were  a  number  of  miles  off,  and 
advised  them  not  to  proceed  farther,  as 
he  did  not  deem  it  prudent  or  safe.  They 
were  not  quite  satisfied  with  the  inform 
ation  he  gave,  as  his  conduct  was  some 
what  suspicious,  and  they  inquired  of 
the  negro  guide  as  to  the  distance.  He 
informed  them  that  it  was  about  half  a 
mile  farther  on.  They  concluded  to  pro 
ceed.  They  had  gone  about  half  a  mile 
when  they  were  met  by  two  rebel  offi 
cers,  one  of  whom  bore  a  white  hand 
kerchief  upon  an  oar,  which  they  had 
brought  from  a  small  boat  in  a  creek 
close  by,  in  which  they  had  evidently 
come.  They  proved  to  be  a  first  lieu 
tenant  and  a  second  lieutenant  from  a 
Charleston  company. 

"  The  object  of  the  mission  was  ex 
plained  by  the  bearers  of  the  flag,  and 
they  were  politely  informed  that  there 
were  no  loyal  citizens  in  South  Carolina, 
and  that  their  mission  was  fruitless." 

There  was  another  class  of  inhabit 
ants,  however,  the  negro  slaves,  who 
were  more  ready  to  welcome  the  repre 
sentatives  of  a  powerful  government, 
which  they,  in  their  innocent  ignorance 
of  constitutional  obligations  and  political 
expedients,  seemed  to  believe  had  thus 
presented  itself,  in  its  might  and  benef 
icence,  to  set  them  free.  When  they 
observed  the  landing  of  the  troops,  they 
flocked  along  the  banks  in  great  num 
bers,  some  bringing  parcels  and  bundles, 
as  if  expecting  the  soldiers  to  take  them 
at  once  to  a  home  of  freedom.  "  Every 
variety  of  negro  and  slave  was  repre 


sented,"  wrote  a  correspondent  to  a  jour 
nal*  whose  sympathy,  it  is  needless  to 
say,  is  rather  with  the  slave  than  his 
master.  "  I  say  negro  and  slave,  for  it 
is  a  melancholy  fact  that  some  slaves  are 
apparently  as  white  as  their  masters,  and 
as  intelligent.  Darkies  of  genuine  Congo 
physiques — and  darkies  of  the  genuine 
Uncle  Tom  pattern — darkies  young  and 
jubilant — darkies  middle-aged  and  eager 
— and  gray-haired,  solemn-looking  fel 
lows —  some  appeared  mystified,  and 
some  intelligent — the  quadroon  and  the 
octoroon,  possessing  an  undistinguish- 
able  tint  of  negro  blood,  mingled  one 
drop  with  seven  of  Southern  nativity 
and  ancient  family,  formed,  to  speak 
mildly,  an  interesting  scene. 

"  As  fast  as  the  contraband  article  came 
within  reach,  it  was  placed  in  the  guard 
house,  an  old  frame  building  behind  Fort 
Walker.  Here  quite  a  collection  was 
made.  They  were  huddling  together, 
half  in  fear  and  half  in  hope,  when  a 
naval  officer  of  the  Bienville  looked  in 
upon  them  asking,  '  Well,  well,  what  are 
you  all  about?' 

"'Dat's  just  what  we'd  like  to  find 
out,  mas'r,'  was  the  response. 

'  The  officer  assured  them  that  they 
would  be  kindly  taken  care  of,  and,  per 
haps  found  something  to  do,  and  need 
not  be  alarmed. 

"  'Tank  God  for  dat,  mas'r,'  was  the 
reply. 

"  On  drawing  them  into  conversation, 
they  said  that  they  caught  a  great  deal 
of  fish  in  Port  Royal  harbor,  fishing  at 
night,  after  the  plantation  work  was 

°  New  York  Tribune. 


THE  NEGROES  AT  PORT  ROYAL. 


613 


over.  Two  slaves  were  found  recon 
noitring  about  on  their  own  account, 
and  on  being  brought  into  camp,  ex 
plained  that  they  belonged  to  Mrs.  Pinck- 
ney,  of  Charleston,  and  came  down  to 
'  see  what  de  white  people  were  all  about.' 
They  said  that  the  white  people  all  ran 
away  when  the  ships  came  up,  crying, 
'Great  God!  Great  God!  Great  God! 
the  Yankees  are  coming  ;  fire  the  boats.' 
Other  slaves  reported  that  '  when  the 
white  folks  see  the  little  boats  coming 
up,  dey  laffed  at  dem,  but  when  dey  see 
de  big  checker-sided  vessels  comin',  dey 
laffed  on  de  oder  side  der  moufs.' ' 

The  correspondent  of  another  news 
paper,  equally  uniform  in  its  advocacy 
of  the  rights  of  freedom,  wrote  : 

"  Early  in  the  morning  after  the  vic 
tory,  the  plantation  negroes  began  to 
come  into  camp,  and  with  the  genuine 
African  instinct  for  trade,  each  had  pro 
vided  himself  with  a  turkey,  a  shoulder 
of  bacon,  or  two  shoulders  and  a  brace 
of  hams  in  the  shape  of  a  struggling 
porker,  which  he  bore  kicking  and  squeal 
ing  under  his  arm.  It  was  amusing  to 
see  the  pertinacity  with  which  the  fellows 
would  cling  to  their  prize,  even  while 
waiting  to  be  questioned  under  guard  of 
a  file  of  soldiers.  The  instant  one  was 
spoken  to,  the  bit  of  a  wide-awake,  or 
the  rimless  crown  of  straw  which  did 
duty  as  a  hat,  would  be  jerked  off  with 
characteristic  obsequiousness,  the  negro 
stand  scraping  and  bowing,  answering 
meanwhile  his  catechism  as  well  as  he 
could  with  the  noisy  and  struggling  beast 
distracting  his  attention. 

"  Several  who  came  in  brought  wagons 


loaded  with  knapsacks  and  other  accou 
trements,  which  they  had  picked  up  on 
the  way.  All  seemed  ready  to  work, 
and  those  who  were  so  fortunate  as  to 
have  possessed  themselves  of  some  stray 
horse  or  a  pair  of  plantation  mules,  found 
abundant  occupation. 

"  Our  troops  were  accompanied  in 
their  first  reconnoissance  into  the  island 
by  Dr.  J.  J.  Craven,  of  the  third  brigade, 
who  reports  the  negroes  on  the  planta 
tions  farther  inland  as  almost  wild  with 
delight  at  the  advent  of  our  troops  and 
the  hasty  flight  of  their  masters,  which 
they  described  with  the  utmost  gusto. 

"  '  0  Lord  !  massa,'  said  one,  'we're 
so  glad  to  see  you.  We'se  prayed  and 
prayed  the  good  Lord  that  he  would  send 
yer  Yankees,  and  we  knowed  you'se  was 
coming.' 

"  '  How  could  you  know  that?'  asked 
Dr.  Craven.  '  You  can't  read  the  paper  ; 
how  did  you  get  the  news  ?' 

"'No,  massa,  we'se  can't  read,  but 
we'se  can  listen.  Massa  and  missus  used 
to  read,  and  sometimes  they'se  would 
read  loud,  and  then  we  would  listen  so' 
—making  an  expressive  gesture  indica 
tive  of  close  attention  at  a  key-hole. 
'  When  I'se  get  a  chance  Fse  would  list'n, 
and  Jim  him  would  list'n,  and  we  put 
the  bits  together,  and  we  knowed  the 
Yankees  were  coming.  Bless  the  Lord, 
massa." 

"Another  stout  fellow  asserted  thai 
the  good  Lord  had  appeared  to  him  in 
the  shape  of  a  'Yankee,'  who  assured 
him  that  his  hour  of  deliverance  was  at 
hand.  The  poor,  trusting  creatures  never 
seemed  to  question  that  a  war  which 


614 


THE  WAR  WITH   THE   SOUTH. 


they  had  heard  was  all  about  them  must 
mean  their  deliverance  from  a  bondage 
with  which  they  do  not  seem  to  have 
been  sufficiently  in  love  to  follow  the  for 
tunes  of  their  fleeing  masters.  A  driver's 
whip  which  was  picked  up,  and  which 
the  correspondent  of  the  Evening  Post 
now  has  in  .his  possession,  was  shown 
one  of  them,  and  he  was  asked  if  he 
knew  what  it  was. 

"  '  Golly,  massa  !'  said  the  negro,  with 
a  suspicious,  sidelong  look  at  the  familiar 
whip  he  saw  raised  aloft,  '  Guess  dis  nig 
ger  knows  what  dat  dere  is,'  and  he  pro 
ceeded  to  explain  the  use  to  which  it  was 
applied. 

'When  some  doubt  was  expressed  as 
to  the  negro  statements  in  regard  to 
number,  one  of  them  answered  : 

'  We  can't  read,  but  we  can  count.' 

"  'How  did  you  learn  to  count?' 

'Picking  cotton,  massa.  We'se  all 
got  to  count  when  we  pick  cotton,  mas- 
ea.'  " 

The  negroes  whom  their  masters  had 
left  behind  in  their  hasty  retreat  from 
their  plantations  and  homes,  were  for  the 
most  part  disposed  to  consider  the  inva 
sion  as  the  opportunity  for  license,  and 
seemed  to  have  no  idea  of  orderly  free 
dom.  The  beautiful  town  of  Beaufort,* 

0  A  newspaper  correspondent  gives  the  following  ac 
count  of  Beaufort  and  the  ravages  committed  by  the 
negroes : 

"  Beaufort  is  a  beautiful  little  village  of  2,000  inhabit 
ants,  laid  out  with  some  regularity,  with  broad  streets,  fine 
ly  shaded  by  trees  of  patriarchal  growth,  whose  branches 
frequently  interlace  above,  forming  a  shady  bower,  and 
protecting  from  the  almost  tropical  sun  pleasant  walks 
and  avenues.  The  houses  are  mostly  of  two  stories,  with 
a  wide  verandah  in  front,  well  shaded,  and  surrounded  by 
gardens  filled  with  rare  flowers  and  plants,  which  exhale 
most  delightful  odors.  Here  we  found  in  November  roses 


a  chosen  resort  of  the  wealthy  possess 
ors  of  the  rich  plantations  of  rice  and 
Sea  Island  cotton,  became  a  scene  of  de 
vastation.  Its  broad  avenues,  border 
ed  by  trees  of  ancient  growth,  whose 
branches  interlaced  and  formed  a  shade 
impenetrable  by  the  rays  of  an  almost 
tropical  sun  ;  its  luxurious  houses,  shut 
out  from  light  and  curiosity  by  vine- 
covered  verandahs  and  groves  of  orange 
and  lemon,  and  surrounded  by  gardens 
of  tropical  plants  and  fruits — which,  in 
a  region  where  roses  blossom  in  Novem 
ber,  grow  luxuriantly  in  the  open  air- 
made  Beaufort  a  place  of  great  attrac 
tion.  To  these  external  beauties  was 
added  that  interior  charm  of  social  re 


in  full  bloom,  and  golden  oranges  and  lemons  gleaming 
among  the  green  leaves.     Indeed,  nearly  all  the  fruits  of 
the  tropics  can  be  grown  in  the  open  air  in  this  lovely  cli 
mate.     But  in  spite  of  all  the  beauties  of  nature,  the  pro 
fusion  of  fruits,  the  wealth  of  flowers,  and  the  elegant 
residences  of  cultivated  people,  there  was  something  in 
expressibly  melancholy  about  the  village.     On  every  hand 
we  saw  signs  of  the  hasty  flight  of  the  inhabitants,  and 
much  more  plain  were  the  indications  of  the  wanton  de 
struction  and  ruthless  plundering  of  houses  by  the  slaves. 
It  was  too  evident  that  their  barbarous  instincts  had,  for 
the  time  being,  full  sway.     The  village  had    felt   their 
savage  hands  close  at  its  very  throat.     With  none  to  hin 
der  or  stop  them,  they  held  a  perfect  saturnalia  for  a  day, 
and  made  the  quiet  streets  of  the  village  ring  with  their 
savage  cries  and  wild  orgies.     The  two  remaining  whites, 
trembling  for  their  lives,  kept  close  within  their  houses, 
and  escaped  being  victims  of  the  negroes'  revenge.     Five 
or  six  negroes  had  been  shot  by  the  whites  because  they 
refused  to  seek  the  woods  with  them.     This  maddened 
and  infuriated  the  negroes  to  a  pitch  of  frenzy  that  made 
them  greedy  for  any  act  of  retaliation,  and  murder  would 
have  been  committed  by  them  had  not  the  whites  kept 
out  of  the  way.     Captain  Bankhead,  of  the  Pembina,  and 
the  commander  of  the  Unadilla,  checked  in  a  measure  their 
excesses.     But  the  work  had  been  nearly  completed  before 
their  arrival.     While  we  passed  through   the  streets  we 
saw  groups  of  slaves— men,  women,  and  children— some 
from  a  distance,  who  had  been  engaged  in   plunder,  as 
many  of  them  had  the  plunder  with  them.     They  were 
ordered  to  disgorge,  and  obliged  to  place  it  where  they 
stole  it  from." 


THE  HAVOC  AT  BEAUFORT. 


615 


finement  which  a  long-established  society 
of  persons  of  wealth  and  culture  alone 
can  give  to  their  homes.  Such  was  the 
place  which,  abandoned  by  its  white  in 
habitants,  had  fallen  into  the  hands  of 
the  negroes,  whose  barbarous  instincts, 
no  longer  restrained,  converted  the 
abodes  of  refined  tranquillity  and  lux 
ury  into  scenes  of  brutal  revelry  and 
reckless  waste. 

Beaufort,  however,  was  soon  wrested 
from  the  negroes  by  the  Federal  troops, 
and  military  order  substituted  for  bar 
barous  license.  Though  a  rude  soldiery 
may  not  be  ordinarily  desirable  as  occu 
pants  of  a  well-ordered  home,  the  lordly 
inhabitants  of  Beaufort  might  with  rea 
son  congratulate  themselves  that  their 
abodes  were  not  left  in  the  keeping  of 
their  own  servants,  of  whose  fidelity 
they  were  wont  to  boast. 

Though  the  negroes  flocked  about  the 
camps  to  the  number  of  some  four  or 
five  thousand,  and  seemed  in  the  best 
humor  possible  with  the  new-comers, 
they  showed  but  little  disposition  to 
work  for  them.  It  was  difficult  to  pre 
vail  upon  them  to  gather  the  cotton 
which  whitened  the  fertile  plantations 
of  Beaufort  ;  they  preferred,  now  that 
they  were  no  longer  in  dread  of  the 
overseer's  lash,  to  luxuriate  in  the  spoils 
of  their  absent  masters'  dwellings,  or  to 
carry  on  a  small  and  not  laborious  huck 
stering  trade  with  the  camps,  where  they 
were  fond  of  lingering  within  sound  of 
the  drum  and  within  sight  of  the  mili 
tary  trappings  which  charmed  their  bar 
barous  tastes.  A  few  hundred  bales  of 
cotton  were  gathered,  shipped  and  sold 


in  New  York  for  the  benefit  of  the  Gov 
ernment.  The  planters  themselves,  how 
ever,  at  every  advance  of  the  Federal 
force  from  the  sea,  as  they  abandoned 
their  plantations,  burned  their  rich  har 
vests,  and  thus  diminished  the  expected 
trophies  of  cotton. 

Though  the  troops  made  little  prog 
ress,  the  fleet,  under  the  energetic  com 
mand  of  Commodore  Dupont,  was  act 
ive.  Expeditions  were  sent  to  secure 
possession  of  the  Bay  of  St.  Helena,  to 
the  north  of  Port  Royal,  and  of  War 
saw  Island,  near  the  entrance  from  the 
sea  to  Savannah.* 

0  The  result  of  these  expeditions  is  stated  in  the  official 
reports  of  their  respective  commanders  addressed  to  Com 
modore  Dupont.  Commander  Rodgers,  who  commanded 
the  expedition  to  Warsaw  Island,  reported  as  follows  : 

"UNITED  STATES  FLAG-SHIP  WABASH,        | 
"POBT  ROYAL  HARBOR,  S.  C.,  Dec.  6,  1861.  j 

"  SIR  :  On  yesterday  morning  I  left  Tybee  Roads  before 
daylight  with  the  steamers  Ottawa,  Seneca,  and  Pembina, 
and  crossed  the  bar  of  Warsaw  Sound  at  half-tide,  not  hav 
ing  less  than  eighteen  feet  of  water  upon  it. 

"  We  approached  the  fort  on  Warsaw  Island  within  a 
mile,  and  seeing  neither  guns  nor  men,  we  did  not  fire, 
but  I  sent  Lieutenant  Barnes  to  it  with  a  white  flag.  He 
found  it  an  inclosed  octagonal  work,  with  platforms  for 
eight  guns  on  the  water  faces.  The  land  forces  were  pro 
tected  by  abatis.  The  work  was  well  intrenched.  The 
guns  had  been  removed,  the  platforms  cut,  and  the  mag 
azine  blown  up.  From  the  freshness  of  the  foot-prints 
and  other  signs,  it  appeared  to  have  been  abandoned  very 
recently.  Adjoining  the  fort  are  huts  or  sheds  for  a  large 
garrison.  Some  lumber  and  bricks  remain ;  everything 
else  had  been  carried  away. 

"We  immediately  pushed  on  to  Cabbage  Island,  where 
we  had  been  led  to  look  for  another  battery,  but  there 
was  nothing  of  the  kind  there.  We  went  to  the  mouth 
of  the  creek,  through  the  Romilly  Marsh,  and  to  the 
mouth  of  Wilmington  River. 

"  From  the  mouth  of  Wilmington  River  we  observed  a 
battery,  bearing  from  us  about  north-west  by  west  half 
west,  and  distant  about  three  miles.  It  is  on  the  river, 
and  just  above  a  house  with  a  red  cupola,  which  is  one  of 
the  Coast  Survey  points  of  triangulation,  and  is  about  ten 
miles  from  Savannah.  Between  the  house  and  the  fort 
was  a  large  encampment,  but  we  could  not  count  the 
tents.  We  counted  nve  guns,  apparently  of  large  calibre 


616 


THE  WAR   WITH  THE   SOUTH. 


The  results  of  these  expeditions  would 
be,  it  was  supposed,  of  great  advantage 

on  the  face  of  the  battery  toward  us.  We  could  only  see 
one  gun  upon  the  other  face,  but  there  may  have  been 
more.  We  were  near  enough  to  see  the  men  on  the  ram 
parts  and  the  glittering  of  their  bayonets.  We  saw  sev 
eral  small  vessels  ;  some  of  them  in  Romilly  Marsh  were 
in  tow  of  a  small  steam-tug,  but  they  were  all  beyond  our 
reach. 

"  Upon  Little  Tybee  Island  we  could  see  no  earth- works, 
but  could  not  get  nearer  to  it  than  two  miles  because  of 
the  shoals.  In  coming  out  of  Warsaw  Sound  at  high  tide 
we  had  not  less  than  21  feet  of  water  on  the  bar. 

"  Returning  to  Tybee  Roads  at  one  o'clock,  I  landed 
and  made  a  reconnoissance  on  foot  with  the  marines  of  the 
Savannah  and  detachments  of  small-arm  men  from  that 
ship  and  the  Ottawa.  Upon  reaching  the  mouth  of  the  Laz- 
areth  Creek,  having  no  boats  in  which  to  cross,  our  progress 
was  stopped.  We  waited  until  low  tide,  but  the  creek  was 
unfordable.  I  was  able,  however,  with  the  assistance  of 
Lieutenant  Luce,  to  obtain  from  the  top  of  a  tree  the  po 
sition  in  which  a  battery  has  been  supposed  to  exist,  and 
am  satisfied  that  there  Ls  no  battery  there.  The  spar 
which  was  mistaken  for  a  derrick  is  simply  a  place  of  look 
out,  and  there  was  no  appearance  of  any  earth-work  or  po 
sition  for  guns.  A  battery  at  such  a  place  would  be  of  no 
use  whatever.  There  may,  however,  have  been  a  signal 
gun  placed  there,  as  the  point  upon  which  the  spar  is 
raised  upon  the  south-eastern  part  of  Little  Tybee  Island, 
and  is  a  commanding  point  of  observation. 

"I  have  to  thank  Lieutenant-Commanding  Stevens  for 
the  most  earnest,  cordial,  and  efficient  co-operation  ;  and 
also  Lieu  tenants- Commanding  Ammen  and  Bankhead, 
whose  vessels  were  always  in  the  right  place,  and  always 
well  handled.  I  have  the  honor  to  be,  very  respectfully, 
your  obedient  servant.  C.  R.  P.  RODGERS,  Com'd." 

Commander  Drayton — an  active  officer  in  the  Federal 
service  and  a  brother  of  the  commander-in-chief  of  the 
South  Carolina  troops,  to  whom  by  the  fatal  chances  of 
this  unnatural  strife  he  was  now  directly  opposed  in  mor 
tal  conflict — commanded  the  expedition  to  the  Bay  of  St. 
Helena.  This  is  Commander  Drayton's  report  : 

"  UNITED  STATES  STEAMKR  PAWNEE, 
"  PORT  ROYAL  HARBOR,  Nov.  25,  1801. 

"  SIR  :  In  obedience  to  instructions  contained  in  your 
letter  of  the  24th  instant  I  left  this  harbor  at  three  o'clock 
A.M.of  the  24th  inst.  in  company  with  the  Unadilla,  Lieu 
tenant-Commanding  Collins,  and  the  Pembina,  Lieuten 
ant-Commanding  Bankhead,  piloted  by  the  Vixen,  Captain 
Boutelle.  We  crossed  this  bar  at  half-past  four  o'clock, 
and  that  of  St.  Helena  at  half  past  nine  o'clock— a 
steamer  supposed  to  be  the  General  Clinch  being  then  off 
the  Edisto  River,  which  position  she  shortly  left,  and 
steamed  up  the  river. 

'•'  I  soon  afterward  came  in  sight  of  a  fort  on  the  point 


in  the  contemplated  attempts  upon  Ihe 
cities  of  Charleston  and  Savannah.     The 


of  Otter  Island,  into  which,  at  the  distance  of  a  mile,  1 
threw  a  few  shells,  as  did  the  gun-boats,  to  discover  if  it 
were  occupied.  There  being  no  answer,  I  sent  a  boat  on 
shore  to  take  possession,  and  found  it  to  be  a  regular  tri 
angular  work,  with  two  faces  toward  the  water,  of  250 
feet  each,  with  bastions  arid  a  curtain  on  the  land  side — • 
the  whole  surrounded  by  a  ditch.  The  magazine  had 
been  blown  up  and  everything  carried  away  or  destroyed, 
the  only  thing  left  being  the  fragments  of  an  eighty-pound 
rifled  gun,  which  had  been  burst.  There  was  also  on  the 
outside  a  large  quantity  of  timber  and  palmetto  logs, 
which  I  left  undisturbed,  there  being  little  or  no  proba 
bility  of  any  one  coming  to  remove  it,  and  considering 
that,  should  we  occupy  the  place,  it  would  be  required  to 
finish  the  work. 

"  Having  made  the  above  examination,  I  continued  up 
the  Coosaw  River  with  the  gun-boats,  piloted  by  Captain 
Boutelle.  When  just  passing  Morgan  River,  two  miles 
from  Otter  Island,  I  came  in  sight  of  a  fort  directly  ahead, 
and  at  the  junction  of  Barnwell  Creek  with  the  Coosaw. 
When  within  a  mile  we  threw  a  few  shells  into  it,  and 
there  being  no  signs  of  occupation,  and  the  negroes  show 
ing  themselves  in  the  neighborhood,  I  sent  a  boat  on 
shore  to  take  possession,  and  found  it  to  be  a  redoubt, 
with  a  ditch  on  three  faces,  and  a  steep  slope  toward  the 
water,  above  which  the  parapet  was  elevated  thirty  feet, 
its  name  being  (as  we  found  by  papers  picked  up)  Fort  Hay- 
ward.  The  armament  had  consisted  of  only  three  guna — • 
one  rifle,  which  had  been  removed — and  two  eighteen 
pounders,  which  being  of  a  very  antiquated  make,  and 
spiked,  I  destroyed  by  breaking  the  trunions  off. 

"The  next  morning  early  I  returned  and  removed  to 
this  vessel  a  quantity  of  intrenching  tools  which  I  found 
near  the  fort,  together  witli  a  large  sling  cart  and  two 
siege  carriages,  which  had  not  been  much  injured  by  the 
fire  which  had  consumed  sufficiently  to  render  useless  the 
other  one  and  all  the  timbers.  This  being  completed,  I 
returned  to  Otter  Creek  Island,  and  found  there  the 
Vixen,  which  had  preceded  us  for  the  purpose  of  bringing 
off  an  engineer,  Lieutenant  O'Rourke,  who  had  been  sent 
by  General  Sherman  to  join  us  at  Coffin's  Landing.  He 
desired  to  make  a  drawing  of  the  fort,  and,  as  it  was  late, 
I  anchored  for  the  night,  leaving  again  on  the  morning 
of  the  27th  with  the  gun-boats  and  Vixen  (there  not  being 
water  for  the  Pawnee)  to  ascend  the  Ashepoo  River,  as  I 
understood  that  there  was  a  military  station  a  short  dis 
tance  up.  After  running  a  few  miles  I  discovered  a  re 
doubt,  and  having,  as  before,  satisfied  myself  that  it  was 
not  occupied,  I  landed  and  found  that,  like  the  others,  it 
was  very  carefully  and  scientifically  built,  with  a  deep  ditch 
around  it.  Everything  had  been  destroyed  and  carried 
away  except  a  rifled  twenty-four  pounder  and  an  old  En 
glish  eighteen  pounder,  both  of  which  had  been  burst,  and 


CAPTURE   OF  TYBEE  ISLAND. 


617 


possession  of  the  Bay  of  St.  .Helena  se 
cured  the  command  of  large  rivers  com- 

another  eighteen  pounder,  which  I  destroyed.  Having 
performed  this  duty,  I  continued  up  the  river,  thinking  that 
I  might  find  fortifications  at  Mosquito  Creek,  which  offers 
the  only  inland  channel  of  communication  with  Charleston. 
None  had,  however,  been  erected  there,  and  I  continued 
up  the  river  to  the  plantation  on  Hutchinson  Island,  about 
twelve  miles  above  Otter  Island,  which  was  as  far  as  the 
vessels  could  go.  Here  were  a  large  number  of  negroes, 
but  no  white  men,  although  they  told  me  there  was  a 
picket  of  soldiers  about  three  miles  beyond.  At  this  time 
I  heard  heavy  firing,  and,  as  we  all  supposed  it  proceeded 
from  the  Pawnee,  I  hurried  every  one  on  board  and  re 
turned  down  the  river  as  quickly  as  possible,  but  on  reach 
ing  that  vessel  was  told  that  the  sounds  came  from  the 
direction  of  Beaufort. 

"  Then,  with  the  Pawnee,  got  under  weigh,  aud,  accom 
panied  by  the  other  vessels,  ran  across  the  bay  to  Hunting 
Island  River,  where  I  landed  and  looked  for  the  fortifica 
tions  on  the  point  of  Hunting  Island,  but  could  not  find 
the  least  appearance  of  there  ever  having  been  any  there. 
The  light-house  had  been  recently  blown  up,  and  all  the 
public  property  carried  away.  I  had  now  examined  all 
the  points  mentioned  in  your  letter  except  Coffin's  Land 
ing,  which  had  been  visited  by  Lieutenant  O'Rourke,  on 
his  way  across,  and  he  reporting  that  no  works  had  been 
erected  there,  I  did  not  think  it  worth  the  delay  that 
would  have  been  occasioned  there.  I  left  Hunting  Island 
Harbor  at  seven  o'  clock  this  morning ,  and  reached  my  an 
chorage  here  at  meridian. 

"With  regard  to  the  other  inquiries  that  I  was  or 
dered  to  make,  I  would  beg  leave  to  say,  that  whenever 
practicable,  the  slaves  have  been  removed,  as  on  the 
northern  side  of  the  Ashepoo,  where  there  is  no  communi 
cation  with  the  Edisto.  At  all  the  plantations  south  of 
that  a  great  many  still  remain  at  Hutchinson  Island— not 
less,  I  think,  than  120.  Not  a  white  man  seems  to  be  left 
anywhere  outside  the  line  of  military  occupation,  which 
was  higher  than  I  was  able  to  go  with  the  vessels. 

"The  slaves  are  doing  nothing,  are  very  friendly,  and 
assisted  us  voluntarily  wherever  we  wanted  their  aid,  and 
sometimes,  as  at  Fort  Hayward,  worked  very  hard.  I 
overheard  one  of  them  say  that  it  was  but  fair  they  should 
do  so  for  us,  as  we  were  working  for  them.  The  more  in 
telligent  among  them  told  me  that  there  was  no  packed 
cotton  this  year,  and  that  not  much  more  than  half  the 
cotton  and  scarcely  any  of  the  provision  crop  had  been 
Kathered.  « 

"  I  forgot  to  mention  that,  as  far  as  we  could  make  out, 
on  our  return  down  the  river  (the  Ashepoo),  they  appeared 
to  be  burning  houses  in  the  direction  of  the  South  Edisto 
River,  or  on  those  plantations  which  must  have  still  been 
in  the  possession  of  the  whites,  and  the  same  thing 
aeemed  to  be  continued  during  the  night. 
78 


muuicating  with  the  interior  of  South 
Carolina,  and  an  excellent  harbor  near 
Charleston  itself.  The  possession  of 
Warsaw  Inlet  and  Sound  was  no  less 
important,  as  it  gave  the  command  of 
an  entrance  to  the  Savannah  River,  with 
a  passage  little  inferior  to  that  of  Ty- 
bee.  Tybee  Island  was  subsequently 
seized  and  held  by  the  Federal  troops, 
without  an  attempt  at  resistance  by  the 
enemy  beyond  an  occasional  unavailing 
shot  from  Fort  Pulaski.*  This  powerful 

"  I  can  not  finish  without  mentioning  the  obligations 
I  am  under  to  Captain  Boutelle,  for  the  skill  and  untiring 
energy  he  displayed  in  piloting  us  through  those  inland 
waters  ;  and  I  think  the  people  must  have  been  a  little 
surprised  at  seeing  vessels  of  war  passing  at  full  speed  up 
narrow  and  not  over  deep  rivers,  such  as  the  Coosaw  and 
Ashepoo.  I  am,  very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 
"  DRAYTON,  Commanding  Pawnee." 

0  The  following  descriptions  of  Fort  Puliiski  and  Fort 
Jackson  are  from  the  New  York  Herald: 

"  Fort  Pulaski  guards  the  city  on  its  sea  approaches.  It 
is  built  on  Cockspur  Island,  fourteen  miles  from  Savannah, 
at  the  mouth  of  the  Savannah  River.  The  site  of  the 
fortification  was  selected  by  Major  Babcock,  of  the  United 
States  Engineer  Corps,  about  twenty-six  years  ago,  but 
it  was  not  till  1881  that  the  work  of  erecting  the  present 
massive  masonry  fortification  was  commenced  in  earnest. 
In  that  year  Captain  (now  Quartermaster-General)  Mans 
field  took  charge  of  its  construction.  The  fort  was  fin 
ished  a  few  years  ago,  at  a  cost  of  $903,000.  The  fort  is 
of  pentagonal  form,  covering  several  acres.  Its  walls  are 
forty  feet  high,  and  present  two  falls  on  the  sea  approach, 
with  ranges  of  fire  radiating  at  opposite  angles.  The  fort 
is  embrasured  on  the  front  and  channel  side  for  one  row 
of  guns,  under  bomb-proof  casemates,  with  an  additional 
tier  of  guns  open,  or  en  barbette.  The  salient  points  and 
flanking  approaches  on  the  rear  of  the  work  have  no  em 
brasures  for  heavy  cannon,  but  are  thoroughly  covered  by 
enfilading  musketry  loopholes,  which  renders  a  landing  or 
escalading  extremely  hazardous  to  an  enemy.  The  full 
armament  of  the  fort  will  consist,  on  the  lower  tier,  of 
sixty-five  thirty-two  pounders  (iron  pieces),  and  the  upper 
tier  of  fifty-three  twenty-four  pounders,  four  eighteen- 
pounder  flanking  howitzers,  one  thirteen-inch  mortar, 
twelve  eight-inch  columbiads,  and  seven  ten-inch  mortars 
— in  all  150  guns.  The  columbiads  are  heavy  and  very 
destructive  weapons  of  long  range,  and  adapted  to  use 
spherical  shot  or  shell.  They  are  capable  of  an  elevation 
of  180  degrees,  and  a  vertical  fire  of  five  degrees,  depressed 


618 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE   SOUTH. 


work,  which  at  the  commencement  of 
the  civil  troubles  had  been  appropriated 
by  the  secessionists  of  Georgia,  gave  them 
the  command  of  the  main  entrance  to 
Savannah  through  the  mouth  of  the  Sa 
vannah  River.  By  Warsaw  Sound,  how 
ever,  which  Commodore  Dupont  had 
succeeded  in  securing,  there  is  another 
means  of  reaching  the  Savannah  River, 
and  thence  the  city  of  Savannah  itself. 
A  stream  termed  St.  Augustine  Creek, 
which  flows  from  the  Savannah  River, 
and  widening  into  what  is  called  the 
Wilmington  River,  empties  into  Warsaw 
Sound,  and  thus  offers  a  circuitous  route 
from  the  sea  by  which  the  city  of  Sa 
vannah  can  be  reached  without  passing 
through  the  main  entrance  commanded 
by  the  formidable  guns  of  Fort  Pulaski. 
Commodore  Dupont,  availing  himself  of 

to  thirty-six  degrees  elevation.  The  interior  of  the  fort 
is  well  supplied  with  massive  furnaces  for  heating  shot, 
officers'  quarters,  soldiers'  harracks,  and  an  immense  sup 
ply  of  shot,  powder,  and  muskets.  A  wide  ditch  sur 
rounds  the  work,  which,  when  dry,  can  be  used  by  sharp 
shooters,  or  could,  if  necessary,  at  the  approach  of  an 
enemy,  be  easily  flooded.  Beyond  the  ditch  is  a  glacis,  or 
inclined  bank,  which  is  enfiladed  by  the  guns  from  the 
lower  or  casemate  row  of  the  fortification.  The  full  war 
garrison  of  the  fort  is  800  men,  but  one-half  that  number 
could  hold  it  successfully  against  a  very  large  force.  Ves 
sels  of  any  considerable  size  in  beating  up  the  channel  to 
Savannah  are  obliged  to  approach  within  seventy  yards 
of  the  fort,  and  at  this  point  many  guns  of  large  calibre 
can  be  made  to  concentrate  their  fire.  The  fortification  is 
pronounced  by  expert  army  engineers  one  of  the  strongest 
and  most  perfect  of  its  kind  on  this  continent,  It  covers 
a  larger  area  than  Fort  Sumter,  but  has  one  tier  of  guns  less. 
"FORT  JACKSON.— This  is  a  small  work,  built  on  a  low 
marsh,  four  miles  from  Savannah,  on  a  site  near  the  bend 
of  the  river,  and  commands  important  points  on  the  chan 
nel,  on  the  interior  line  of  fortifications.  It  is  built  of 
heavy  brick  masonry.  Its  armament  consists  of  ten  twenty- 
four  pounders  (iron  guns),  three  field  pieces,  five  eight-inch 
howitzers,  one  ten-inch  mortar,  and  one  eight-inch  mortar. 
It  cost  the  government  $80,000.  There  is  also  an  exterior 
line  of  fortification  erected  to  protect  the  mouth  of  the 
Savannah  on  its  sea  approach  at  Tybee  Island." 


his  gun-boats  of  light  draft,  had  succeed 
ed  in  approaching  the  Savannah  jaih 
River  by  the  passage  through  St.  27. 
Augustine  Creek,  in  the  rear  of  Fort 
Pulaski.  His  plan,  however,  of  reach 
ing  the  city  itself,  and  cutting  off  the 
communication  between  it  and  Fort  Pu- 

• 

laski,  was  most  completely  thwarted  by 
the  operations  of  the  secessionists,  who, 
through  the  incontinence  of  the  North 
ern  press,  having  timely  information  of 
their  danger,  were  enabled  to  provide 
against  it. 

A  combined  operation  of  the  naval 
and  military  forces  from  Port  Royal  met 
with  more  immediate  success.  The  en 
emy  had  been  endeavoring  to  shut  up  the 
Federal  forces  within  Port  Royal  Island, 
where  they  had  first  landed  and  were 
encamped.  For  this  purpose  t"he  South 
Carolinians  had  placed  obstructions  in 
Coosaw  River  and  the  other  streams  and 
creeks  which  separate  the  island  from 
the  mainland,  had  constructed  batteries, 
the  principal  of  which  were  at  Seabrook, 
Boyd's  Creek,  and  at  Port  Royal  Ferry, 
and  had  so  posted  their  troops  as  to  con 
centrate  a  force  of  2,500  or  3,000  men 
at  either  of  these  points.  To  thwart  the 
designs  of  the  enemy,  Commodore  Du 
pont  and  General  Sherman  agreed  upon 
a  combined  expedition. 

Commander  C.  R.  P.  Rodgers  was  ap 
pointed  to  the  command  of  the  na-  jan,  | 
val  forces,  consisting  of  the  gun-    1^62. 
boats  Ottawa,    Lieutenant-Commanding 
Stevens  ;     Pernbina,     Lieutenant-Com 
manding  Bankhead  ;   four   armed  boats 
carrying  howitzers,  under  the  charge  of 
Lieutenants  Upshur,   Luce,  and   Irwin, 


ATTACK   ON   COOSAW. 


619 


and  Acting-Master  Kempff,  all  of  which 
were  to  enter  the  Coosaw  by  Beaufort 
River  :  the  gun-boat  Seneca,  Lieuten 
ant-Commanding  Ammen,  and  the  tug 
boat  Ellen,  Acting-Master-Commanding 
Budd.  The  last  two  were  to  move  up 
Beaufort  River  and  approach  the  batter 
ies  at  Seabrook  and  Port  Royal  Ferry 
by  Whale  Branch.  The  armed  tug  E. 
B.  Hale,  Acting-Master  Foster,  under 
the  command  of  Lieutenant  Barnes,  was 
afterward  dispatched  to  Commander 
Rodgers. 

A  land  force  of  about  6,000  men— 
the  Roundhead  Regiment,  Colonel  Lea- 
sure  ;  Eighth  Michigan,  Colonel  Fenton  ; 
Fiftieth  Pennsylvania,  Colonel  Christ  ; 
and  the  Seventy-ninth  New  York,  Major 
Morrison  ;  together  with  the  Forty-sev 
enth  New  York,  Colonel  Frazier  ;  and 
the  Forty-eighth  New  York,  Colonel 
Perry — accompanied  the  expedition,  all 
forming  a  brigade  under  the  command 
of  Brigadier-General  Isaac  J.  Stevens. 
The  result  of  the  expedition  is  fully  de 
tailed  in  this  report  of  the  naval  com 
mander,  submitted  to  Commodore  Du- 
pont : 

"  UNITED  STATES  FLAG-SHIP  WABASH,  ) 
"PoKT  ROYAL  HARBOR,  S.  C.,  Jan.  3,  1862.  f 
"  SIR  :  I  reached  Beaufort  at  noon  on 
the  31st  of  December,  with  the  gun 
boats  Ottawa,  Lieutenant-Commanding 
Stevens  ;  and  Pembina,  Lieutenant-Com 
manding  Bankhead  ;  and  the  four  large 
boats  of  this  ship,  each  carrying  a  twelve- 
pound  howitzer,  under  Lieutenants  Up- 
shur,  Luce,  and  Irwin,  and  Acting-Master 
Kempff.  At  sunset  Lieutenant  Barnes, 
of  this  ship,  joined  me  with  the  armed 


steamer  E.  B.  Hale,  Acting-Master-Com 
manding  Foster.  In  order  that  no  inti 
mation  might  be  given  to  the  enemy  of 
our  approach,  these  vessels  remained  at 
Beaufort  until  after  dark,  when  they 
ascended  the  river  to  a  point  about  two 
miles  from  the  Coosaw,  where  we  an 
chored  to  await  daylight.  At  four  the 
next  morning  I  moved  on  with  the 
launches,  and  at  daylight  joined  General 
Stevens,  at  the  head  of  his  column,  and 
at  the  appointed  place  of  rendezvous. 

"  The  troops  having  all  embarked,  we 
crossed  the  Coosaw,  and  at  eight  A.M. 
the  first  detachment  of  volunteers  landed, 
under  cover  of  our  boat  guns,  at  Hay- 
wood's  plantation,  and  with  them  went 
the  two  light  howitzers  of  the  Wabash, 
to  serve  as  a  section  of  light  artillery, 
under  Lieutenant  Irwin,  of  this  ship. 
At  sunrise  Lieutenant-Commanding  Ste 
vens  succeeded  in  getting  the  Ottawa 
through  the  difficult  passage  of  the  Brick 
yard,  and  in  joining  me  in  front  of  the 
column,  the  Pembina  and  E.  B.  Hale  ar 
riving  shortly  afterward.  We  proceeded 
to  the  next  landing,  at  Adams'  planta 
tion,  where  the  remaining  troops  were 
ordered  to  disembark.  On  our  way  up 
we  threw  a  few  shells  into  what  seemed 
an  outpost  of  the  enemy,  near  a  long 
embankment. 

"  Anchoring  the  gun-boat  at  ten  o'clock 
so  as  to  cover  the  route  of  the  advancing 
column  and  the  second  point  of  debark 
ation,  where  also  our  launches  were  sta 
tioned,  I  went  up  in  the  Hale  to  within 
range  of  the  battery  at  Port  Royal  Ferry, 
at  which  Lieutenant  Barnes  threw  a  few 
shot  and  shell,  dislodging  a  body  of  troops 


620 


THE- WAR   WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


stationed  in  the  adjoining  field,  but  eli 
citing  no  response  from  the  battery. 

"  At  half  past  one  P.M.,  General  Ste 
vens  being  ready  to  move,  the  gun-boat 
shelled  the  woods  in  front  of  his  skir 
mishers,  and  then  advancing  we  threw  a 
rapid  fire  into  the  fort  at  Port  Royal 
Ferry,  and  anchored  in  front  of  it  at 
two  forty  P.M.,  the  Ottawa  passing  be 
tween  the  heads  of  the  two  causeways. 
The  enemy  had  succeeded  in  taking  off 
all  their  guns  save  one,  but  I  could  not 
learn  whether  any  except  field  pieces 
had  been  removed  on  the  day  of  attack. 
We  found  a  quantity  of  eight-inch  shells 
and  thirty-pounder  rifled  shells  in  the 
magazines. 

"At  half-past  two  the  Seneca,  Lieu 
tenant-Commanding  Ammen,  and  the 
Ellen,  Master-Commanding  Budd,  the 
other  vessels  which  you  had  placed  under 
my  orders,  having  passed  from  Broad 
River  through  Whale  Branch,  came  with 
in  signal  distance,  and  their  commanders 
came  on  board  the  Ottawa,  having  as 
sisted  in  the  destruction  of  the  works  at 
Seabrook  ;  but  their  vessels  were  pre 
vented  by  the  lowness  of  the  tide  from 
joining  me.  The  Ellen  came  up  at  eight 
o'clock,  and  the  Seneca  the  next  morn 
ing. 

"Immediately  after  the  Ottawa  had 
anchored,  the  ferry  was  reopened,  and 
the  Pennsylvania  Roundheads  passed 
over  and  occupied  the  fort,  where  they 
were  joined,  about  four  o'clock,  by  Gen 
eral  Stevens'  advance  guard.  The  enemy 
appearing  in  force  and  in  line  of  battle 
upon  the  right  of  our  troops,  at  fifteen 
minutes  past  four  o'clock  the  Ottawa 


moved  down  the  river  a  short  distance 
with  the  Pembina  and  opened  fire  with 
eleven-inch  and  Parrott  guns,  their  shells 
falling  among  the  enemy's  troops  with 
great  effect,  driving  them  into  the  woods 
and  clearing  the  flank  of  our  column, 
where  the  skirmishers  had  been  engaged 
and  -the  enemy  had  opened  fire  from  a 
field  battery   of   several   pieces.     Soon 
after  sunset  we  ceased  firing  for  a  while, 
and  the  enemy  sent  a  flag  of  truce  to  one 
of  our  advanced  posts,  to  ask  permission 
to  carry  off  their  killed  and  wounded. 
Just  then  the  gun-boats  reopened,  and 
before  General  Stevens'  messenger  could 
convey  his  reply,  that  the  firing  should 
cease  for  an  hour,  to  enable  the  enemy 
to  carry  off  their  wounded,   the  officer 
who  had  brought  the  flag  had  galloped 
off.     At  sunset  I  landed  our  heavy  how 
itzer,    directing    Lieutenant    Upshur  to 
place  it  in  battery  with  the  guns  already 
on  shore  under  Lieutenant  Irwin,  there 
being  no  artillery  with  the  brigade  but 
that  of  the  Wabash.     At  the  same  time 
Lieutenant  Luce,  with  the  second  launch 
and  its  rifled  gun,  and  Lieutenant  Barnes, 
with  the  Hale,  were  sent  to  the  lower 
landing  to  protect  the  boats  and  steamer 
in  which  our  troops  had  crossed,  and  su 
perintend  their    removal  to   the   ferry, 
which  was  accomplished  about  midnight. 
"  At  sunrise  we  re-embarked  our  boat 
guns.    At  thirty  minutes  past  nine  o'clock 
on  the   morning  of  the  2d,  the  enemy 
again  appearing  in  the  wood,  we  opened 
a  hot  fire  of  shot  and  shells  from  the 
Ottawa,    Seneca,    Pembina,    Ellen,    and 
Hale,  and  after  firing  briskly  for  a  time 
slackened  the  fire  so  as  to  drop  a  shot  or 


FOREIGN  INTERFERENCE. 


621 


shell  into  the  woods  about  once  a  minute. 
At  forty  minutes  past  nine  o'clock  our 
troops  began  to  recross  the  ferry,  and 
were  all  over  by  noon,  our  field  guns 
having  been  landed,  at  the  request  of 
General  Stevens,  to  cover  the  rear  of 
the  returning  column.  The  enemy  made 
no  further  demonstration.  The  scows 
which  had  been  used  in  crossing  were 
taken  to  our  vessels,  to  be  towed  to 
Beaufort,  and  at  two  P.M.  we  got  under 
way  and  moved  down  the  Coosaw  to  a 
point  near  the  Beaufort  River,  where  we 


were  compelled  to  wait  for  the  morning's 
tide  to  pass  through  the  Brickyard  Chan- 
n  o  1 

"  I  have  the  honor  to  be,  etc., 

"  C.  R.  P.  RODGERS,  Commander. 
"To  Flag-Officer  S.  F.  DUPONT,  Commanding 

South  Atlantic  Blockading  Squadron." 

Lieutenant-Commanding  Ammen,  with 
the  gun-boats  Seneca  and  Ellen,  meeting 
with  but  little  resistance,  thoroughly  ac 
complished  his  work  at  Seabrook,  driving 
the  enemy  from  that  quarter  and  de 
stroying  the  fortifications. 


CHAPTER    LIX. 

Inquietude  about  European  Interference. — Want  of  Cotton. — Impatience  of  England  and  France. — Aversion  ot  tue 
United  States  to  Interference. — Neutrality  of  Europe. — Official  expressions  of  opinion. — Officiousness  of  M.  Fould. 
— Offensive  declaration  of  Lord  John  Russell.— Opinion  of  Mr.  Gladstone. — The  War  denounced  by  the  Foreign 
Press  as  Unjust  and  Ineffectual. — Separation  of  the  States  held  in  Europe  to  be  final. — Basis  of  this  opinion.— 
Influence  of  the  Southern  agents  in  Europe. — Irritation  in  the  United  States  in  consequence. — Exultation  at  ths 
Capture  of  Slidell  and  Mason. — Life  of  Slidell. — Political  career  and  character. — Life  of  Mason. — Career  and 
character. — Mission  of  Slidell  and  Mason. — Their  escape  from  Charleston. — Reception  in  Havana. — On  board  the 
Trent. — The  San  Jacinto.— Her  cruise. — After  the  Trent. — The  Trent  overhauled  and  brought  to.— Capture  of 
Slidell  and  Mason. — Arrival  of  the  San  Jacinto  in  the  United  States. — Mason  and  Slidell  in  Fort  Warren 


A  NATURAL  inquietude  was  felt  from 
the  very  commencement  of  the  civil 
war,  lest  the  great  powers  of  Europe 
might,  when  they  found  their  commercial 
interests,  which  were  so  closely  inter 
woven  with  those  of  the  United  States, 
disturbed  by  the  conflict,  seek  an  occasion 
for  interference.  The  want  of  cotton  to 
supply  the  great  manufacturers  of  Europe 
with  material  for  continued  production 
of  their  fabrics,  and  consequently  neces 
sary  means  for  the  subsistence  of  their 
millions  of  workmen,  would,  none  could 


deny,  be  felt  more  intensely,  especially 
by  France  and  England,  with  each  day's 
duration  of  the  war,  and  render  them 
impatient  to  bring  it  to  a  close. 

The  United  States,  confident  of  its  pow 
er  soon  to  restore  its  authority  throughout 
its  whole  domain,  and  with  the  natural 
self-respect  of  a  great  nation,  was  exceed 
ingly  averse  to  any  interposition  of  for 
eign  powers  in  its  domestic  quarrel.  All 
suggestions  of  friendly  mediation  were 
proudly  disdained,  and  all  movements 
which  bore  the  semblance  of  interfer- 


622 


THE   WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


enee  were  anxiously  watched.  Though 
the  governments  of  France  and  England, 
directing  their  action  in  accordance  with 
a  discreet  regard  for  the  international 
rights  of  the  United  States,  preserved  a 
strict  neutrality,  there  were  many  leaders 
of  opinion  in  both  countries  who  did  not 
hesitate  to  express  views  of  the  civil 
quarrel  exceedingly  distasteful  to  the 
public  sentiment  of  the  North.  Nor 
were  these  merely  the  speculations  of 
publicists,  whose  liberty  of  opinion,  when 
restrained  by  the  ordinary  proprieties  of 
discussion,  no  American  freeman  would 
dispute,  but  were  the  enunciations  of 
ministers  of  those  very  governments 
which  professed  a  resolute  adherence  to 
the  strictest  neutrality. 

Napoleon  III.,  through  his  minister  of 
finance,  Monsieur  Fould,  had  expressed, 
not  officially,  but  officiously — to  use  a  dis 
tinction  borrowed  from  the  French — his 
fear  that  the  union  was  forever  dissolved. 
Earl  Russell,  too,  the  foreign  minister 
of  England,  had  ventured,  though  not 
indeed  in  his  official  capacity,  to  indulge 
in  the  offensive  epigrammatic  declaration, 
that  the  North  was  fighting  for  dominion 
and  the  South  for  independence.  The 
cautious  and  insinuating  Mr.  Gladstone, 
moreover,  even  while  professing  a  tender 
regard  for  the  Government  of  the  United 
States,  could  not  refrain  from  expressing 
the  opinion  that  in  its  attempt  to  subdue 
its  rebellious  citizens,  it  had  undertaken 
what  was  impracticable. 

These  authoritative  if  not  official  judg 
ments  were  naturally  unwelcome  to  a 
people  who  showed  by  their  generous 
devotion  to  their  cause  their  faith  in  its 


justice  and  confidence  in  its  triumph. 
This  perversion,  as  it  was  deemed,  of  the 
motives  and  premature  conclusion  as  to 
the  results  of  the  war,  found  an  exagger 
ated  echo  in  portions  of  the  foreign  press, 
which,  while  disclaiming  any  feeling  of 
sympathy  with  the  slavery  of  the  South, 
virtually  advocated  its  cause  by  denounc 
ing  the  North  as  waging  an  unjust  and 
ineffectual  war. 

Public  opinion  in  Europe,  based  chiefly 
upon  the  assumption  that  the  separation 
of  the  seceding  States  was  an  ultimate 
rupture,  beyond  the  possibility  of  recon 
struction,  was  thus  unfavorable  to  a  war 
for  the  Union.     The  disfavor  with  which 
the  action  of  the  Federal  Government 
was  viewed  by  the  European  powers  was 
attributed  principally  to  a  desire  to  check 
the  progress  of  a  great  nation,  which  they 
feared  was  destined  to  attain  a  prepon 
derating  influence  in  the  world,  and  to 
the  injury  they  sustained  by  the  inter 
ruption   of  those    commercial    relations 
which  are  essential  not  only  to  the  sus 
tenance,  but  to  the  political  obedience  of 
European  operatives.      Another  cause- 
perhaps  the  most  irritating  to  the  North 
ern  people — of  the  unfriendly  feeling  in 
Europe    could    be    traced  to   the   influ 
ence  of  the  agents  of  the  Southern  Con 
federacy,  who  had  been  busily  intrigu 
ing,   since    the    commencement   of    the 
civil  troubles,  with  the  leaders  of  opin 
ion  in  London  and  Paris.     They  had  suc- 
:eeded,  by  their   artful    expositions   of 
the  commercial  advantage  to  Europe  of 
direct  and  free  trade  with  the  South,  in 
arousing  the   cupidity  of  the   manufac 
turers   of   Manchester  and  Lyons,  and 


CAPTURE   OF   SLIDELL  AND  MASON. 


623 


had  thus  created  a  strong  interest  in 
their  favor.  At  the  same  time  they  had 
so  exaggerated  the  resources  of  the  Con 
federacy  and  the  unity  of  sentiment  of 
those  in  subjection  to  it.  and  proportion 
ately  so  underestimated  the  power  and 
loyalty  of  the  North,  as  to  create  a  belief 
that  the  suppression  of  the  rebellion  was 
not  practicable,  nor  even  desirable.  The 
mischief  produced  by  those  intriguing 
agents  of  the  Southern  Confederacy  will 
account  for  the  satisfaction  with  which 
the  people  of  the  North  received  the  in 
telligence  of  the  capture  of  Slidell  and 
Mason,  the  commissioners  sent  by  Jeffer 
son  Davis  to  London  and  Paris. 

John  Slidell,  though  one  of  the  most 
devoted  adherents  of  the  Southern  slav 
ery  faction,  and  among  the  chief  insti 
gators  of  secession,  is  a  native  of  the 
North.  He  was  born  in  the  city  of  New 
York  in  the  year  1793.  His  father  was 
a  thriving  tradesman,  who,  after  accu 
mulating  a  fortune  as  a  tallow-chandler, 
became  president  of  a  bank.  No  man 
was  more  highly  esteemed  by  his  fellow- 
townsmen  than  he  who  was  always  spoken 
of  as  "honest  old  John  Slidell."  His 
son  John  having,  at  the  age  of  one-and- 
twenty,  been  engaged  in  a  duel,  which 
ill  accorded  with  the  orderly  associations 
of  a  staid  tradesman's  family,  was  forced 
to  seek  in  the  license  of  New  Orleans 
society  a  more  congenial  sphere.  He 
accordingly  emigrated  to  that  city,  and, 
possessed  of  a  good  education  and  much 
cleverness,  was,  after  perfecting  himself 
in  the  study  of  the  law,  admitted  to  the 
bar.  He  met  with  rapid  success,  and 
was  appointed  by  President  Jackson  the 


United  States  district  attorney  at  New 
Orleans.  He  was  repeatedly  elected  a 
member  of  the  State  Legislature,  and 
finally  a  representative  to  the  United 
States  Congress,  where,  by  his  political 
tact  and  his  skill  in  debate,  he  early  ac 
quired  a  commanding  position. 

When  war  with  Mexico  seemed  immi 
nent,  Slidell  was  sent  by  President  Polk 
as  a  special  envoy  to  the  Mexican  govern 
ment  with  the  professed  purpose  of  mak 
ing  an  effort  to  prevent  hostilities.  His 
mission,  however,  proved  of  no  avail,  as, 
after  a  long  discussion,  he  was  refused  ar 
official  acknowledgment. 

A  devoted  adherent  to  the  slavery  in 
terest  of  the  South,  and  an  earnest  ad 
vocate  for  extending  its  domination  b} 
the  acquisition  of  new  territory,  he  was 
appointed  by  President  Pierce  United 
States  minister  to  Central  America,  in 
the  hope  that  by  his  characteristic  skil- 
fulness  of  intrigue  he  might  further  the 
Southern  policy  of  the  administration  in 
that  quarter. 

On  the  appointment  of  Soule  as  min 
ister  to  Madrid,  Slidell  was  chosen  by 
the  Legislature  of  Louisiana  to  succeed 
him  in  the  U.  S.  Senate,  to  which  he 
was  subsequently  re-elected  for  the  term 
of  six  years.  He  was  thus  a  senator 
during  the  administration  of  Buchanan, 
and  was  the  master  spirit  of  the  con 
spiracy  then  formed  for  the  dissolution 
of  the  Union.  He  had  been  offered  by 
Buchanan  the  appointment  of  minister 
plenipotentiary  to  Paris,  but  declined  it, 
as  he  preferred  remaining  at  Washing 
ton,  where  his  presence  was  necessary 
to  the  development  of  the  plot  against 


62<t 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


the  Federal  authority.  Possessed  of 
great  wealth,  and  surrounding  himself 
in  his  luxurious  home  with  every  social 
attraction,  he  exercised  great  influence 
upon  the  facile  society  of  the  capital.  He 
thus  contrived  to  mould  the  public  sen 
timent  of  Washington  to  his  purposes 
socially,  while  politically  he  was  pro 
moting  his  designs,  through  his  influence 
over  Buchanan,  who  yielded  his  feeble 
will  to  his  control  without  resistance. 
Lingering  in  Washington  as  long  as  he 
could  intrigue  with  impunity,  he  did  not 
leave  the  capital  until  the  secession  of 
Louisiana  was  beyond  peradventure, 
flrtien  he  took  leave  of  the  U.  S.  Senate 
in  a  defiant  challenge  to  the  sovereignty 
of  the  Union.  He  was  soon  after  elected 
a  member  from  Louisiana  of  the  Congress 
of  the  Confederate  States. 

In  personal  appearance  Slidell — with 
his  portly  person,  defiant  air,  and  intel 
lectual  head — is  impressive  ;  and  he  is 
universally  recognized  as  a  man  of  capac 
ity.  A  master  of  political  tact  and  in 
trigue,  he  is  not  over-scrupulous  in  the 
choice  of  means  to  attain  the  objects  of 
his  restless  ambition.  He  is  the  brother 
of  the  clever  author,  the  late  Lieutenant 
Alexander  Slidell  Mackenzie,  who  is 
thought  by  many  to  have  tarnished  an 
otherwise  spotless  reputation  by  the  ex 
ecution  of  young  Spencer,  the  son  of  the 
secretary  of  state,  John  C.  Spencer,  on 
the  charge  of  being  an  instigator  of  a 
mutinous  plot  on  board  the  brig  Somers. 

Trusting  to  his  political  shrewdness,  so 
cial  tact,  and  familiarity  with  the  French 
language,  Jefferson  Davis  appointed  John 
Slidell  to  intrigue  for  the  recognition  of 


the  Southern  Confederacy,  and  otherwise 
promote  its  interests  in  Paris.  With  him 
was  sent  James  Murray  Mason,  to  per 
form  the  same  part  in  London. 

James  Murray  Mason  was  born  in 
1797,  on  Analostan  Island,  Fairfax  Coun 
ty,  in  Virginia.  His  descent  has  been 
traced  to  George  Mason,  an  English  Cav 
alier  who  fought  on  the  royal  side  dur 
ing  the  civil  war,  and  after  the  defeat  of 
the  king's  troops  at  Worcester  fled  to 
America.  Landing  at  Norfolk,  he  be 
came  a  Virginia  planter,  and  was  the 
progenitor  of  the  distinguished  family  of 
Masons,  of  whom  James  Murray  Mason 
is  one  of  the  most  notable  descendants. 

Mason,  after  a  preliminary  schooling 
at  his  Virginian  home,  and  in  George 
town,  in  the  District  of  Columbia,  was 
sent  to  the  University  of  Pennsylvania, 
where  he  graduated  in  1818.  He  sub 
sequently  attended  lectures  on  law  at 
the  College  of  William  and  Mary,  in 
Williamsburgh,  Virginia,  and  completed 
his  studies  under  the  direction  of  Ben 
jamin  Watkins  Leigh,  an  eminent  law 
yer  of  Richmond. 

In  1820  he  was  licensed  to  practice, 
and  after  several  years'  successful  pur 
suit  of  his  profession  began  his  political 
career  as  a  member  of  the  House  of 
Delegates  of  Virginia,  to  which  he  was 
first  elected  in  1826,  and  subsequently 
re-elected  twice.  In  1829  he  was  a  dele 
gate  to  the  convention  convoked  for  the 
revision  of  the  State  constitution.  In 
1837  he  was  chosen  a  member  of  the 
House  of  Representatives  of  the  United 
States  Congress,  but  served  only  a  single 
term.  In  1847  he  was  electod  by  the 


LIFE   OF  MASON. 


625 


Legislature  of  Virginia  to  the  United 
States  Senate.  For  fourteen  years  he 
had  been  a  senator,  when,  on  the  seces 
sion  of  his  State,  he  abandoned  the  na 
tional  service.  For  a  long  time  he  was 
an  acknowledged  leader  in  the  Senate, 
and  for  many  years  was  chairman  of  the 
committee  on  foreign  affairs. 

Mason  was  always  among  the  most 
prominent  defenders  of  slavery  in  the 
Senate.  He  was  the  chief  author  of  the 
Fugitive  Slave  Bill,  and  on  the  Kansas- 
Nebraska,  and  all  other  questions  involv 
ing  slavery,  he  tenaciously  defended  the 
special  claims  of  that  institution.  He 
was  no  less  an  advocate  of  the  "  State 
Rights"  doctrine  of  Calhoun,  and  always 
insisted  upon  the  right  of  secession.  In 
September,  1855,  he  wrote  :  "  But  one 
course  remains  for  the  South — imme 
diate,  absolute,  and  eternal  separation. 
Better,  far  better,  to  stand  toward  the 
Northern  States  as  we  stand  to  the  rest 
of  the  world — enemies  in  war.  in  peace 
friends — than  to  remain  halting  under  a 
common  government,  enemies  in  the 
guise  of  peace,  or  friends  at  war."  Yet, 
soothed  by  the  conciliatory  attentions 
of  New  England,  he  could  not  refrain 
from  complimenting  an  audience  at  Bun 
ker  Hill  with  this  tribute  to  their  patri 
otism  :  "I  shall  tell,"  he  said,  "in  old 
Virginia,  when  I  return  to  her  hal 
lowed  land,  that  I  found  the  spirit  of 
Massachusetts  as  buoyant,  as  patriotic, 
as  completely  filled  with  the  emotions 
that  should  govern  patriotism,  when  I 
visited  Bunker  Hill,  as  it  was  when  that 
battle  was  fought." 

As   early  as  in  the  spring  of  1860, 

79 


Mason,  with  a  prescience  of  his  future 
disloyalty,  ventured  to  declare'  in  the 
Senate,  that  "he  recognized  no  allegiance 
to  this  Government ;  he  recognized  and 
acknowledged  no  allegiance  to  this  Gov 
ernment — none  whatever."  He  remain 
ed,  however,  in  the  Senate  until  his  na- ' 
tive  State  allied  herself  to  the  enemies 
of  the  United  States.  He  then  took  a 
defiant  farewell,  and  after  serving  a  while 
as  a  member  of  the  Confederate  Con 
gress  at  Richmond,  accepted  the  appoint 
ment  of  Commissioner  to  London. 

The  first  information  which  reached 
the  North  of  the  mission  of  Slidell  and 
Mason  was  through  vague  allusions  in 
the  Southern  papers.  Subsequently, 
however,  there  came,  through  the  same 
source,  a  direct  statement  of  their  ap 
pointment,  and  an  exulting  account  of 
their  departure,  in  spite  of  the  vigilance 
of  the  Federal  cruisers. 

The  Mercury,  of  Charleston,  whence 
the  Commissioners  sailed,  gave  this  full 
revelation  of  their  escape  : 

"  For  some  time  past  the  papers  of  the 
interior  have  been  indulging  in  sly  Oct. 
hints  as  to  the  whereabouts  of  '!• 
Messrs.  Mason  and  Slidell.  We  have 
hitherto  not  made  any  allusion  to  their 
movements  ;  but  the  causes  which  in 
duced  our  reticence  being  removed,  we 
may  now,  without  indiscretion,  narrate 
the  facts  of  their  embarkation.  The 
Commissioners  having  resolved  to  make 
the  venture  of  running  the  blockade  of 
Charleston,  after  mature  deliberation  se 
lected  for  the  experiment  the  staunch 
and  swift  little  steamer  Theodora,  which 
was,  therefore,  got  ready  for  sea  with  all 


626 


THE  WAR   WITH  THE   SOUTH. 


dispatch.  The  preparations  having  been 
completed,  they  embarked  a  little  before 
midnight  on  Friday,  October  llth.  The 
party  of  passengers  who  were  starting 
on  this  very  unusual  and  somewhat  haz 
ardous  trip  consisted  of  the  following 
persons  : 

"Hon.  J.  M.  Mason,  of  Virginia  ;  Mr. 
McFarland,  secretary  to  Mr.  Mason ; 
Hon.  John  Slidell,  of  Louisiana  ;  Mrs. 
Slidell  ;  Miss  Mathilde  Slidell ;  Miss  Ro- 
sine  Slidell ;  Mr.  Eustis,  secretary  to  Mr. 
Slidell ;  Mrs.  Eustis,  who  is  a  daughter 
of  Mr.  Corcoran,  the  Washington  banker  ; 
Colonel  Le  Mat,  of  Louisiana,  the  in 
ventor  of  the  grape-shot  revolver,  and 
two  or  three  other  gentlemen  whom  it 
will  be  best  for  the  present  not  to  name. 

"  The  night  was  pitch  dark,  and  about 
midnight  a  light  rain  commenced  falling, 
which  rendered  the  chances  of  being  de 
tected  by  the  blockaders  exceedingly 
slirn.  At  one  o'clock  on  Saturday  morn 
ing,  the  hasty  'good-byes,'  and  '  God- 
speed-yous'  having  been  said,  the  cables 
of  the  Theodora  were  loosened,  and  she 
glided  down  the  harbor  on  her  important 
mission.  As  the  steamer  passed  Fort 
Sumter,  every  light  on  board  was  extin 
guished,  and  away  she  went,  right  through 
the  fingers  of  the  blockaders,  far  out  at 
sea.  On  the  evening  of  the  llth  she 
Breached  Nassau  in  safety,  where,  had  the 
opportunity  been  a  favorable  one,  the 
Commissioners  would  have  disembarked  ; 
but,  on  inquiring,  they  ascertained  that 
the  English  steamer  connecting  with  that 
point  touched  at  New  York.  However 
gratifying  a  sight  of  New  York  might 
have  been  under  other  circumstances 


the  Commissioners  determined  in  this 
instance  to  forego  the  pleasure.  So  the 
Theodora  left  Nassau  and  steamed  away 
toward  Cuba.  On  the  16th  instant  she 
arrived  at  Cardenas,  where  the  Commis 
sioners  landed.  The  news  that  a  South 
ern  steamer  had  arrived,  with  Messrs. 
Mason  and  Slidell  on  board,  which  was 
telegraphed  from  Cardenas  to  Havana, 
was  scarcely  credited  at  the  latter  place. 
But  when,  on  the  17th  instant,  the  The 
odora  came  up  the  harbor  of  Havana, 
displaying  the  Confederate  flag,  the  quays 
were  immediately  thronged  with  thou 
sands  of  wondering  spectators,  and  a 
most  cordial  and  enthusiastic  reception 
was  given  to  the  adventurous  little  craft." 

The  two  Commissioners  and  their  at 
taches  remained  in  Havana,  where  they 
were  received  with  a  partial  welcome,  and 
were  even  entertained  by  the  British  con 
sul,  though,  it  is  said,  not  officially — and 
presented  by  him  to  the  Captain- General 
of  Cuba — until  the  7th  of  November, 
when  they  embarked  on  board  the  British 
mail  steamer  Trent,  for  St.  Thomas,  flov, 
whence  they  expected  to  be  trans-  7. 
ferred  to  another  British  mail  steamer 
for  Southampton,  in  England. 

In  the  mean  time,  while  the  Commis 
sioners  were  pursuing  their  voyage,  the 
United  States  steamer  San  Jacinto,  a  first- 
class  screw  steam  sloop,  mounting  fifteen 
guns,  had  arrived  in  the  West  Indies  from 
the  African  coast,  where  she  had  been 
one  of  the  vessels  of  the  usual  squadron 
on  that  station.  Captain  Charles  Wilkes 
had  assumed  command  of  the  San  Ja 
cinto  at  Fernando  Po,  where  he  had  been 
awaiting  her  arrival.  In  the  course  of 


AFTER  THE   TRENT. 


027 


his  cruise  in  the  West  Indies,  where 
he  was  on  the  look-out  for  privateers, 
he  learned  at  Cienfuegos,  from  the  news 
papers,  that  the  Theodora  had  run  the 
blockade  at  Charleston  and  arrived  at 
Havana,  after  landing  the  Confederate 
Commissioners,  with  their  families  and 
secretaries,  at  Cardenas.  Captain  Wilkes 
determined  at  once  to  intercept  the  The 
odora  on  her  return  to  Charleston,  and 
accordingly,  having  taken  on  board  hur 
riedly  a  sufficient  quantity  of  coal  for  a 
short  cruise,  left  Cienfuegos  on  the  26th 
of  October,  and  arrived  at  Havana  on 
the  28th.  Here  he  found  that  he  was 
too  late  for  the  Theodora,  as  she  had  al 
ready  returned  to  Charleston.  The  Com 
missioners,  however,  were  still  in  Havana, 
and  having  heard  of  their  intention  to 
take  passage  in  the  British  mail  packet 
Trent  for  St.  Thomas,  en  route  for  Eng 
land,  Capt.  Wilkes  "  conceived  the  bold 
plan  of  intercepting  the  English  steam 
er,  and  in  the  event  of  these  persons 
being  on  board,  to  make  them  prisoners.'7 
The  San  Jacinto  was  accordingly  filled 
up  with  coal  "in  great  haste,"  and  pro 
visioned,  and  took  her  departure  from 
NOVt  Havana  on  the  2d  of  November. 
2«  After  proceeding  to  Key  West  in 
search  of  the  Powhatan,  to  aid  him  in 
his  object,  but  failing  to  find  her,  Captain 
Wilkes.  "nothing  daunted,  fully  resolved 
to  undertake  the  boldy  conceived  enter 
prise  alone."  On  the  morning  of  the 
5th  of  November  the  San  Jacinto  left 
Key  West,  and  running  to  the  north  side 
of  the  island  of  Cuba,  touched  at  Sagua 
La  Grande,  where  Captain  Wilkes  tele 
graphed  to  the  American  consul-general, 


Mr.  Schufeldt,  at  Havana,  for  information 
as  to  the  day  of  sailing  of  the  Trent,  but 
received  no  response.  The  San  Jacinto 
now  steamed  for  the  Old  Bahama  Chan 
nel,  situated  about  twenty  miles  east  of 
the  north  side  of  Cuba,  two  hundred  and 
forty  miles  from  Havana,  and  nearly  ten 
from  the  light-house  of  Paradon  La 
Grande.  As  the  channel  contracts  there 
to  the  width  of  fifteen  miles,  and  was 
directly  in  the  course  of  the  Trent,  there 
was  not  much  probability  of  missing 
her.  During  the  night  of  the  7th  of 
November,  having  reached  this  channel, 
the  San  Jacinto  laid  off  and  on,  with  all 
her  batteries  loaded,  and  the  bulwarks 
around  the  pivot  gun  on  the  forecastle 
removed.  At  the  same  time  Captain 
Wilkes  issued  an  order  to  Lieutenant  D. 
M.  Fairfax,  the  executive  officer  of  the 
ship,  to  have  two  boats  ready  manned 
and  armed  to  board  the  English  packet 
as  soon  as  she  should  be  hove  to  under 
the  guns  of  the  San  Jacinto.  The  Lieu 
tenant  was,  moreover,  ordered,  in  case, 
on  boarding  the  Trent,  he  found  Messrs. 
Slidell,  Mason,  Eustis,  and  McFarland 
among  the  passengers,  to  make  them 
prisoners  and  send  them  immediately  on 
board  the  San  Jacinto,  while  to  their 
families  he  was  instructed  by  the  Captain 
to  offer,  in  his  name,  his  cabin,  in  case 
they  should  resolve  upon  going  to  the 
United  States.  Captain  Wilkes  closed 
his  order  with  the  remark  :  "  I  trust  that 
all  those  under  your  command,  in  exe 
cuting  this  important  and  delicate  duty, 
will  conduct  themselves  with  all  the  deli 
cacy  and  kindness  which  become  our 
naval  service." 


628 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


The  second  and  third  cutters  of  the 
ship  were  accordingly  manned,  armed, 
and  kept  in  readiness  for  the  service  con- 
XOV,  templated,  of  which  Lieut.  Fairfax 

8»  was  to  have  the  conduct.  Thus  pre 
pared,  the  coming  of  the  Trent  was  anx 
iously  watched.  She  finally  made  her 
appearance  at  about  noon  on  the  8th  of 
November.  Everything  was  made  ready  ; 
the  men  were  beat  to  quarters,  and  as 
soon  as  the  British  steamer  was  within 
reach,  every  gun  on  the  starboard  of  the 
San  Jacinto  was  trained  upon  her.  A 
shot  from  the  pivot  gun  was  now  dis 
charged  across  her  bow.  The  Trent 
hoisted  English  colors,  but  "  showed  no 
disposition  to  slacken  her  speed  or 
heave  to."  The  San  Jacinto  responded 
by  unfurling  the  United  States  flag, 
and  waiting  until  the  Trent  was  close 
upon  her,  fired  a  shell  across  her  bow, 
which  brought  her  to.  Captain  Wilkes 
now  hailed  her,  and  saying  he  would 
send  a  boat,  ordered  Lieutenant  Fair 
fax  to  board  her.  The  Lieutenant  ac 
cordingly  went  in  the  second  cutter,  while 
the  third  cutter  remained  alongside  of 
the  San  Jacinto  in  readiness  to  follow  in 
case  it  were  wanted.  The  proceedings 
of  Lieutenant  Fairfax  are  best  detailed 
in  his  own  report  to  Captain  Wilkes,  of 
the  strict  truthfulness  of  which  his  hon 
orable  character  is  the  surest  proof. 

"  U.  S.  STEAMER  SAN  JACINTO,  | 
At  Sea,  Nov.  12.  [ 

"  At  1.20  P.M.  on  the  8th  inst.,  I  re 
paired,"  wrote  Lieut.  Fairfax,  "  along 
side  of  the  British  mail  packet  in  an 
armed  cutter,  accompanied  by  Mr.  Hous 
ton,  second  assistant  engineer,  and  Mr. 


Grace,  the  boatswain.  I  went  on  board 
the  Trent  alone,  leaving  the  two  officers 
in  the  boat,  with  orders  to  wait  until  it 
became  necessary  to  show  some  force. 
I  was  shown  up  by  the  first  officer  to  the 
quarter-deck,  where  I  met  the  captain 
and  informed  him  who  I  was,  asking  to 
see  his  passenger  list.  He  declined  let 
ting  me  see  it.  I  then  told  him  that  I 
had  information  of  Mr.  Mason,  Mr.  Sli- 
dell,  Mr.  Eustis,  and  Mr.  McFarland  hav 
ing  taken  their  passage  at  Havana  in  the 
packet  to  St.  Thomas,  and  would  satisfy 
myself  whether  they  were  on  board  be 
fore  allowing  his  steamer  to  proceed. 
Mr.  Slidell,  evidently  hearing  his  name 
mentioned,  came  up  to  me  and  asked  if 
I  wanted  to  see  him.  Mr.  Mason  soon 
joined  us,  and  then  Mr.  Eustis  and  Mr. 
McFarland,  when  I  made  known  the 
object  of  my  visit.  The  captain  of  the 
Trent  opposed  anything  like  a  search  of 
his  vessel,  nor  would  he  consent  to  show 
his  papers  or  passenger  list.  The  fdur 
gentlemen  above  mentioned  protested 
also  against  my  arresting  and  sending 
them  to  the  United  States  steamer  near 
by.  There  was  considerable  noise  among 
the  passengers  just  about  that  time,  and 
that  led  Mr.  Houston  and  Mr.  Grace  to 
repair  on  board  with  some  six  or  eight 
men,  all  armed.  After  several  unsuc 
cessful  efforts  to  persuade  Mr.  Mason  and 
Mr.  Slidell  to  go  with  me  peaceably,  I 
called  to  Mr.  Houston  and  ordered  him 
to  return  to  the  ship  with  the  informa 
tion  that  the  four  gentlemen  named  in 
your  order  of  the  8th  inst.  were  on  board, 
and  force  must  be  applied  to  take  them 
out  of  the  packet. 


SEIZURE   OF  SLIDELL  AND  MASON. 


C29 


"  About  three  minutes  after,  there  was 
still  greater  excitement  on  the  quarter 
deck,  which  brought  Mr.  Grace  with  his 
armed  party.  I,  however,  deemed  the 
presence  of  any  armed  men  unnecessary, 
and  only  calculated  to  alarm  the  ladies 
present,  and  directed  Mr.  Grace  to  re 
turn  to  the  lower  deck,  where  he  had 
been  since  coming  on  board.  It  must 
have  been  less  than  half  an  hour  after  I 
boarded  the  Trent  when  the  second 
armed  cutter,  under  Lieutenant  Greer, 
came  alongside  (only  two  armed  boats 
being  used).  He  brought  in  the  third 
cutter  eight  marines  and  four  machinists, 
in  addition  to  a  crew  of  some  twelve 
men.  When  the  marines  and  some 
armed  men  had  been  formed  just  out 
side  of  the  main-deck  cabin,  where  these 
four  gentlemen  had  gone  to  pack  up 
their  baggage,  I  renewed  my  efforts  to 
induce  them  to  accompany  me  on  board. 
Still  refusing  to  accompany  me  unless 
force  was  applied,  I  called  in  to  my  as 
sistance  four  or  five  officers,  and  first 
taking  hold  of  Mr.  Mason's  shoulder, 
with  another  officer  on  the  opposite  side, 
I  went  as  far  as  the  gangway  of  the 
steamer  and  delivered  him  over  to  Lieu 
tenant  Greer,  to  be  placed  in  the  boat. 
I  then  returned  for  Mr.  Slidell,  who  in 
sisted  that  I  must  apply  considerable 
force  to  get  him  to  go  with  me  ;  calling  in 
at  least  three  officers,  he  also  was  taken 
in  charge  and  handed  over  to  Mr.  Greer. 

"  Mr.  McFarland  and  Mr.  Eustis,  after 


protesting,  went  quietly  into  the  boat. 
They  had  been  permitted  to  collect  their 
baggage,  but  were  sent  in  advance  of  it 
under  charge  of  Lieutenant  Greer.  I 
gave  my  personal  attention  to  the  lug 
gage,  saw  it  put  in  a  boat,  and  sent  in 
charge  of  an  officer  to  the  San  Jacinto. 

"  When  Mr.  Slidell  was  taken  pris 
oner,  a  great  deal  of  noise  was  made  by 
some  of  the  passengers,  which  caused 
Lieutenant  Greer  to  send  the  marines 
into  the  cabin.  They  were  immediately 
ordered  to  return  to  their  former  posi 
tion  outside.  I  carried  out  my  purpose 
without  using  any  force  beyond  what  ap 
pears  in  this  report. 

"  The  mail  agent,  who  is  a  retired 
commander  in  the  British  navy,  seemed 
to  have  a  great  deal  to  say  as  to  the 
propriety  of  my  course  ;  but  I  purposely 
avoided  all  official  intercourse  with  him. 
When  I  was  finally  leaving  the  steamer 
he  made  some  apology  for  his  rude  con 
duct,  and  expressed,  personally,  his  ap 
proval  of  the  manner  in  which  I  carried 
out  my  orders.  We  parted  company 
with  the  Trent  at  3.20  P.M." 

The  San  Jacinto  now  returned  with 
its  prisoners  to  the  United  States,  ar 
riving  at  Sandy  Hook  on  the  18th  of 
November.  Dispatches  from  the  Secre 
tary  of  the  Navy  met  Captain  Wilkes 
there,  and  in  accordance  with  their  in 
structions  he  immediately  sailed  for  Bos 
ton,  where  the  prisoners  were  placed  in 
Fort  Warren. 


630 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


CHAPTER    LX. 

Joy  on  the  Capture  of  Slidell  and  Mason. — Immoderate  excitement. — Captain  Wilkes  in  Boston. — A  hero. — Banquet 
in  Boston. — Immoderate  praise  of  Wilkes.— His  modest  explanation  of  his  conduct. — Universal  applause  of  Wilkes' 
act. — Subsequent  reflection.— Probable  effect  in  Great  Britain. — Public  anxiety.— Congress  and  the  Secretary  of  the 
Navy  approve  of  the  conduct  of  Wilkes.— Caution  and  Foresight  of  Mr.  Seward.— Dispatch  to  Mr.  Adams.— Great 
indignation  in  England  on  the  arrival  of  the  Trent.— Immediate  preparations  for  war.— The  Law  Officers  consulted. 
— Lord  John  Eussell  demands  the  surrender  of  Slidell  and  Mason. — Continued  and  increased  excitement  in  Eng 
land. — Increased  anxiety  in  the  United  States. — Divided  opinion. — Government  resolves  to  give  up  Slidell  and 
Mason. — The  general  relief.— Mr.  Seward's  dispatch. — Ingenious  argument. 


THE  capture  of  Slidell  and  Mason  was 
a  source  of  universal  satisfaction  to 

IKfil 

the  people  of  the  North.  Known, 
as  they  were,  to  be  the  chief  among  the 
instigators  of  secession,  and  the  ablest 
and  most  unscrupulous  of  its  political 
managers,  it  was  not  unnaturally  con 
sidered,  by  those  who  loved  the  Union, 
a  triumph  to  have  arrested  two  of  its 
archest  enemies  in  their  career  of  mis 
chief.  Exulting  in  a  capture  which  was 
supposed  to  be  important  to  its  cause, 
the  North  allowed  its  sense  of  satisfaction 
to  reveal  itself  in  immoderate  joy,  with 
out  a  due  regard  to  the  possible  effect 
upon  the  relations  with  Great  Britain 
of  an  event  involving  some  of  the  grand 
questions  of  international  law. 

It  was  thus  that  the  citizens  of  Boston, 
in  the  fervor  of  their  delight,  welcomed 
Captain  Wilkes  with  his  prisoners  as  if 
he  had  been  a  hero  returning  with  the 
trophies  of  a  great  victory.  The  civic 
authorities  of  Boston  received  him  pub 
licly,  and  the  mayor,  in  set  phrase,  told 
him,  'We  honor  you  as  an  eminent 
scientific  navigator  and  explorer,  as  a 


gallant  and  meritorious  officer  of  our 
navy,  and  for  the  sagacity,  judgment, 
decision,  and  firmness  which  character 
ized  your  recent  brilliant  achievement, 
the  effect  of  which  upon  the  present  re 
bellion  may  prove  not  less  important 
than  the  glorious  naval  victories  on  the 
Southern  coast."  A  banquet  was  sub 
sequently  given  in  Boston  to  the  Captain 
and  his  first  lieutenant,  Fairfax,  at  which 
a  judicial  dignitary  presided  and  civic 
magistrates  assisted.  Eulogistic  speeches 
were  uttered,  in  which  the  act  of  Captain 
Wilkes  was  immoderately  praised  as  a 
deed  of  heroism,  and  its  legality  and 
policy  inconsiderately  assumed  as  un 
questionable.  The  hero  of  the  occasion 
modestly  waived  the  personal  praises  as 
unmerited,  and  took  the  opportunity  of 
explaining  the  motives  of  his  conduct, 
which  he  seemed  to  think  required  justi 
fication. 

' '  Before  deciding  on  the  course  I  adopt 
ed,"  he  said,  "  I  examined  the  authorities 
—Kent,    Wheaton,    and    the    rest— and 
satisfied  myself  that  these  '  Commission 
ers,'  or  '  Ministers/  as  they  styled  them- 


POPULAR  EXULTATION. 


631 


selves,  had  no  rights  which  attach  to 
such  functionaries  when  properly  ap 
pointed  ;  and  finding  that  I  had  a  right 
to  take  written  dispatches,  I  took  it 
for  granted  that  I  had  a  right  to  take 
these  'Commissioners,'  as  the  embodi 
ments  of  dispatches.  I  therefore  took 
it  upon  myself  to  say  to  those  gen 
tlemen  that  they  must  produce  their 
passports  from  the  General  Govern 
ment,  and  as  they  could  not  do  that,  I 
arrested  them." 

In  the  rest  of  the  country  the  feeling 
was  in  accord  with  that  which  had  heen 
exhibited  so  demonstratively  in  the  city 
of  Boston.  A  common  sentiment  of  de 
light  was  expressed  at  the  capture  of 
Slidell  and  Mason,  and  universal  applause 
bestowed  upon  their  captor. 

To  this  first  effervescence  of  feeling 
there  ensued  a  calmer  state  of  the  pub 
lic  mind,  which  led  to  a  reflection  on  the 
probable  solution  in  Great  Britain  of 
a  question  to  which  that  irritable  gov 
ernment  had  been  made  a  party,  by  the 
fact  of  the  seizure  of  the  Confederate 
Commissioners  while  under  the  cover  of 
the  British  flag.  It  was,  however,  so 
easy  to  discover,  in  the  arbitrary  career 
of  that  domineering  power,  so  many  pre 
cedents  of  naval  outrage,  that  public 
opinion  at  the  North  was  persuaded 
without  difficulty  that  England  could  not 
so  repudiate  her  own  conduct  as  to  com 
plain  of  an  act  supposed  to  be  in  har 
mony  with  it. 

The  intelligence  of  the  effect  in  Great 
Britain  of  the  seizure  of  the  Confeder 
ate  Commissioners  was,  notwithstanding, 
awaited  with  considerable  anxiety,  not 


so  much  from  any  disquietude  about  the 
legality  of  the  act,  as  from  the  fear  lest 
the  British  Government,  suspected  of  an 
unfriendly  disposition,  might  make  it  a 
pretext  for  interfering  with  a  conflict 
which  it  was  known  to  be  anxious  to 
bring  to  a  close. 

Though  the  popular  exultation  at  the 
capture  of  Slidell  and  Mason,  and  ap 
plause  of  their  captor,  were  officially 
re-echoed  by  Congress  and  the  Secretary 
of  the  Navy,  the  more  cautious  Secretary 
of  State  seemed  from  the  earliest  moment 
to  have  been  aware  of  the  gravity  of  the 
international  question  involved  in  ^ov. 
the  act,  and  in  a  dispatch*  to  the  30. 

°  DEPARTMENT  op  STATE,  WASHINGTON,  j 
Nao.  30,  1861.  I 

CHARLES  FRANCIS  ADAMS,  ESQ.,  etc.  : 

SIR  :  Your  confidential  note  of  the  15th  of  November, 
not  marked  as  a  dispatch,  has  been  submitted  to  the 
President,  and  I  hasten  to  reply  to  it  in  time  for  the  Wed 
nesday's  mail. 

We  are  impressed  very  favorably  by  Lord  Palmerston's 
conversation  with  you.  You  spoke  the  simple  fact  when 
you  told  him  that  the  life  of  this  insurrection  is  sustained 
by  its  hopes  of  recognition  in  Great  Britain  and  France. 
It  would  perish  in  ninety  days  if  those  hopes  should  cease. 
I  have  never  for  a  moment  believed  that  such  a  recogni 
tion  could  take  place  without  producing  immediately  a 
war  between  the  United  States  and  all  the  recognizing 
Powers.  I  have  not  supposed  it  possible  that  the  British 
Government  could  fail  to  see  this,  and,  at  the  same  time, 
I  have  sincerely  believed  the  British  Government  must,  in 
its  inmost  heart,  be  as  averse  from  such  a  war  as  I  know 
this  Government  is. 

1  am  sure  that  this  Government  has  carefully  avoided 
giving  any  cause  of  offence  or  irritation  to  Great  Britain. 
But  it  seems  to  me  that  the  British  Government  has  been 
inattentive  to  the  currents  that  seem  to  be  bringing  the 
two  countries  into  collision.  °  ° 

I  infer  from  Lord  Palmerston's  remark,  that  the  British 
Government  is  now  awake  to  the  importance  of  averting 
possible  conflict,  and  disposed  to  confer  and  act  with  earn 
estness  to  that  end.  If  so,  we  are  disposed  to  meet  them 
in  the  same  spirit,  as  a  nation  chiefly  of  British  lineage, 
sentiments,  and  sympathies— a  civilized  and  humane  na 
tion,  a  Christian  people. 

Since  that  conversation  was  held,  Captain  Wilkes,  in 


632 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE   SOUTH. 


American  Minister  at  London  prepared 
the  way  for  its  amicable  solution. 

On  the  arrival  of  the  Trent  in  Eng 
land,  and  the  publication  of  the  highly 
colored  statements  of  its  officers,  the 
seizure  of  Slidell  and  Mason  was  de 
nounced  as  an  outrage,  and  the  popular 
indignation  greatly  excited.  The  British 
Government,  moreover,  assuming  that 
it  had  been  wantonly  insulted  by  the 
United  States,  made  rapid  and  formida 
ble  preparations  for  war.  The  ques 
tion  of  the  seizure  of  the  Confederate 
Commissioners  having  been  formally 
submitted  to  the  law  officers  of  the 
Crown,  who  had  pronounced  it  contrary 
to  international  law,  Earl  Russell,  the 
secretary  of  foreign  affairs,  at  once  sent 
through  the  British  minister,  Lord  Lyons, 

the  steamer  Sail  Jacinto,  has  boarded  a  British  colonial 
steamer,  and  taken  from  her  deck  the  two  insurgents,  who 
were  proceeding  to  Europe  on  an  errand  of  treason  against 
their  own  country.  This  is  a  new  incident  unknown  to 
and  unforeseen,  at  least  in  its  circumstances,  by  Lord 
Palmerston.  It  is  to  be  met  and  disposed  of  by  the  two 
Governments,  if  possible,  in  the  spirit  to  which  I  have 
adverted.  Lord  Lyons  has  prudently  refrained  from  open 
ing  the  subject  to  me,  as  I  presume  waiting  instructions 
from  home.  We  adhere  to  that  course  now,  because  we 
think  it  more  prudent  that  the  ground  taken  by  the  Brit 
ish  Government  should  be  first  made  known  to  us  here, 
and  that  the  discussion,  if  there  be  one,  shall  be  had  here. 
It  is  proper,  however,  that  you  should  know  one  fact  in 
the  case,  without  indicating  that  we  attach  importance  to 
it—  namely,  that  in  the  capture  of  Messrs.  Mason  and 
Slidell  on  board  a  British  vessel,  Captain  Wilkes  having 
acted  without  any  instruction  from  the  Government,  the 
subject  is  therefore  free  from  the  embarrassment  which 
might  have  resulted  if  the  act  had  been  specially  directed 
by  us. 

I  trust  that  the  British  Government  will  consider  the 
sabject  in  a  friendly  temper,  and  it  may  expect  the  best 
disposition  on  the  part  of  this  Government. 

Although  this  is  a  confidential  note,  I  shall  not  object 
to  you  reading  it  to  Earl  Russell  and  Lord  Palmerston,  if 
you  deem  it  expedient. 

I  am,  sir,  your  obedient  servant, 

WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD. 


at  Washington,  a  formal  demand*    for 
the  surrender  of  Slidell  and  Mason. 


°  FOREIGN  OFFICE,  Nov.  30,  1862. 
THE  LORD  LYONS,  K.C.B.,  etc.  : 

MY  LORD— Intelligence  of  a  very  grave  nature  has 
reached  her  Majesty's  Government. 

This  intelligence  was  conveyed  officially  to  the  know 
ledge  of  the  Admiralty  by  Commander  Williams,  agent 
for  mails  on  board  the  contract  steamer  Trent. 

It  appears  from   the   letter  of    Commander  Williams, 
dated  "Royal  Mail  Contract  Packet  Trent,  at  Sea,  Novem 
ber  9,"  that  the  Trent  left  Havana  on  the  7th  inst.,  with 
her  Majesty's  mail  for  England,  having  on  board  numer 
ous  passengers.     Commander  Williams  states  that  shortly 
after  noon  on  the  8th,  a  steamer  having  the  appearance 
of  a  man-of-war,  but  not  showing  colors,  was  observed 
ahead.     On  nearing  her,  at  fifteen  minutes  past  one  P.M., 
she  fired  a  round  shot  from  her  pivot  gun  across  the  bows 
of  the  Trent,  and  showed  American  colors.     While  the 
Trent  was  approaching  her  slowly,  the  American  vessel 
discharged  a  shell  across  the  bows  of  the  Trent,  exploding 
half  a  cable's   length   ahead   of   her.     The   Trent   then 
stopped,  and  an   officer   with  a  large   armed   guard   of 
marines  boarded  her  ;  the  officer  demanded  a  list  of  the 
passengers ;  but  compliance  with  this  demand  being  re 
fused,  the  officer  said  he  had   orders   to   arrest  Messrs. 
Mason,  Slidell,  McFarland,  and  Eustis,  and  that  he  had 
sure  information  of  their  being  passengers  of  the  Trent. 
While  some  parley  was  going  on  upon  the  matter,  Mr. 
Slidell  stepped  forward  and  told  the  American  officer  that 
the  four  persons  he  had  named  were  standing  before  him. 
The  commander  of  the  Trent  and  Commander  Williams 
protested  against  the  act  of  taking  by  force  out  of  the  Trent 
these  four  passengers,  then  under  the  protection  of  the 
British  flag.     But  the  San  Jacinto  was  at  that  time  only 
two  hundred  yards  from  the  Trent,  her  ship's  company  at 
quarters,  her  ports  open  and  tompions  out.     Resistance 
was  therefore  out  of  the  question,  and  the  four  gentlemen 
before  named  were  forcibly  taken  out  of  the   ship.     A 
further  demand  was  made  that  the  commander  of  the 
Trent  should  proceed  on  board  the  San  Jacinto  ;  but  he 
said  he  would  not  go  unless  compelled  forcibly  likewise, 
and  this  demand  was  not  insisted  upon. 

It  thus  appears  that  certain  individuals  have  been  forci 
bly  taken  from  on  board  a  British  vessel,  the  ship  of  a 
neutral  Power,  while  such  vessel  was  pursuing  a  lawful 
and  innocent  voyage— an  act  of  violence  which  was  an 
affront  to  the  British  flag  and  a  violation  of  international 
law. 

Her  Majesty's  Government,  bearing  in  mind  the 
friendly  relations  which  have  long  subsisted  between 
Great  Britain  and  the  United  States,  are  willing  to  believe 
that  the  United  States  naval  officer  who  committed  the 
aggression  was  not  acting  in  compliance  with  any 
authority  from  his  government,  or  that,  if  he  conceived 
himself  to  be  so  authorized,  he  greatly  misunderstood  the 


EXCITEMENT  IN   ENGLAND. 


633 


In  the  mean  while,  before  this  grave 
dispatch  could  reach  its  destination  and 
an  answer  be  returned,  the  popular  ex 
citement  in  England  continued  to  inten 
sify.  The  British  Government  at  the 
same  time  was  sanctioning  the  public 
agitation  by  its  increased  activity  in 
warlike  preparation,  which  it  did  not 
lessen  even  after  being  assured  by  the 
dispatch  of  Mr.  Seward,*  that  the  seizure 
of  Slidell  and  Mason  had  not  been  au 
thorized  by  the  American  Government, 
and  of  its  conciliatory  disposition. 

This  apparent  exhibition  of  hostile 
feeling  on  the  part  of  the  British  Gov 
ernment  and  people  was  received  in  the 
United  States  partly  with  anxiety  lest 
a  foreign  war  should  complicate  our 
domestic  troubles,  and  partly  with  a 
defiant  resolution  to  maintain  the  posi 
tion  assumed  by  force  of  arms.  Opinion 

instructions  which  he  had  received.  For  the  Govern 
ment  of  the  United  States  must  be  fully  aware  that  the 
British  Government  could  not  allow  such  an  affront  to 
the  national  honor  to  pass  without  full  reparation,  and 
her  Majesty's  Government  are  unwilling  to  believe  that  it 
could  be  the  deliberate  intention  of  the  Government  of 
the  United  States  unnecessarily  to  force  into  discussion 
between  the  two  Governments  a  question  of  so  grave  a 
character,  and  with  regard  to  which  the  whole  British 
nation  would  be  sure  to  entertain  such  unanimity  of  feel 
ing.  Her  Majesty's  Government,  therefore,  trust  that 
when  this  matter  shall  have  been  brought  under  the  con 
sideration  of  the  Government  of  the  United  States,  it  will, 
of  its  own  accord,  offer  to  the  British  Government  such 
redress  as  alone  could  satisfy  the  British  nation,  namely  : 

The  liberation  of  the  four  gentlemen  and  their  de 
livery  to  your  lordship,  in  order  that  they  may  again  be 
placed  under  British  protection,  and  a  suitable  apology  for 
the  aggression  which  has  been  committed. 

Should  these  terms  not  be  offered  by  Mr.  Seward,  you 
will  propose  them  to  him. 

You  are  at  liberty  to  read  this  dispatch  to  the  Secre 
tary  of  State,  and  if  he  shall  desire  it,  you  will  give  him  a 
copy  of  it.  I  am,  etc.,  RUSSELL. 

°  See  dispatch  of  Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Adams,  of  Nov.  1, 
before  quoted. 

80 


was  thus  divided  while  the  demand  of 
Great  Britain  was  under  consideration 
by  our  Government.  When,  finally, 
the  resolution  was  taken  to  give  up 
Slidell  and  Mason,  and  the  announce 
ment  made  to  the  public  by  the  publi 
cation  of  the  correspondence  between 
the  two  Governments,  there  was  a 
general  feeling  of  relief.  This  may  be 
accounted  for  partly  by  the  discreet 
courtesy  of  Earl  Russell's  dispatch, 
partly  by  the  ingenious  answer  of  Mr. 
Seward,  who  had  contrived  to  show 
that  the  demand  of  England  was  only  in 
accordance  with  American  views  of  in 
ternational  law,  but  chiefly  by  the  satis 
faction  of  evading  the  complication  of  a 
foreign  war  which  might  have  prevented 
the  success  of  the  great  cause  of  restor 
ing  the  Union  to  which  the  national 
heart  was  so  intensely  devoted.* 

0  This  is  the  memorable  dispatch  of  Mr.  Seward  ad 
dressed  to  Lord  Lyons,  the  British  minister,  in  answer  to 
the  demand  of  the  English  Government  : 

"  DEPARTMENT  OF  STATE,  ) 

"  WASHINGTON,  December  16th,  1861.  \ 

"My  LORD:  Earl  Russell's  dispatch  of  November  the 
30th,  a  copy  of  which  you  have  left  with  me  at  my  re 
quest,  is  of  the  following  effect,  namely,  that  a  letter  of 
Commander  Williams,  dated  royal  mail  contract  boat 
Trent,  at  sea,  November  9th,  states  that  that  vessel  left 
Havana  on  the  7th  of  November  with  her  Majesty's  mails 
for  England,  having  on  board  numerous  passengers, 

"  Shortly  after  noon,  on  the  8th  of  November,  the 
United  States  war  steamer  San  Jacinto,  Captain  Wilkes, 
not  showing  colors,  was  observed  ahead.  That  steamer, 
on  being  neared  by  the  Trent,  at  one  o'clock  fifteen  min 
utes  in  the  afternoon,  fired  a  round  shot  from  a  pivot  gun 
across  her  bows  and  showed  American  colors.  While  the 
Trent  was  approaching  slowly  toward  the  San  Jacinto  she 
discharged  a  shell  across  the  Trent's  bows,  which  ex 
ploded  at  half  a  cable's  length  before  her.  The  Trent 
then  stopped,  and  an  officer  with  a  large  armed  guard  of 
marines  boarded  her. 

"The  officer  said  he  had  orders  to  arrest  Messrs.  Mason. 
Slidell,  McFarland,  and  Eustis,  and  had  sure  information 
that  they  were  passengers  in  the  Trent.  While  some  par- 


634 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


Although  there  were   points    in    the 
reply  of  Mr.  Seward  to  which  the  British 

ley  was  going  on  upon  this  matter,  Mr.  Slidell  stepped 
forward  and  said  to  the  American  officer  that  the  four  per 
sons  he  had  named  were  standing  before  him.  The  com 
mander  of  the  Trent  and  Commander  Williams  protested 
against  the  act  of  taking  these  four  passengers  out  of  the 
Trent,  they  then  being  under  the  protection  of  the  British 
flag.  But  the  San  Jacinto  was  at  this  time  only  two 
hundred  yards  distant,  her  ship's  company  at  quarters, 
her  ports  open  and  tompions  out,  and  so  resistance  was 
out  of  the  question. 

"  The  four  persons  before  named  were  then  forcibly 
taken  out  of  the  ship.  A  further  demand  was  made  that 
the  commander  of  the  Trent  should  proceed  on  board  the 
San  Jacinto,  but  he  said  he  would  not  go  unless  forcibly 
compelled  likewise,  and  this  demand  was  not  insisted 
upon.  Upon  this  statement  Earl  Eussell  remarks  that  it 
thus  appears  that  certain  individuals  have  been  forcibly 
taken  from  on  board  a  British  vessel,  the  ship  of  a  neutral 
power,  while  that  vessel  was  pursuing  a  lawful  and  inno 
cent  voyage ;  an  act  of  violence  which  was  an  affront  to 
the  British  flag,  and  a  violation  of  international  law. 

"  Earl  Eussell  next  says  that  her  Majesty's  Government, 
bearing  in  mind  the  friendly  relations  which  have  long 
subsisted  between  Great  Britain  and  the  United  States, 
are  willing  to  believe  that  the  naval  officer  who  commit 
ted  this  aggression  was  not  acting  in  compliance  with  any 
authority  from  his  government,  or  that  if  he  conceived 
himself  to  be  so  authorized,  he  greatly  misunderstood  the 
instructions  which  he  received. 

"Earl  Russell  argues  that  the  United  States  must  be 
fully  aware  that  the  British  Government  could  not  allow 
Buch  an  affront  on  the  national  honor  to  pass  without  full 
reparation,  and  they  are  willing  to  believe  that  it  could 
not  be  the  deliberate  intention  of  the  Government  of  the 
United  States  unnecessarily  to  force  into  discussion  be 
tween  the  two  Governments  a  question  of  so  grave  a  char 
acter,  and  with  regard  to  which  the  whole  British  nation 
would  be  sure  to  entertain  such  unanimity  of  feeling. 

"  Earl  Russell,  resting  upon  the  statement  and  the  ar 
gument  which  I  have  thus  recited,  closes  with  saying  that 
her  Majesty's  Government  trust  that  when  this  matter 
shall  have  been  brought  under  the  consideration  of  the 
Government  of  the  United  States,  it  will,  of  its  own  ac 
cord,  offer  to  the  British  Government  such  redress  as  alone 
could  satisfy  the  British  nation,  namely,  the  liberation  of 
the  four  prisoners  taken  from  the  Trent,  and  their  deliv 
ery  to  your  lordship,  in  order  that  they  may  again  be 
placed  under  British  protection,  and  a  suitable  apology 
for  the  aggression  which  has  been  committed.  Earl  Rus 
sell  finally  instructs  you  to  propose  these  terms  to  me  if  I 
should  not  first  offer  them  on  the  part  of  this  Govern 
ment. 

"  This  dispatch  has  been  submitted  to  the  President. 


Government  might,  if  not  pacifically  dis 
posed,  take  exception,  there  was  little 

"  The  British  Government  has  rightly  conjectured, 
what  it  is  my  duty  to  state,  that  Captain  Wilkes,  in  conceiv 
ing  and  executing  the  proceeding  in  question,  acted  upon  his  own 
suggestions  of  duty,  without  any  direction,  or  instruction,  or  even 
foreknowledge  of  it,  on  the  part  of  this  Government.  No  directions 
had  been  given  to  him,  or  any  other  naval  officer,  to  arrest  the  four 
persvns  named,  or  any  of  them  on  the  Trent,  or  on  any  other  Brit 
ish  vessel,  at  the  place  w/iere  it  occurred  or  elsewhere. 

"  The  British  Government  will  justly  infer  from  these 
facts  that  the  United  States  not  only  have  had  no  purpose, 
but  even  no  thought  of  forcing  into  discussion  the  ques 
tion  which  has  arisen,  or  any  other  which  could  affect  in 
any  way  the  sensibilities  of  the  British  nation. 

"  It  is  true  that  a  round  shot  was  fired  by  the  San  Ja 
cinto  from  her  pivot  gun  when  the  Trent  was  approach 
ing  ;  but  as  the  facts  have  been  reported  to  this  Govern 
ment,  the  shot  was,  nevertheless,  intentionally  fired  in  a 
direction  so  obviously  divergent  from  the  course  of  the 
Trent  as  to  be  quite  as  harmless  as  a  blank  shot,  while  it 
should  be  regarded  as  a  signal.  So,  also,  we  learn  that 
the  Trent  was  not  approaching  the  San  Jacinto  slowly 
when  the  shell  was  fired  across  her  bows,  but,  on  the  con 
trary,  the  Trent  was,  or  seemed  to  be,  moving  under  a 
full  head  of  steam,  as  if  with  a  purpose  to  pass  the  San 
Jacinto. 

"  We  are  informed,  also,  that  the  boarding  officer  (Lieu 
tenant  Fairfax)  did  not  board  the  Trent  with  a  large 
armed  guard,  but  he  left  his  marines  in  his  boat  when  he 
entered  the  Trent.  He  stated  his  instructions  from  Cap 
tain  Wilkes  to  search  for  the  four  persons  named,  in  a  re 
spectful  and  courteous  though  decided  manner,  and  he 
asked  the  captain  of  the  Trent  to  show  his  passenger  list, 
which  was  refused.  The  Lieutenant,  as  we  are  informed, 
did  not  employ  absolute  force  in  transferring  the  passen 
gers,  but  he  used  just  so  much  as  was  necessary  to  satisfy 
the  parties  concerned  that  refusal  or  resistance  would  be 
unavailing. 

"  So,  also,  we  are  informed  that  the  captain  of  the 
Trent  was  not  at  any  time,  or  in  any  way,  required  to  go 
on  board  the  San  Jacinto. 

' '  These  modifications  of  the  case,  as  presented  by  Com 
mauder  Williams,  are  based  upon  our  official  reports. 

"I  have  now  to  remind  your  lordship  of  some  facts 
which  doubtlessly  were  omitted  by  Earl  Russell  with  the 
very  proper  and  becoming  motive  of  allowing  them  to  be 
brought  into  the  case  on  the  part  of  the  United  States  in 
the  way  most  satisfactory  to  this  Government. 

"These  facts  are  that,  at  the  time  the  transaction  oc 
curred,  an  insurrection  was  existing  in  the  United  States, 
which  this  Government  was  engaged  in  suppressing  by  the 
employment  of  land  and  naval  forces  ;  that,  in  regard  to 
this  domestic  strife,  the  United  States  considered  Great 
Britain  as  a  friendly  power,  while  she  has  assumed  for  her 


SEWARD'S  DISPATCH. 


635 


doubt,  as  the  Secretary  had  complied 
with  the  demand  for  the  surrender  of  the 

self  the  attitude  of  a  neutral ;  and  that  Spain  was  consid 
ered  in  the  same  light,  and  had  assumed  the  same  attitude 
as  Great  Britain. 

"  It  had  been  settled  by  correspondence  that  the  United 
States  and  Great  Britain  mutually  recognized  as  applica 
ble  to  this  local  strife  these  two  articles  of  the  declaration 
made  by  the  Congress  of  Paris  in  1856,  namely,  That  the 
neutral  or  friendly  flag  should  cover  enemy's  goods  not 
contraband  of  war,  and  that  neutral  goods,  not  contra 
band  of  war,  are  not  liable  to  capture  under  an  enemy's 
nag. 

' '  These  exceptions  of  contraband  from  favor  were  a 
negative  acceptance  by  the  parties  of  the  rule  hitherto 
everywhere  recognized  as  a  part  of  the  law  of  nations, 
that  whatever  is  contraband  is  liable  to  capture  and  con 
fiscation  in  all  cases. 

"  James  M.  Mason,  and  —  —  McFarland  are  citizens 
of  the  United  States,  and  residents  of  Virginia. 

"John  Slidell,  and  George  Eustis  are  citizens  of  the 
United  States,  and  residents  of  Louisiana. 

"  It  was  well  known  at  Havana,  when  these  parties  em 
barked  on  the  Trent,  that  James  M.  Mason  was  proceeding 
to  England  in  the  affected  character  of  a  Minister  Pleni 
potentiary  to  the  Court  of  St.  James,  under  a  pretended 
commission  from  Jeifersoii  Davis,  who  had  assumed  to  be 
President  of  the  insurrectionary  party  in  the  United  States, 
and  McFarland  was  going  with  him  in  a  like  unreal  char 
acter  of  Secretary  of  Legation  to  the  pretended  mission. 

"John  Slidell,  in  similar  circumstances,  was  going  to 
Paris  as  a  pretended  Minister  to  the  Emperor  of  the 
French,  and  George  Eustis  was  the  chosen  Secretary  of 
Legation  for  that  simulated  mission. 

"  The  fact  that  these  persons  had  assumed  such  charac 
ters  has  been  since  avowed  by  the  same  Jefferson  Davis  in 
a  pretended  message  to  an  unlawful  and  insurrectionary 
Congress.  It  was,  as  we  think,  rightly  presumed  that 
these  ministers  bore  pretended  credentials  and  instructions, 
and  such  papers  are,  in  the  law,  known  as  dispatches. 
We  are  informed  by  our  consul  at  Paris  that  these  dis 
patches,  having  escaped  the  search  of  the  Trent,  were 
actually  conveyed  and  delivered  to  emissaries  of  the  in 
surrection  in  England. 

"  Although  it  is  not  essential,  yet  it  is  proper  to  state, 
as  I  do  also  upon  information  and  belief,  that  the  owner 
and  agent,  and  all  the  officers  of  the  Trent,  including  the 
commander,  Williams,  had  knowledge  of  the  assumed 
characters,  and  purposes  of  the  persons  before  named  when 
they  embarked  on  that  vessel. 

"  Your  lordship  will  now  perceive  that  the  case  before 
us,  instead  of  presenting  a  merely  flagrant  act  of  violence 
on  the  part  of  Captain  Wilkes,  as  might  well  be  inferred 
from  the  incomplete  statement  of  it  that  went  up  to  the 
British  Government,  was  undertaken  as  a  simple,  legal, 


captured  persons,  that  his  action  would 
be  accepted  as   satisfactory.      As  soon, 


customary,  and  belligerent  proceeding  by  Captain  Wilkes 
to  arrest  and  capture  a  neutral  vessel  engaged  in  carrying 
contraband  of  war  for  the  use  and  benefit  of  the  insur 
gents. 

"The  question  before  us  is,  whether  this  proceeding 
was  authorized  by,  and  conducted  according  to,  the  law 
of  nations. 

"  It  involves  the  following  inquiries : 

"  1st.  Were  the  persons  named,  and  their  supposed  dis 
patches,  contraband  of  war  ? 

"2d.  Might  Captain  Wilkes  lawfully  stop  and  search 
the  Trent  for  these  contraband  persons  and  dispatches  ? 

"  3d.  Did  he  exercise  that  right  in  a  lawful  and  proper 
manner  ? 

"4th.  Having  found  the  contraband  persons  on  board, 
and  in  presumed  possession  of  the  contraband  dispatches, 
had  he  a  right  to  capture  the  persons  ? 

"  5th.  Did  he  exercise  that  right  of  capture  in  the  man 
ner  allowed  and  recognized  by  the  law  of  nations  ? 

"If  all  these  inquiries  shall  be  resolved  in  the  affirma 
tive,  the  British  Government  will  have  no  claim  foi 
reparation. 

"  I  address  myself  to  the  first  inquiry,  namely  : 

"  Were  the  four  persons  mentioned,  and  their  supposed 
dispatches,  contraband  ? 

"  Maritime  law  so  generally  deals,  as  its  professors  say, 
in  rem. ,  that  is,  with  property,  and  so  seldom  with  persons, 
that  it  seems  a  straining  of  the  term  contraband  to  apply 
it  to  them.  But  persons  as  well  as  property  may  become 
contraband,  since  the  word  means,  broadly,  '  contrary  to 
proclamation,  prohibited,  illegal,  unlawful.'  All  writers 
and  judges  pronounce  naval  or  military  persons  in  the 
service  of  the  enemy  contraband. 

' '  Vattel  says  :  '  War  allows  us  to  cut  off  from  an  enemy 
all  his  resources,  and  to  hinder  him  from  sending  ministers 
to  solicit  assistance.'  And  Sir  William  Scott  says  :  'You 
may  stop  the  embassador  of  your  enemy  on  his  passage. 
Dispatches  are  not  less  clearly  contraband,  and  the  bear 
ers  or  couriers  who  undertake  to  carry  them,  fall  under 
the  same  condemnation.' 

"A  subtlety  might  be  raised  whether  pretended  minis 
ters  of  a  usurping  power,  not  recognized  as  legal  by 
either  the  belligerent  or  the  neutral,  could  be  held  to  be 
contraband.  But  it  would  disappear  on  being  subjected 
to  what  is  the  true  test  on  all  cases,  namely  :  the  spirit  of 
the  law.  Sir  William  Scott,  speaking  of  civil  magistrates 
who  were  arrested  and  detained  as  contraband,  says  : 

"  '  It  appears  to  me  on  principle  to  be  but  reasonable 
that,  when  it  is  of  sufficient  importance  to  the  enemy  that 
such  persons  should  be  sent  out  on  the  public  service,  at 
the  public  expense,  it  should  afford  equal  ground  of  for 
feiture  against  the  vessel  that  may  be  let  out  for  a  purpose 
so  intimately  connected  with  the  hostile  operation.' 


636 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


therefore,  as  it  was  known  that  Mason 
and  Slidell  were  to  be  surrendered,  all 

"  I  trust  that  I  have  shown  that  the  four  persons  who 
were  taken  from  the  Trent  by  Captain  Wilkes,  and  their 
dispatches,  were  contraband  of  war. 

"  The  second  inquiry  is,  whether  Captain  Wilkes  had  a 
fight  by  the  law  of  nations  to  detain  and  search  the 
Treat  ? 

"The  Trent,  though  she  carried  mails,  was  a  contract 
or  merchant  vessel,  a  common  carrier,  for  here  maritime 
law  knows  only  three  classes  of  vessels— vessels  of  war, 
revenue  vessels,  and  merchant  vessels  The  Trent  falls 
within  the  latter  class.  Whatever  disputes  have  existed 
concerning  a  right  of  visitation  or  search  in  time  of  peace, 
none,  it  is  supposed,  has  existed  in  modern  times  about 
the  rights  of  a  belligerent  in  time  of  war  to  capture  con 
traband  in  neutral  and  even  friendly  merchant  vessels, 
and  of  the  right  of  visitation  and  search,  in  order  to  de 
termine  whether  they  are  neutral,  and  are  documented  as 
such  according  to  the  law  of  nations. 

"I  assume  in  the  present  case,  what,  as  I  read  in  the 
British  authorities,  is  regarded  by  Great  Britain  herself  as 
true  maritime  law,  that  the  circumstance  that  the  Trent 
was  proceeding  from  a  neutral  port  to  another  neutral 
port  does  not  modify  the  rights  of  the  belligerent  power. 

"  The  third  question  is,  whether  Captain  Wilkes  exer 
cised  the  right  of  search  in  a  lawful  and  proper  manner. 
If  any  doubt  hung  over  this  point,  as  the  case  was  pre 
sented  in  the  statement  of  it  adopted  by  the  British  Gov 
ernment,  I  think  it  must  have  already  passed  away  before 
the  modifications  of  that  statement  which  I  have  already 
submitted. 

"I  proceed  to  the  fourth  inquiry,  namely:  Having 
found  the  suspected  contraband  of  war  on  board  the  Trent, 
had  Captain  Wilkes  a  right  to  capture  the  same  ?  Such  a 
capture  is  the  chief,  if  not  the  only  recognized  object  of 
the  permitted  visitation  and  search.  The  principle  of  the 
law  is,  that  the  belligerent  exposed  to  danger  may  prevent 
the  contraband  persons  or  things  from  applying  them 
selves,  or  being  applied  to  the  hostile  uses  or  purposes 
designed.  The  law  is  so  very  liberal  in  this  respect,  that 
when  contraband  is  found  on  board  a  neutral  vessel,  not 
only  is  the  contraband  forfeited,  but  the  vessel,  which  is 
the  vehicle  of  its  passage  or  transportation,  being  tainted, 
also  becomes  contraband,  and  is  subjected  to  capture  and 
confiscation. 

"Only  the  fifth  question  remains,  namely  :  Did  Captain 
Wilkes  exercise  the  right  of  capturing  the  contraband  in 
conformity  with  the  law  of  nations?  It  is  just  here  that 
the  difficulties  of  the  case  begin.  What  is  the  manner 
which  the  law  of  nations  prescribes  for  disposing  of  the 
contraband  when  you  have  found  and  seized  it  on  board 
of  the  neutral  vessel  ? 

"The  answer  would  be  easily  found  if  the  question 
were— What  shall  you  do  with  the  contraband  vessel? 


fear  of  further  quarrel  with  Great  Britain 
on  that  score  was  allayed.     Few  cared 


You  must  take  or  send  her  into  a  convenient  port  and 
subject  her  to  a  judicial  prosecution  there  in  admiralty, 
which  will  try  and  decide  the  questions  of  belligerency, 
neutrality,  contraband,  and  capture.  So,  again,  yon  will 
promptly  find  the  same  answer  if  the  question  were— 
What  is  the  manner  of  proceeding  prescribed  by  the  law 
of  nations  in  regard  to  the  contraband,  if  it  be  property 
or  things  of  material  or  pecuniary  value  ? 

"  But  the  question  here  concerns  the  mode  of  procedure 
in  regard,  not  to  the  vessel  that  was  carrying  the  contra 
band,  nor  yet  to  the  contraband  things  which  worked  the 
forfeiture  of  the  vessel,  but  to  contraband  persons. 

"  The  books  of  law  are  dumb.  Yet  the  question  is  as 
important  as  it  is  difficult.  First,  the  belligerent  captor 
has  a  right  to  prevent  the  contraband  officer,  soldier, 
sailor,  minister,  messenger,  or  carrier  from  proceeding  on 
his  unlawful  voyage,  and  reaching  the  destined  scene  of 
his  injurious  service.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  the  person 
captured  may  be  innocent,  that  is,  he  may  not  be  contra 
band. 

"  He  therefore  has  a  right  to  a  fair  trial  of  the  accusa 
tion  against  him.  The  neutral  state  that  has  taken  him 
under  its  flag  is  bound  to  protect  him  if  he  is  not  contra 
band,  and  is  therefore  entitled  to  be  satisfied  upon  that 
important  question.  The  faith  of  that  state  is  pledged  to 
his  safety,  if  innocent,  as  its  justice  is  pledged  to  his  sur 
render,  if  he  is  really  contraband. 

"  Here  are  conflicting  claims  involving  personal  liberty, 
life,  honor,  and  duty.  Here  are  conflicting  national 
claims,  involving  welfare,  safety,  honor,  and  empire. 
They  require  a  tribunal  and  a  trial.  The  captors  and  the 
captured  are  equals  ;  the  neutral  and  the  belligerent  state 
are  equals. 

"  While  the  liw  authorities  were  found  silent,  it  was 
suggested  at  an  early  day  by  this  Government  that  you 
should  take  the  captured  persons  into  a  convenient  port 
and  institute  judicial  proceedings  there  to  try  the  contro 
versy.  But  only  courts  of  admiralty  have  jurisdiction  in 
maritime  cases,  and  these  courts  have  formulas  to  try  only 
claims  to  contraband  chattels,  but  none  to  try  claims  con 
cerning  contraband  persons.  The  courts  can  entertain  no 
proceedings  and  render  no  judgment  in  favor  or  against 
the  alleged  contraband  men. 

"It  was  replied,  all  this  is  true;  but  you  can  reach  in 
these  courts  a  decision  which  will  have  the  moral  weight 
of  a  judicial  one,  by  a  circuitous  proceeding.  Convey  the 
suspected  men,  together  with  the  suspected  vep--pl,  into 
port,  and  try  there  the  question  whether  the  vessel  is 
contraband.  You  can  prove  it  to  be  so  by  proving  the 
suspected  men  to  be  contraband,  and  the  court  must  then 
determine  the  vessel  to  be  contraband. 

"  If  the  men  are  not  contraband,  the  vessel  will  escape 
condemnation.  Still,  there  is  no  judgment  for  or  against 


SEWARD'S  DISPATCH. 


637 


to  test  the  logic  of  Mr.  Seward's  argu 
ments,  or  to  discuss  the  proprieties  of 

the  captured  persons.  But  it  was  assumed  that  there 
would  result  from  the  determination  of  the  court  con 
cerning  the  vessel  a  legal  certainty  concerning  the  charac 
ter  of  the  men.  This  course  of  proceeding  seemed  open 
to  many  objections.  It  elevates  the  incidental  inferior 
private  interest  into  the  proper  place  of  the  main  para 
mount  public  one,  and  possibly  it  may  make  the  fortunes, 
the  safety,  or  the  existence  of  a  nation  depend  on  the 
accident  of  a  merely  personal  and  pecuniary  litigation. 

"  Moreover,  when  the  judgment  of  the  prize  court  upon 
the  lawfulness  of  the  capture  of  the  vessels  is  rendered, 
it  really  concludes  nothing,  and  binds  neither  the  belliger 
ent  state  nor  the  neutral  upon  the  great  question  of  the 
disposition  to  be  made  of  the  captured  contraband  persons. 
That  question  is  still  to  be  really  determined,  if  at  all,  by 
diplomatic  arrangement  or  by  war. 

' '  One  may  well  express  his  surprise,  when  told  that  the 
law  of  nations  has  furnished  no  more  reasonable,  practi 
cal,  and  perfect  mode  than  this  of  determining  questions 
of  such  grave  import  between  sovereign  powers.  The 
regret,  we  may  feel  on  the  occasion  is  nevertheless  modi 
fied  by  the  reflection  that  the  difficulty  is  not  altogether 
anomalous. 

' '  Similar  and  equal  deficiencies  are  found  in  every  sys 
tem  of  municipal  law,  especially  in  the  system  which 
exists  in  the  greater  portions  of  Great  Britain  and  the 
United  States.  The  title  to  personal  property  can  hardly 
ever  be  resolved  by  a  court  without  resorting  to  the  fiction 
that  the  claimant  has  lost,  and  the  possessor  has  found  it ; 
and  the  title  of  real  estate  is  disputed  by  real  litigants 
under  the  names  of  imaginary  persons. 

"It  must  be  confessed,  however,  that  while  all  aggrieved 
nations  demand,  and  all  impartial  ones  concede,  the  need 
of  some  form  of  judicial  process  in  determining  the  char 
acters  of  contraband  persons,  no  form  than  the  illogical 
and  circuitous  one  thus  described  exists,  nor  has  any  other 
yet  been  suggested.  Practically,  therefore,  the  choice  is 
between  that  judicial  remedy,  or  no  judicial  remedy  what 
ever. 

"  If  there  be  no  judicial  remedy,  the  result  is  that  the 
question  must  be  determined  by  the  captor  himself  on  the 
deck  of  the  prize  vessel.  Very  grave  objections  are  against 
such  a  course.  The  captor  is  armed,  the  neutral  is  un 
armed.  The  captor  is  interested,  prejudiced,  and  perhaps 
violent ;  the  neutral,  if  truly  neutral,  is  disinterested, 
subdued,  and  helpless. 

"The  tribunal  is  irresponsible  while  its  judgment  is 
carried  into  instant  execution.  The  captured  party  is 
compelled  to  submit,  though  bound  by  no  legal,  moral,  or 
treaty  obligation  to  acquiesce.  Reparation  is  distant  and 
problematical,  and  depends  at  last  on  the  justice,  magnan 
imity,  or  weakness  of  the  state  in  whose  behalf  and  by 
whose  authority  the  capture  was  made. 


his  language.     To  a  discriminating  judg 
ment,  however,  Mr.  Seward  seemed  to 

"Out  of  these  disputes,  reprisals  and  wars  necessarily 
arise,  and  these  are  so  frequent  and  destructive  that  it 
may  well  be  doubted  whether  this  form  of  remedy  is  not 
a  greater  social  evil  than  all  that  could  follow  if  the  bel 
ligerent  right  of  search  were  universally  renounced  and 
abolished  forever.  But  carry  the  case  one  step  farther. 

"What  if  the  state  that  has  made  the  capture  unrea 
sonably  refuses  to  hear  the  complaint  of  the  neutral,  or 
to  redress  it !  In  that  case  the  very  act  of  capture  would 
be  an  act  of  war,  of  war  begun  without  notice,  and  pos 
sibly  entirely  without  provocation. 

"I  think  all  unprejudiced  minds  will  agree  that,  im 
perfect  as  the  existing  judicial  remedy  may  be  supposed  to 
be,  it  would  be,  as  a  general  practice,  better  to  follow  it 
than  to  adopt  the  summary  one  of  leaving  the  decision 
with  the  captor,  and  relying  upon  diplomatic  debates  to 
review  his  decision.  Practically  it  is  a  question  of  choice 
between  law,  with  its  imperfections  and  delays,  and  war, 
with  its  evils  and  desolations. 

"  Nor  is  it  ever  to  be  forgotten  that  neutrality,  honestly 
and  justly  preserved,  is  always  the  harbinger  of  peace,  and 
is  therefore  the  common  interest  of  nations,  which  is  only 
saying  that  it  is  the  interest  of  humanity  itself. 

"At  the  same  time  it  is  not  to  be  denied  that  it  may 
sometimes  happen  that  the  judicial  remedy  will  become 
impossible— as  by  the  shipwreck  of  the  prize  vessel,  or 
other  circumstances,  which  excuse  the  captor  from  sending 
or  taking  her  into  port  for  confiscation.  In  such  a  case 
the  right  of  the  captor  to  the  custody  of  the  captured  per 
sons,  and  to  dispose  of  them,  if  they  are  really  contra 
band,  so  as  to  defeat  their  unlawful  purposes,  can  not  rea 
sonably  be  denied. 

"What  rule  shall  be  applied  in  such  a  case?  Clearly 
the  captor  ought  to  be  required  to  show  that  the  failure 
of  the  judicial  remedy  results  from  circumstances  beyond 
his  control,  and  without  his  fault.  Otherwise  he  would 
be  allowed  to  derive  advantage  from  a  wrongful  act  of  his 
own. 

"In  the  present  case,  Captain  Wilkes,  after  capturing 
the  contraband  persons  and  making  prize  of  the  Trent  in 
what  seems  to  us  a  perfectly  lawful  manner,  instead  of 
sending  her  into  port,  released  her  from  the  capture,  and 
permitted  her  to  proceed  with  her  whole  cargo  upon  her 
voyage. 

"  He  thus  effectually  prevented  the  judicial  examination 
which  might  otherwise  have  occurred.  If  now  the  cap 
ture  of  the  contraband  persons  and  the  capture  of  the 
contraband  vessel  are  to  be  regarded,  not  as  two  separable 
or  distinct  transactions  under  the  law  of  nations,  but  as 
one  transaction,  one  capture  only,  then  it  follows  that  the 
capture  in  this  case  was  left  unfinished  or  was  abandoned. 

"  Whether  the  United  States  have  a  right  to  retain  the 
chief  public  benefits  of  it,  namely  the  custody  of  the 


638 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE   SOUTH. 


have  detracted  somewhat  from  the  dig 
nity  of  the    position  he  had   assumed, 


captured  persons,  on  proving  them  to  be  contraband,  will 
depend  upon  the  preliminary  question  whether  the  leaving 
of  the  transaction  unfinished  was  necessary,  or  whether  it 
was  unnecessary,  and,  therefore,  voluntary.  If  it  was 
necessary,  Great  Britain,  as  we  suppose,  must,  of  course, 
waive  the  defect,  and  the  consequent  failure  of  the  ju 
dicial  remedy. 

"On  the  other  hand,  it  is  not  seen  how  the  United 
States  can  insist  upon  her  waiver  of  that  judicial  remedy, 
if  the  defect  of  the  capture  resulted  from  an  act  of  Cap 
tain  Wilkes,  which  would  be  a  fault  on  their  own  side. 

' '  Captain  Wilkes  has  presented  to  this  Government  his 
reasons  for  releasing  the  Trent. 

"'I  forbore  to  seize  her,'  he  says,  '  in  consequence  of 
my  being  so  reduced  in  officers  and  crew,  and  the  derange 
ment  it  would  cause  innocent  persons,  there  being  a  large 
number  of  passengers  who  would  have  been  put  to  great 
loss  and  inconvenience,  as  well  as  disappointment,  from 
the  interruption  it  would  have  caused  them,  in  not  being 
able  to  join  the  steamer  from  St.  Thomas  to  Europe. 

"  '  I  therefore  concluded  to  sacrifice  the  interests  of  my 
officers  and  crew  in  the  prize,  and  suffered  her  to  proceed, 
after  the  detention  necessary  to  effect  the  transfer  of  those 
Commissioners,  considering  I  had  obtained  the  important 
end  I  had  in  view,  and  which  affected  the  interests  of  our 
country,  and  interrupted  the  action  of  that  of  the  Con 
federates.' 

' '  I  shall  consider  first  how  these  reasons  ought  to  affect 
the  action  of  this  Government,  and,  secondly,  how  they 
ought  to  be  expected  to  affect  the  action  of  Great  Britain. 
The  reasons  are  satisfactory  to  this  Government,  so  far  as 
Captain  Wilkes  is  concerned.  It  could  not  desire  that  the 
San  Jacinto,  her  officers  and  crew,  should  be  exposed  to 
danger  and  loss  by  weakening  their  number  to  detach  a 
prize  crew  to  go  on  board  the  Trent.  Still  less  could  it 
disavow  the  humane  motive  of  preventing  inconve 
niences,  losses,  and  perhaps  disasters  to  the  several  hun 
dred  innocent  passengers  found  on  board  the  prize  vessel. 

"Nor  could  this  Government  perceive  any  ground  for 
questioning  the  fact  tLat  these  reasons,  though  apparently 
incongruous,  did  operate  in  the  mind  of  Captain  Wilkes, 
and  determined  him  to  release  the  Trent.  Human  ac- 
^tions  generally  proceed  upon  mingled  and  spmetimes  con 
flicting  motives.  He  measured  the  sacrifices  which  this 
decision  would  cost.  It  manifestly,  however,  did  not 
occur  to  him  that  beyond  the  sacrifice  of  the  private  in 
terests  (as  he  calls  them)  of  his  officers  and  crew,  there 
might  also  possibly  be  a  sacrifice  even  of  the  chief  and 
public  object  of  his  capture,  namely,  the  right  of  his  Gov 
ernment  to  the  custody  and  disposition  of  the  captured 
persons. 

"This  Government  cannot  censure  himfor  this  oversight. 
It  confesses  that  the  whole  subject  came  unforeseen  upon 


which  was  that  of  a  statesman  whose 
conduct  was  prompted  by  justice  and 

the  Government,  as  doubtless  it  did  upon  him.  Its  present 
convictions  on  the  point  in  question  are  the  results  of 
deliberate  examination  and  deductions  now  made,  and 
not  of  any  impressions  previously  formed. 

"Nevertheless,  the  question  now  is,  not  whether  Captain 
Wilkes  is  justified  in  what  he  did,  but  what  is  the  present 
view  of  the  Government  as  to  the  effect  of  what  he  has 
done.  Assuming  now,  for  argument's  sake  only,  that  the 
release  of  the  Trent,  if  voluntary,  involved  a  waiver  of 
the  claim  of  the  Government  to  hold  the  captured  persons, 
the  United  States  could,  in  that  case,  have  no  hesitation 
in  saying  that  the  act  which  has  thus  already  been  ap 
proved  by  the  Government,  must  be  allowed  to  draw  its 
legal  consequences  after  it. 

"  It  is  of  the  very  nature  of  a  gift  or  a  charity  that  the 
giver  cannot  after  the  exercise  of  his  benevolence  is  past, 
recall  or  modify  its  benefits. 

"  We  are  thus  brought  directly  to  the  question,  whether 
we  are  entitled  to  regard  the  release  of  the  Trent  as  in 
voluntary,  or  whether  we  are  obliged  to  consider  that  it 
was  voluntary.  Clearly,  the  release  would  have  been  in 
voluntary  had  it  been  made  solely  upon  the  first  ground 
assigned  for  it  by  Captain  Wilkes,  namely,  a  want  of  a 
sufficient  force  to  send  the  prize  vessel  into  port  for  adju 
dication. 

"It  is  not  the  duty  of  a  captor  to  hazard  his  own  vessel 
in  order  to  secure  a  judicial  examination  to  the  captured 
party.  No  large  prize  crew,  however,  is  legally  necessary, 
for  it  is  the  duty  of  the  captured  party  to  acquiesce  and 
go  willingly  before  the  tribunal  to  whose  jurisdiction  it 
appeals. 

"If  the  captured  party  indicated  proposes  to  employ 
means  of  resistance  which  the  captor  cannot,  with  proba 
ble  safety  to  himself  overcome,  he  may  properly  leave  the 
vessel  to  go  forward,  and  neither  she  nor  the  state  she 
represents  can  ever  afterwards  justly  object  that  the 
captor  deprived  her  of  the  judicial  remedy  to  which  she 
was  entitled. 

"  But  the  second  reason  assigned  by  Captain  Wilkes  for 
releasing  the  Trent  differs  from  the  first.  At  best,  there 
fore,  it  must  be  held  that  Captain  Wilkes,  as  he  explains 
himself,  acted  from  combined  sentiments  of  prudence  and 
generosity,  and  so  that  the  release  of  the  prize  vessel  was 
not  strictly  necessary  or  involuntary. 

"  Secondly.— How  ought  we  to  expect  these  explanations 
by  Captain  Wilkes  of  his  own  reasons  for  leaving  the  cap 
ture  incomplete  to  affect  the  action  of  the  British  Govern 
ment.  The  observation  upon  this  point  which  tirst 
occurs  is,  that  Captain  Wilkes'  explanations  were  not 
made  to  the  authorities  of  the  captured  vessel. 

"If  made  known  to  them,  they  might  have  approved 
and  taken  the  release,  upon  the  condition  of  waiving  a 
judicial  investigation  of  the  whole  transaction,  or  they 


SEWARD'S   DISPATCH. 


639 


moral  principle,  when  he  confessed 
that,  under  different  circumstances,  he 

might  have  refused  to  accept  the  release  upon  that  condi 
tion. 

"  Bnt  the  case  is  one  not  with  them  but  with  the  British 
Government.  If  we  claim  that  Great  Britain  ought  not 
to  insist  that  a  judicial  trial  has  been  lost  because  we 
voluntarily  released  the  offending  vessel  out  of  consider 
ation  for  her  innocent  passengers,  I  do  not  see  how  she 
is  to  be  bound  to  acquiesce  in  the  decision  which  was  thus 
made  by  us  without  necessity  on  our  part  and  without 
knowledge  of  conditions  or  consent  on  her  own. 

' '  The  question  between  Great  Britain  and  ourselves, 
thus  stated,  would  be  a  question,  not  of  right  and  of  law, 
but  of  favor  to  be  conceded  I/  her  to  us  in  return  for 
favors  shown  by  us  to  her,  of  the  value  of  which  favors 
on  both  sides  we  ourselves  shall  be  the  judge. 

"Of  course  the  United  States  could  have  no  thought 
of  raising  such  a  question  in  any  case. 

' '  I  trust  I  have  shown,  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  British 
Government,  by  a  very  simple  and  natural  statement  of 
the  facts  and  analysis  of  the  law  applicable  to  them,  that 
this  Government  has  neither  meditated  nor  practised  nor 
approved  any  deliberate  wrong  in  the  transaction  to 
which  they  have  called  its  attention  ;  and,  on  the  con 
trary,  that  what  has  happened  has  been  simply  an  inad 
vertency,  consisting  in  a  departure  by  the  naval  officer, 
free  from  any  wrongful  motive,  from  a  rule  uncertainly 
established,  and  probably  by  the  several  parties  concerned 
either  imperfectly  understood  or  entirely  unknown. 

"For  this  error  the  British  Government  has  a  right  to 
expect  the  same  reparation  that  we,  as  an  independent 
state,  should  expect  from  Great  Britain,  or  from  any 
other  friendly  nation,  in  a  similar  case. 

"I  have  not  been  unaware  that,  in  examining  this 
question,  I  have  fallen  into  an  argument  for  what  seems 
to  be  the  British  side  of  it  against  my  own  country.  But 
I  am  relieved  from  all  embarnissment  on  that  subject. 

"  I  had  hardly  fallen  into  that  line  of  argument,  when  I 
discovered  that  I  was  really  defending  and  maintaining, 
not  an  exclusive  British  interest,  but  an  old,  honored, 
and  cherished  American  cause,  not  upon  British  authori 
ties,  but  upon  principles  that  constitute  a  large  portion 
of  the  distinctive  policy  by  which  the  United  States  have 
developed  the  resources  of  a  continent,  and  thus,  becom 
ing  a  considerable  maritime  power,  have  won  the  respect 
and  confidence  of  many  nations. 

"  These  principles  were  laid  down  for  us  in  1804  by 
James  Madison,  when  secretary  of  state  in  the  adminis 
tration  of  Thomas  Jefferson,  in  instructions  given  to  James 
Monroe,  our  minister  to  England. 

"  Although  the  case  before  him  concerned  a  descrip 
tion  of  persons  different  from  those  who  are  incidentally 
the  subjects  of  the  present  discussion,  the  ground  he  as 
sumed  then  was  the  same  I  now  occupy  and  the  argu- 


would  have  been  actuated  by  the  less 
honorable  motives  of  policy  and  ex- 

ments  by  which  he  sustained  himself  upon  it  have  been  an 
inspiration  to  me  in  preparing  this  reply. 

"  '  Whenever,'  he  says,  '  property  found  in  a  neutral  is 
supposed  to  be  liable,  on  any  ground,  to  capture  and  con 
demnation,  the  rule  in  all  cases  is  that  the  question  shall 
not  be  decided  by  the  captor,  but  be  carried  before  a  legal 
tribunal,  where  a  regular  trial  may  be  had,  and  where 
the  captor  himself  is  liable  to  damages  for  an  abuse  of  his 
power.' 

"  Can  it  be  reasonable,  then,  or  just,  that  a  belligerent 
commander  who  is  thus  restricted  and  thus  responsible  iu 
a  case  of  mere  property,  of  trivial  amount,  should  be  per 
mitted,  without  recurring  to  any  tribunal  whatever,  to 
examine  the  crew  of  a  neutral  vessel,  to  decide  the  im 
portant  question  of  their  respective  allegiances  and  to 
carry  that  decision  into  execution  by  forcing  every  indi 
vidual  he  may  choose  into  a  service  abhorrent  to  his  feel 
ings,  cutting  him  off  from  his  most  tender  connections, 
exposing  his  mind  and  his  person  to  the  most  humil 
iating  discipline,  and  his  life  itself  to  the  greatest  dan 
ger  ?  Reason,  justice,  and  humanity  unite  in  protesting 
against  so  extravagant  a  proceeding. 

"  If  I  decide  this  case  in  favor  of  my  own  Government, 
I  must  disallow  its  most  cherished  principles,  and  reverse 
and  forever  abandon  its  essential  policy.  The  country  can 
not  afford  the  sacrifice. 

"  If  I  maintain  those  principles  and  adhere  to  that  pol 
icy,  I  must  surrender  the  case  itself. 

"  It  will  be  seen,  therefore,  that  this  Government  could 
not  deny  the  justice  of  the  claim  presented  to  us  in  this 
respect  upon  its  merits. 

"  We  are  asked  to  do  to  the  British  nation  just  what  we 
have  always  insisted  all  nations  ought  to  d  >  to  us. 

"  The  claim  of  the  British  Government  is  not  made  in 
a  discourteous  manner.  This  Government,  since  its  first 
organization,  has  never  used  more  guarded  language  in  a 
similar  case. 

"  In  coming  to  my  conclusion,  I  have  not  forgotten 
that  if  the  safety  of  this  Union  required  the  detention  of 
the  captured  persons,  it  would  be  the  right  and  duty  of 
this  Government  to  detain  them.  But  the  effectual  check 
and  waning  proportions  of  the  existing  insurrection,  as 
well  as  the  comparative  unimportance  of  the  captured  per 
sons  themselves,  when  dispassionately  weighed,  happily 
forbid  me  from  resorting  to  that  defence. 

"  Nor  am  I  unaware  that  American  citizens  are  not  m 
any  case  to  be  unnecessarily  surrendered  for  any  purpose 
into  the  keeping  of  a  foreign  state.  Only  the  captured 
persons,  however,  or  others  who  are  interested  in  them, 
could  justly  raise  a  question  on  that  ground. 

"  Nor  have  I  been  tempted  at  all  by  suggestions  that 
cases  might  be  found  in  history  where  Great  Britain  re 
fused  to  yield  to  other  nations,  and  even  to  ourselves. 


040 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE   SOUTH. 


pediency.  "  In  coining  to  my  conclu 
sion,  I  have  not  forgotten,"  said  the 
Secretary,  ' '  that  if  the  safety  of  this 
Union  required  the  detention  of  the 
captured  persons,  it  would  be  the  right 
and  duty  of  this  Government  to  detain 
them.  But  the  effectual  check  and  wan 
ing  proportions  of  the  existing  insur 
rection,  as  well  as  the  comparative 
unimportance  of  the  captured  persons 
themselves,  when  dispassionately  weigh- 

claims  like  that  which  is  now  before  us.  Those  cases  oc 
curred  when  Great  Britain,  as  well  as  the  United  States, 
was  the  home  of  generations  which,  with  all  their  peculiar 
interests  and  passions,  have  passed  away.  She  could  in 
no  other  way  so  effectually  disavow  any  such  inquiries, 
as  we  think  she  does  now,  by  assuming  as  her  own  the 
grounds  upon  which  we  stood. 

"  It  would  tell  little  for  our  claims  to  the  character  of  a 
just  and  magnanimous  people  if  we  should  so  far  consent 
to  be  guided  by  the  law  of  retaliation  as  to  lift  up  buried 
injuries  from  their  graves  to  oppose  against  what  national 
consistency  and  the  national  conscience  compel  us  to  re 
gard  as  a  claim  intrinsically  right. 

"  Putting  behind  me  all  suggestions  of  this  kind,  I  pre 
fer  to  express  my  satisfaction  that  by  the  adjustment  of 


ed,  happily  forbid  me  from  resorting  to 
that  defence."  There  was  no  necessity 
for  thus  prejudging  a  case  which,  as 
Mr.  Seward  himself  acknowledged,  had 
not  arisen. 

If  conscience  permitted,  policy  forbade 
the  declaration  that  justice  would  only 
be  done  when  interest  did  not  oppose. 
In  statesmanship  a  blunder  has  been  said 
to  be  worse  than  a  crime  :  this  seemed 
like  both. 


the  present  case  upon  principles  confessed  to  be  American, 
and  yet,  as  I  trust,  mutually  satisfactory  to  both  of  the 
nations  concerned,  a  question  is  finally  and  rightly  settled 
between  them  which  heretofore  exhausting  not  only  all 
forms  of  peaceful  discussion,  but  also  the  arbitrament  of 
war  itself,  for  more  than  half  a  century  alienated  the  two 
countries  from  each  other,  and  perplexed  with  fears  and 
apprehensions  all  other  nations. 

"The  four  prisoners  in  question  are  now  held  in  mil 
itary  custody  at  Fort  Warren,  in  the  State  of  Massachu 
setts.  They  will  be  cheerfully  liberated.  Your  lordship 
will  please  indicate  a  time  and  place  for  receiving  them. 

"  I  avail  myself  of  this  occasion  to  offer  to  your  lordship 
a  renewed  assurance  of  my  very  high  consideration. 

"  WILLIAM  H.  SEWARD  " 


SEWARD'S  ARGUMENT. 


641 


CHAPTER    LXI. 

Seward's  view  of  Wilkes'  error. — Excessive  courtesy  of  Wilkes. — Ungrateful  return  of  Great  Britain.— Seward's  argu 
ment  based  upon  newspaper  opinion. — Dispatch  of  M.  Thouvenel. — Fair  statement  of  International  Law. — Its 
influence  upon  the  United  States  Government. — The  effect  in  England  of  the  surrender  of  Slidell  and  Mason. — 
Comments  and  Dispatch  of  Mr.  Seward. — Response  of  Lord  John  Russell. — Cost  to  Great  Britain. — Loss  to  both 
countries. — Seward  should  have  anticipated  the  demand  of  Great  Britain. — Departure  of  Slidell  and  Mason. — Pas 
sage  on  the  Rinaldo. — Arrival  in  St.  Thomas. — Arrival  in  England. — Their  reception. — In  Paris  and  London. 


1861. 


MR.  SEWARD,  having  assumed  that 
the  ground  upon  which  Great  Brit 
ain  based  its  demand  for  the  return 
of  the  Commissioners  to  the  protection 
of  its  flag  was  the  irregularity  of  remov 
ing  their  persons  from  the  Trent,  instead 
of  seizing  the  vessel  herself  and  carrying 
her  into  an  American  port  for  adjudica 
tion  by  the  admiralty  courts,  had  plaus 
ibly  argued  that  Captain  Wilkes  had 
erred  from  excessive  courtesy.  This  of 
ficer  had  thus,  according  to  Mr.  Seward, 
by  voluntarily  omitting  a  formality  which 
nothing  but  necessity  could  fully  justify, 
destroyed  the  claims  of  the  United  States 
Government  to  hold  the  captured  per 
sons.  The  generosity  of  Captain  Wilkes 
in  forbearing  to  seize  the  steamer,  how 
ever  commendable  its  motive,  which  was 
stated  by  himself  to  be  "  the  derange 
ment  it  would  cause  innocent  persons, 
there  being  a  large  number  of  passen 
gers  who  would  have  been  put  to  a  great 
loss  and  inconvenience,"  had  thus  caused 
him  to  commit  an  irregularity  which  pre 
vented  his  Government  from  refusing  the 
demand  of  Great  Britain.  This  inge 
nious  argument,  while  it  awarded  the 
right  by  law  to  the  British  Government, 

81 


imputed  to  it  an  ungrateful  return  for 
an  intended  benefit. 

Mr.  Seward,  however,  had  assumed 
as  the  basis  of  the  English  demand  what 
had  been  the  unauthorized  specula 
tion  of  the  English  press,  and  not  the 
official  statement  of  the  English  Gov 
ernment.  Lord  John  Russell  had,  in 
his  first  dispatch  demanding  the  restora 
tion  of  Slidell  and  Mason,  forborne  to 
argue  the  question,  and  only  declared 
their  seizure  to  be  "  an  act  of  violence 
which-  was  an  affront  to  the  British  flag 
and  a  violation  of  international  law." 

The  dispatch*  of  Monsieur  Thouvenel, 

0  Monsieur  Thouvenel's  dispatch  to  the  French  minis 
ter  at  Washington  is  a  model  of  terse  diplomatic  ex 
pression,  and  a  forcible  exposition  of  the  modern  European 
doctrine  of  the  rights  of  neutrals.  It  is  here  given  in 

full: 

"ADMINISTRATION  OF  FOREIGN  AFFAIRS,         ) 

"POLITICAL  DEPARTMENT,  PARIS,  Dec.  3,  1861.) 
"  SIR  :  The  arrest  of  Messieurs  Mason  and  Slidell,  on 
board  the  English  packet  Trent,  by  the  American  cruiser, 
has  produced  in  France,  if  not  the  same  emotion  as  in 
England,  at  least  extreme  astonishment  and  sensation. 
Public  sentiment  was  at  once  engrossed  with  the  lawful 
ness  and  the  consequence  of  such  an  act,  and  the  im 
pression  which  has  resulted  from  this  has  not  been  for  an 
instant  doubtful.  The  fact  has  appeared  so  much  out  of 
accordance  with  the  ordinary  rules  of  international  law 
that  it  has  chosen  to  throw  the  responsibility  for  it  exclu 
sively  on  the  commander  of  the  San  Jacinto.  It  is  not 
given  to  us  to  know  whether  this  supposition  is  well 


642 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE   SOUTH. 


the  minister  of  foreign  affairs  of  France, 
sent  by  the  order  of  the  French  Em- 
founded,  and  the  Government  of  the  Emperor  has  there 
fore  also  had  to  examine  the  question  raised  by  the  taking 
away  of  the  two  passengers  from  the  Trent.  The  desire 
to  contribute  to  prevent  a  conflict,  perhaps  imminent,  be 
tween  two  powers  for  which  it  is  animated  by  sentiments 
equally  friendly,  and  the  duty  to  uphold,  for  the  purpose 
of  placing  the  rights  of  its  own  flag  under  shelter  from  any 
attack,  certain  principles  essential  to  the  security  of  neu 
trals,  have,  after  mature  reflection,  convinced  it  that  it 
could  not,  under  the  circumstances,  remain  entirely  silent. 

"If,  to  our  deep  regret,  the  cabinet  of  Washington 
were  disposed  to  approve  the  conduct  of  the  commander 
of  the  San  Jacinto,  it  would  be  either  by  considering 
Messrs.  Mason  and  Slidell  as  enemies  or  as  seeing  in  them 
nothing  but  rebels.  In  the  one,  as  in  the  other  case,  there 
would  be  a  forgetfulness  extremely  annoying  of  principles 
upon  which  we  have  always  found  the  United  States  in 
agreement  with  us.  By  what  title,  in  effect,  would  the 
American  cruiser,  in  the  first  case,  have  arrested  Messrs. 
Mason  and  Slidull  ?  The  United  States  have  admitted, 
with  us,  in  the  treaties  concluded  between  the  two  coun 
tries,  that  the  freedom  of  the  flag  extends  itself  over  the 
persons  found  on  board  should  they  be  enemies  of  one 
of  the  two  parties,  tmless  the  question  is  of  military  people 
actually  in  the  service  of  the  enemy.  Messrs.  Mason  and 
Slidell  were,  therefore,  by  virtue  of  this  principle,  which 
we  have  never  found  any  difficulty  in  causing  to  be  in 
serted  in  our  treaties  of  friendship  and  commerce,  per 
fectly  at  liberty  under  the  neutral  flag  of  England.  Doubt 
less  it  will  not  be  pretended  that  they  could  be  considered 
as  contraband  of  war.  That  which  constitutes  contraband 
of  war  is  not  yet,  it  is  true,  exactly  settled  ;  the  limita 
tions  are  not  absolutely  the  same  for  all  the  powers  ;  but 
in  what  relates  to  persons,  the  special  stipulations  which 
are  found  in  the  treaties  concerning  military  people  define 
plainly  the  character  of  those  who  only  can  be  seized  upon 
by  belligerents  ;  but  there  is  no  need  to  demonstrate  that 
Messrs.  Mason  and  Slidell  could  not  be  assimilated  to  per 
sons  in  that  category. 

"There  remains,  therefore,  to  invoke,  in  explanation 
of  their  capture,  only  the  pretext  that  they  were  the  bear 
ers  of  official  dispatches  from  the  enemy.  But  this  is  the 
moment  to  recall  a  circumstance  which  governs  all  this 
affair,  and  which  renders  the  conduct  of  the  American 
cruiser  unjustifiable.  The  Trent  was  not  destined  to  a 
point  belonging  to  one  of  the  belligerents ;  she  was  carry 
ing  to  a  neutral  country  her  cargo  and  her  passengers ; 
and,  moreover,  it  was  in  a  neutral  port  that  they  were 
taken.  If  it  were  admissible  that,  under  such  conditions, 
the  neutral  flag  does  not  completely  cover  the  persons  and 
merchandise  it  carries,  its  immunity  would  be  nothing 
more  than  an  idle  word.  At  any  moment  the  commerce 
•-nvl  the  navigation  of  the  third  powers  would  have  to  suf- 


peror  with  the  beneficent  intention   :>f 
arresting  war,  contained  an   exposition 


fer  from  their  innocent  and  even  their  indirect  relations 
with  the  one  or  the  other  of  the  belligerents.  These  last 
would  no  longer  find  themselves  as  having  only  the  right 
to  exact  from  the  neutral  entire  impartiality,  and  to  in 
terdict  all  intermeddling  on  his  part  in  acts  of  hospitality ; 
they  would  impose  on  his  freedom  of  commerce  and  navi 
gation  restrictions  which  modern  international  law  has  re 
fused  to  admit  as  legitimate,  and  we  should,  in  a  word, 
fall  back  upon  vexatious  practices,  against  which,  in  other 
epochs,  no  power  has  more  earnestly  protested  than  the 
United  States. 

"  If  the  cabinet  of  Washington  would  only  look  on  the 
two  persons  arrested  as  rebels,  whom  it  is  always  lawful 
to  seize,  the  question,  to  place  it  on  other  ground,  could 
not  be  solved,  however,  in  a  sense  in  favor  of  the  com 
mander  of  the  San  Jacinto.  There  would  be,  in  such  case, 
misapprehension  of  the  principle  which  makes  a  vessel  a 
portion  of  the  territory  of  the  nation  whose  flag  it  bears, 
and  violation  of  that  immunity  which  prohibits  a  foreign 
sovereign,  by  consequence,  from  the  exercise  of  his  juris 
diction.  It  certainly  is  not  necessary  to  recall  to  mind 
with  what  energy,  under  every  circumstance,  the  Govern 
ment  of  the  United  States  has  maintained  this  immunity, 
and  the  right  of  asylum  which  is  the  consequence  of  it. 
Not  wishing  to  enter  upon  a  more  deep  discussion  of  the 
question  raised  by  the  capture  of  Messrs.  Mason  and  Sli 
dell,  I  have  said  enough,  I  think,  to  settle  the  point  that 
the  cabinet  at  Washington  could  not,  without  striking  a 
blow  at  the  principles  which  all  neutral  nations  are  alike 
interested  in  holding  in  respect,  nor  without  taking  the 
attitude  of  contradiction  of  its  own  course  up  to  this  time, 
give  its  approbation  to  the  proceedings  of  the  commander 
of  the  San  Jacinto.  In  this  state  of  things  it  evidently 
should  not,  according  to  our  views,  hesitate  about  the  de 
termination  to  be  taken. 

"Lord  Lyons  is  already  instructed  to  present  the  de 
mand  for  satisfaction  which  the  English  cabinet  is  under 
the  necessity  of  reducing  to  form,  and  which  consists  in 
the  immediate  release  of  the  persons  taken  from  on  board 
the  Trent,  and  in  sending  explanations  which  may  take 
from  this  act  its  offensive  character  toward  the  British 
flag.  The  Federal  Government  will  be  inspired  by  a  just 
and  exalted  feeling  in  deferring  to  these  requests.  One 
would  search  in  vain  to  what  end,  for  what  interest  it 
would  hazard  to  provoke  by  a  different  attitude  a  rupture 
with  Great  Britain.  For  ourselves  we  should  see  in  that 
fact  a  deplorable  complication,  in  every  respect,  of  the 
difficulties  with  which  the  cabinet  at  Washington  has  al 
ready  to  struggle,  and  a  precedent  of  a  nature  seriously  to 
disquiet  all  the  powers  which  continue  outside  of  the  ex 
isting  contest.  We  believe  that  we  give  evidence  of  loyal 
friendship  for  the  cabinet  of  Washington  by  not  permit 
ting  it  to  remain  in  ignorance,  in  this  condition  of  things, 


THOUVENEL   ON   SLIDELL   AND   MASON. 


643 


of  the  question  which  probably  was 
fair  statement  of  the  principles  of  the 
international  law  of  modern  Europe 
This  came  with  better  grace  from  France 
— always  liberal  in  its  views  of  neutra' 
rights — than  from  England,  whose  prin 
ciples  and  conduct  relative  to  neutrality 
had  been  so  selfish  and  arbitrary. 

Mr.  Seward,  though,  as  he  declared, 
the  President  had  decided  upon  the  dis 
position  to  be  made  of  the  subject  before 
he  had  received  this  paper  of  Monsieur 
Thouvenel,  must  have  been  confirmed  in 
the  policy,  if  not  the  justice,  of  acceding 
to  the  British  demand,  by  this  authori 
tative  exposition  of  the  French*  view  of 
the  question. 

The  arrival  in  England  of  intelli 
gence  of  a  favorable  solution  to  the 
question  of  giving  up  the  Southern 
Commissioners,  which  had  so  agitated 
the  nation,  caused  there  a  very  general 
feeling  of  relief.  It  was  evidently  not 
the  desire  of  the  British  people  to 
wage  war  with  the  United  States,  and 
the  Government,  now  that  the  danger 
of  a  conflict  had  passed,  seemed  dis 
posed  to  avoid  all  further  chances  of 
dispute. 

The  dispatch,  however,  of  Mr.  Seward 
was  commented  upon  with  considerable 
severity  by  the  press,  and  its  doctrines 
officially  denied  acceptance  by  Earl  Rus 
sell  in  a  response  addressed  to  Lord 

of  our  manner  of  regarding  it.  I  request  you,  therefore, 
sit,  to  seize  the  first  occasion  of  opening  yourself  frankly 
to  Mr.  Seward,  and,  if  he  asks  it,  send  him  a  copy  of  this 
dispatch.  Receive,  sir,  the  assurance  of  my  high  consid 
eration.  THOUVENEL." 

0  The  Austrian,  Prussian,  llussian,  and  other  Govern- 
m«r>ts  sent  dispatches  of  similar  import. 


Lyons  and  submitted  to  the  Secretary 
of  State.* 


0  FOREIGN  OFFICE,  Jan.  23,  18G2. 

MY  LORD  :  I  mentioned  in  my  dispatch  of  the  10th 
instant,  that  her  Majesty's  Government  differed  from 
Mr.  Seward  in  some  of  the  conclusions  at  which  he  had 
arrived,  and  that  I  should  state  to  you  on  a  future  occa 
sion  wherein  these  differences  consisted.  I  now  proceed 
to  do  so. 

It  is  necessary  to  observe  that  I  propose  to  discuss  the 
questions  involved  in  this  correspondence  solely  on  the 
principles  of  international  law.  Mr.  Seward  himself, 
speaking  of  the  capture  of  the  four  gentlemen  taken  from 
on  board  the  Trent,  says  :  "The  question  before  us  is 
whether  this  proceeding  was  authorized  by  and  conducted 
according  to  the  law  of  nations."  This  is,  in  fact,  the  na 
ture  of  the  question  which  has  been,  but  happily  is  no 
longer,  at  issue.  It  concerned  the  respective  rights  of 
belligerents  and  of  neutrals.  We  must  therefore  discard 
entirely  from  our  minds  the  allegations  that  the  captured 
persons  were  rebels,  and  we  must  consider  them  only  as 
enemies  of  the  United  States  at  war  with  its  Government, 
for  that  is  the  ground  on  which  Mr.  Seward  ultimately 
places  the  discussion.  It  is  the  only  ground  upon  which 
foreign  Governments  can  treat  it. 

The  first  inquiry  that  arises,  therefore,  is  as  Mr.  Seward 
states  it,  "Were  the  persons  named,  and  their  supposed 
dispatches,  contraband  of  war?" 

Upon  this  question  her  Majesty's  Government  differs  en 
tirely  from  Mr.  Seward. 

The  general  right  and  duty  of  a  neutral  power  to  main 
tain  its  own  communications  and  friendly  relations  with 
both  belligerents  can  not  be  disputed.  "A  neutral  na 
tion,"  says  Vattel  (Vattel,  bookiii.,  chap.  7,  sec.  118), 
'  continues,  with  the  two  parties  at  war,  in  the  several 
relations  nature  has  placed  between  nations.  It  is  ready 
to  perform  toward  both  of  them  all  the  duties  of  human 
ity,  reciprocally  due  from  nation  to  nation."  In  the  per 
formance  of  these  duties,  on  both  sides,  the  neutral  nation 
lias  itself  a  most  direct  and  material  interest,  especially 
when  it  has  numerous  citizens  resident  in  the  territories 
of  both  belligerents ;  and  when  its  citizens,  resident  both 
there  and  at  home,  have  property  of  great  value  in  the 
;erritories  of  the  belligerents,  which  may  be  exposed  to 
danger  from  acts  of  confiscation  and  violence  if  the  pro 
tection  of  their  own  Government  should  be  withheld. 
This  is  the  case  with  respect  to  British  subjects  during  the 
present  civil  war  in  North  America. 

Acting  upon  these  principles,  Sir  William  Scott,  in  the 
ase  of  the  Caroline— [The  Caroline  (Chr.  Rob.,  461),  cited 
.nd  approved  by  Wheaton  ("Elements,"  part  iv.,chap 
5,  sec.  22)] — during  the  war  between  Great  Britain  and 
<Yance,  decided  that  the  carrying  of  dispatches  from  the 
French  ambassador,  resident  in  the  United  States,- to  the 
Government  of  France  by  a  United  States  merchant  ship 


644 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


Little  remains  to  complete   the   nar 
rative  of  this  remarkable  event,  which 

was  no  violation  of  the  neutrality  of  the  United  States  in 
the  war  between  Great  Britain  and  France,  and  that  such 
dispatches  could  not  be  treated  as  contraband  of  war  : 

"The  neutral  country,"  he  said,  "  has  a  right  to  pre 
serve  its  relations  with  the  enemy,  and  you  are  not  at 
liberty  to  conclude  that  any  communication  between  them 
can  partake,  in  any  degree,  of  the  nature  of  hostility 
against  you.  The  enemy  may  have  its  hostile  projects  to 
be  attempted  with  the  neutral  state,  but  your  reliance  is 
on  the  integrity  of  that  neutral  state,  that  it  will  not 
favor  nor  participate  in  such  designs,  but,  as  far  as  its  own 
counsels  and  actions  are  concerned,  will  oppose  them. 
And  if  there  should  be  private  reasons  to  suppose  that 
this  confidence  in  the  good  faith  of  the  neutral  state  has 
a  doubtful  foundation,  that  is  matter  for  the  caution  of 
the  Government,  to  be  counteracted  by  just  measures  of 
preventive  policy ;  but  it  is  no  ground  on  which  this 
court  can  pronounce  that  the  neutral  carrier  has  violated 
his  duty  by  bearing  dispatches,  which,  as  far  as  he  can 
know,  may  be  presumed  to  be  of  an  innocent  nature,  and 
in  the  maintenance  of  a  pacific  connection."  And  he  con 
tinues,  shortly  afterward,  "  It  is  to  be  considered  also, 
with  regard  to  this  question,  what  may  be  due  to  the  con 
venience  of  the  neutral  state  ;  for  its  interest  may  require 
that  the  intercourse  of  correspondence  with  the  enemy's 
country  should  not  be  altogether  interdicted.  It  might 
be  thought  to  amount  almost  to  a  declaration,  that  an 
ambassador  from  the  enemy  shall  -not  reside  in  the 
neutral  state  if  he  is  declared  to  be  debarred  from  the 
only  means  of  communicating  with  his  own.  For  to  what 
useful  purpose  can  he  reside  there  without  the  opportuni 
ties  of  such  a  communication  ?  It  is  too  much  to  say  tlxat 
all  the  business  of  the  two  states  shall  be  transacted  by 
the  minister  of  the  neutral  state  resident  in  the  enemy's 
country.  The  practice  of  nations  has  allowed  to  neutral 
states  the  privilege  of  receiving  ministers  from  the  bel 
ligerent  states,  and  the  use  and  convenience  of  an  imme 
diate  negotiation  with  them." 

That  these  principles  must  necessarily  extend  to  every 
kind  of  diplomatic  communication  between  government 
and  government,  whether  by  sending  or  receiving  ambas 
sadors  or  commissioners  personally,  or  by  sending  or  re 
ceiving  dispatches  from  or  to  such  ambassadors  or  com 
missioners,  or  from  or  to  the  respective  governments,  is 
too  plain  to  need  argument ;  and  it  seems  no  less  clear 
that  such  communication  must  be  as  legitimate  and  inno 
cent  in  their  first  commencement  as  afterward,  and  that 
the  rule  can  not  be  restricted  to  the  case  in  which  diplo 
matic  relations  are  already  formally  established  by  the 
residence  of  an  accredited  minister  of  the  belligerent 
power  in  the  neutral  country.  It  is  the  neutrality  of  the 
one  party  to  the  communication,  and  not  either  the  mode 
of  the  communication  or  the  time  when  it  first  takes 


-had  cost  Great  Britain  an  expenditure 
of  ten  millions  of  dollars,  for  prepara- 

place,  which  furnishes  the  test  of  the  true  application  of 
the  principle.  The  only  distinction  arising  out  of  the  pe 
culiar  circumstances  of  a  civil  war  and  of  the  non-recog  • 
nition  of  the  independence  of  the  de  facto  government  of 
one  of  the  belligerents,  either  by  the  other  belligerents  or 
by  the  neutral  power,  is  this — that  "for  the  purpose  of 
avoiding  the  difficulties  which  might  arise  from  a  formal 
and  positive  solution  of  these  questions  diplomatic  agents 
are  frequently  substituted,  who  are  clothed  with  the 
powers  and  enjoy  the  immunities  of  ministers,  though 
they  are  not  invested  with  the  representative  character, 
nor  entitled  to  diplomatic  honors."  (Wheaton,  "Ele 
ments,"  part  iii.,  chap.  1,  sec.  5.)  Upon  this  footing 
Messrs.  Mason  and  Slidell,  who  are  expressly  stated  by 
Mr.  Seward  to  have  been  sent  as  pretended  Ministers  Pleni 
potentiary  from  the  Southern  States  to  the  Courts  of  St. 
James  and  of  Paris,  must  have  been  sent,  and  would 
have  been,  if  at  all,  received,  and  the  reception  of  these 
gentlemen  upon  this  footing  could  not  have  been  justly 
regarded,  according  to  the  law  of  nations,  as  a  hostile  or 
unfriendly  act  toward  the  United  States.  Nor  indeed  is  it 
clear  that  these  gentlemen  would  have  been  clothed  with 
any  powers,  or  have  enjoyed  any  immunities,  beyond  those 
accorded  to  diplomatic  agents  not  officially  recognized. 

It  appears  to  her  Majesty's  Government  to  be  a  neces 
sary  and  certain  deduction  from  these  principles,  that  the 
conveyance  of  public  agents  of  this  character  from  Havana 
to  St.  Thomas  on  their  way  to  Great  Britain  and  France, 
and  of  their  credentials  or  dispatches  (if  any)  on  board 
the  Trent,  was  not  and  could  not  be  a  violation  of  the 
duties  of  neutrality  on  the  part  of  that  vessel,  and,  both 
for  that  reason  and  also  because  the  destination  of  these 
persons  and  of  their  dispatches  was  bonaftde  neutral,  it  is 
in  the  judgment  of  her  Majesty's  Government  clear  and 
certain  they  were  not  contraband. 

The  doctrine  of  contraband  has  its  whole  foundation 
and  origin  in  the  principle  which  is  nowhere  more  accu 
rately  explained  than  in  the  following  passage  of  Bynker- 
shoek.  After  stating  in  general  terms  the  duty  of  impartial 
neutrality,  he  adds  : 

' '  Et  sane  id,  quod  modo  dicebam,  non  tantum  ratio 
docet,  sed  et  uses,  inter  omnes  fere  gen  tea  receplus. 
Quamvis  enim  libera  sint  cum  amicorum  nostrorum  hosti- 
bus  commercia,  usu  tamen  placuit,  nealterutrum  his  rebus 
juvemus,  quibus  bellum  contra  amicos  nostros  instruatur 
et  foveatur.  Non  licet  igitur  alterutri  advehere  ea,  quibus 
in  bello  gercndo  opus  habet ;  ut  sunt  tormenta  arma,  et 
quorum  praecipuus  in  bello  usus,  milites.  o  o  o 
Optimo  jure  interdictum  est,  ne  quid  eorum  hostibus  sub- 
ministremus ;  quia  his  rebus  nos  ipsi  quodammodo  vide- 
remur  amicis  nostris  bellum  facere."  (Bynkershoek, 
"Quacst.  Jur.  Publ.,"  lib.  i.,  cap.  9.) 

The  principle  of  contraband  of  war  is  here  clearly  ex- 


WAR  AVOIDED. 


645 


tions  of  war,  and  inflicted  upon  her  peo 
ple  as  well  as  upon  those  of  the  United 

plained,  and  it  is  impossible  that  men,  or  dispatches, 
which  do  not  come  within,  that  principle,  can  in  this  sense 
be  contraband.  The  penalty  of  knowingly  carrying  con 
traband  of  war  is,  as  Mr.  Seward  states,  nothing  less  than 
the  confiscation  of  the  ship  ;  but  it  is  impossible  that  this 
penalty  can  be  incurred  when  the  neutral  has  done  no 
more  than  employ  means  usual  among  nations  for  main 
taining  his  own  proper  relations  with  one  of  the  belliger 
ents.  It  is  of  the  very  essence  of  the  definition  of  contra 
band  that  the  articles  should  have  a  hostile,  and  not  a 
neutral  destination.  "Goods, "says  Lord  Stowell  (the 
'  Imina,'  3  Chr.  Rob.,  167),  '-going  to  a  neutral  port  can 
not  come  under  the  description  of  contraband,  all  goods 
going  there  being  equally  lawful.  The  rule  respecting 
contraband,"  he  adds,  "  as  I  have  always  understood  it, 
is  that  articles  must  be  taken  in  delido,  in  the  natural 
prosecution  of  the  voyage  to  an  enemy's  port."  On  what 
just  principle  can  it  be  contended  that  a  hostile  destina 
tion  is  less  necessary,  or  a  neutral  destination  more  ob 
noxious,  for  constituting  a  contraband  character  in  the 
case  of  public  agents  or  dispatches  than  in  the  case  of 
arms  and  ammunition  ? 

Mr.  Seward  seeks  to  support  his  conclusion  on  this 
point  by  a  reference  to  the  well-known  dictum  of  Sir 
William  Scott  in  the  case  of  the  Caroline,  that  "  you  may 
stop  the  ambassador  of  your  enemy  on  his  passage" 
(The  Caroline,  6  Chr.  Rob. ,  468)  ;  and  to  another  dictum 
of  the  same  judge,  in  the  case  of  the  Orozembo,  that  civil 
functionaries,  "  if  sent  for  a  purpose  intimately  connected 
with  the  hostile  operations  [The  Orozembo,  6  Chr.  Rob., 
134,  may  fall  under  the  same  rule  with  persons  whose 
amployment  is  directly  military.]" 

These  quotations  are,  as  it  seems  to  her  Majesty's 
Government,  irrelevant.  The  words  of  Sir  W.  Scott  are 
in  both  cases  applied  by  Mr.  Seward  in  a  sense  different 
from  that  in  which  they  were  used.  Sir  William  Scott 
does  not  say  that  an  ambassador,  sent  from  a  belligerent 
to  a  neutral  state,  may  be  stopped  as  contraband  while  on 
his  passage  on  board  a  neutral  vessel  belonging  to  that  or 
any  other  neutral  state  ;  nor  that,  if  he  be  not  contra 
band,  the  other  belligerent  would  have  any  right  to  stop 
him  on  such  a  voyage.  The  sole  object  which  Sir  William 
Scott  had  in  view  was  to  explain  the  extent  and  limits  of 
the  doctrine  of  the  inviolability  of  ambassadors,  in  virtue 
of  that  character,  for  he  says  : 

' '  The  limits  that  are  assigned  to  the  operations  of  war 
against  them,  by  Vattel  and  other  writers  on  these  sub 
jects,  are,  that  you  may  exercise  your  right  of  war  against 
them  wherever  the  character  of  hostility  exists.  You 
may  stop  the  ambassador  of  your  enemy  on  his  passage  ; 
but  when  he  has  arrived,  and  has  taken  upon  him  the 
functions  of  his  office,  and  has  been  admitted  in  his 
representative  character,  he  becomes  a  sort  of  middle 


States  incalculable  damage,  from  its  fa 
tal  influence  upon  their  commercial  and 


man,  entitled  to  peculiar  privileges,  as  set  apart  for  the 
protection  of  the  relations  of  amity  and  peace,  in  main 
taining  which  all  nations  are  in  some  degree  interested." 

There  is  certainly  nothing  in  this  passage  from  which 
an  inference  can  be  drawn  so  totally  opposed  to  the  gene 
ral  tenor  of  the  whole  judgment  as  that  an  ambassador, 
proceeding  to  the  country  to  which  he  is  sent,  and  on 
board  a  neutral  vessel  belonging  to  that  country,  can  be 
stopped  on  the  ground  that  the  conveyance  of  guch  an 
ambassador  is  a  breach  of  neutrality,  which  it  must  be  it 
he  be  contraband  of  war.  Sir  William  Scott  is  here  ex 
pressing  not  his  own  opinion  merely,  but  the  doctrine 
which  he  considers  to  have  been  laid  down  by  writers  of 
authority  upon  the  subject.  No  writer  of  authority  has 
ever  suggested  that  an  ambassador  proceeding  to  a  neutral 
state  on  board  one  of  its  merchant  ships  is  contraband  ot 
war.  The  only  writer  named  by  Sir  William  Scott  is 
Vattel  (Vattel,  lib.  iv.,  cap.  7,  sec.  85),  whose  words  are 
these  : 

"  On  peut  encore  attaquer  et  arreter  ses  gens  (i.  e.,  gens 
de  1'ennemi)  partout  ou  on  a  la  libert£  d'exercer  des  actes 
d'hostilite.  Non  seulement  done  on  peut  justement  re 
fuser  le  passage  aux  Ministres  qu'un  ennemi  envoye  a 
d'autres  Souverains  ;  on  les  arrete  meme,  s'ils  entrepren- 
ment  de  passer  secretement  et  sans  permission  dans  les 
lieux  dont  on  est  maitre." 

And  he  adds  as  an  example  the  seizure  of  a  French 
ambassador  when  passing  through  the  dominions  of 
Hanover,  during  war  between  England  and  France,  by 
the  King  of  England,  who  was  also  sovereign  of  Hanover. 

The  rule,  therefore,  to  be  collected  from  these  authori 
ties  is,  that  you  may  stop  an  enemy's  ambassador  in  any 
place  of  which  you  are  yourself  the  master,  or  in  any 
other  place  where  you  have  a  right  to  exercise  acts  of 
hostility.  Your  own  territory,  or  ships  of  your  own 
country,  are  places  of  which  you  are  yourself  the  master. 
The  enemy's  territory,  or  the  enemy's  ships,  are  places  iu 
which  you  have  a  right  to  exercise  acts  of  hostility. 
Neutral  vessels,  guilty  of  no  violation  of  the  laws  of 
neutrality,  are  places  where  you  have  no  right  to  exercise 
acts  of  hostility. 

It  would  be  an  inversion  of  the  doctrine  that  ambassa 
dors  have  peculiar  privileges  to  argue  that  they  are  lesa 
protected  than  other  men.  The  right  conclusion  is,  that  an 
ambassador  sent  to  a  neutral  power  is  inviolable  on  the  high  seat 
as  well  as  in  neutral  waters,  while  under  the  protection  of  the  neu 
tral  flag. 

The  other  dictum  of  Sir  William  Scott,  iu  the  case  of 
the  Orozembo,  is  even  less  pertinent  to  the  present  ques 
tion.  That  related  to  the  case  of  a  neutral  ship  which, 
upon  the  effect  of  the  evidence  given  on  the  trial,  was 
held  by  the  court  to  have  been  engaged  as  an  enemy's 
transport  to  convey  the  enemy's  military  officers,  and 


646 


THE   WAR  WITH  THE   SOUTH. 


financial  relations,  greatly  stirred  their 
national  prejudices,'  and  nearly  involved 

some  of  his  civil  officers  whose  duties  were  intimately 
connected  with  military  operations,  from  the  enemy's 
country  to  one  of  the  enemy's  colonies,  which  was  about 
to  be  the  theatre  of  those  operations, 'the  whole  being 
done  under  color  of  a  simulated  neutral  destination.  But 
as  long  as  a  neutral  government,  within  whose  territories 
no  military  operations  are  carried  on,  adheres  to  its  pro 
fession  of  neutrality,  the  duties  of  civil  officers  on  a  mis 
sion  to  that  government  and  within  its  territory  cannot 
possibly  be  "  connected  with"  any  "military  operations" 
in  the  sense  in  which  these  words  were  used  by  Sir  William 
Scott,  as,  indeed,  is  rendered  quite  clear  by  the  passages 
already  cited  from  his  own  judgment  in  the  case  of  the 
Caroline 

In  connection  with  this  part  of  the  subject,  it  is  neces 
sary  to  notice  a  remarkable  passage  in  Mr.  Seward's  note, 
in  which  he  says,  "  I  assume,  in  the  present  case,  what, 
as  I  read  British  authorities,  is  regarded  by  Great  Britain 
herself  as  true  maritime  law,  that  the  circumstance  that 
the  Trent  was  proceeding  from  a  neutral  port  to  another 
neutral  port  does  not  modify  the  right  of  the  belligerent 
capture."  If,  indeed,  the  immediate  and  ostensible 
voyage  of  the  Trent  had  been  to  a  neutral  port,  but  her 
ultimate  and  real  destination  to  some  port  of  the  enemy, 
her  Majesty's  Government  might  have  been  better  able  to 
understand  the  reference  to  British  authorities  contained 
in  this  passage.  It  is  undoubtedly  the  law,  as  laid  down 
by  British  authorities,  that  if  the  real  destination  of  the 
vessel  be  hostile  (that  is,  to  the  enemy  or  the  enemy's 
country),  it  cannot  be  covered  and  rendered  innocent  by  a 
fictitious  destination  to  a  neutral  port.  But  if  the  real 
terminus  of  the  voyage  be  bonafide  in  a  neutral  territory, 
no  English,  nor,  indeed,  as  her  Majesty's  Government  be 
lieve,  any  American  authority  can  be  found  which  has 
ever  given  countenance  to  the  doctrine  that  either  men  or 
dispatches  can  be  subject,  during  such  a  voyage  and  on 
board  such  a  neutral  vessel,  to  belligerent  capture  as  con 
traband  of  war.  Her  Majesty's  Government  regard  such  a  doc 
trine  as  wholly  irreconcilable  with  the  true  principles  of  maritime 
law,  and  certainly  with  those  principles  as  they  have  been  under 
stood  in  the  courts  of  this  country. 

It  is  to  be  further  observed  that  packets  engaged  in  the 
postal  service,  and  keeping  up  the  regular  and  periodical 
communications  between  the  different  countries  of  Europe 
and  America  and  other  parts  of  the  world,  though  in  the 
absence  of  treaty  stipulations  they  may  not  be  exempted 
from  visit  and  search  in  time  of  war,  nor  from  the  penalties 
of  any  violation  of  neutrality,  if  proved  to  have  been 
knowingly  committed,  are  still,  when  sailing  in  the  ordi 
nary  and  innocent  course  of  their  legitimate  employment, 
•which  consists  in  the  conveyance  of  mails  and  passengers, 
entitled  to  peculiar  favor  and  protection  from  all  govern 
ments  in  whose  service  they  are  engaged.  To  detain, 


them  in  a  conflict  which  would  have 
wasted  their  mutual  resources,  and  might 

disturb,  or  interfere  with  them,  without  the  very  gravest 
cause,  would  be  an  act  of  a  most  noxious  and  injurious 
character,  not  only  to  a  vast  number  and  variety  of  indi 
vidual  and  private  interests,  but  to  the  public  interests  of 
neutral  and  friendly  governments. 

It  has  been  necessary  to  dwell  upon  these  points  in  some 
detail,  because  they  involve  principles  of  the  highest  im 
portance,  and  because,  if  Mr.  Seward's  argument  were 
acted  upon  as  sound,  the  most  injurious  consequences 
might  follow. 

For  instance,  in  the  present  war,  according  to  Mr.  Sew 
ard's  doctrine,  any  packet  ship  carrying  a  Confederate  agent 
from  Dover  to  Calais,  or  from  Calais  to  Dover,  might  be 
captured  and  carried  to  New  York.  In  case  of  war  between 
Austria  and  Italy,  the  conveyance  of  an  Italian  minister 
or  agent  might  cause  the  capture  of  a  neutral  packet  ply 
ing  between  Malta  and  Marseilles,  or  between  Malta  and 
Gibraltar,  the  condemnation  of  the  ship  at  Trieste,  and 
the  confinement  of  the  minister  or  agent  in  an  Austrian 
prison.  So  in  the  late  war  between  Great  Britain  and 
France,  on  the  one  hand,  and  Russia  on  the  other,  a  Kus- 
sian  minister  going  from  Hamburg  to  Washington,  in  an 
American  ship,  might  have  been  brought  to  Portsmouth, 
the  ship  might  have  been  condemned,  and  the  minister 
sent  to  the  Tower  of  London.  So  also  a  Confederate  ves 
sel  of  war  might  capture  a  Cunard  steamer  on  its  way 
from  Halifax  to  Liverpool,  on  the  ground  of  its  carrying 
dispatches  from  Mr.  Seward  to  Mr.  Adams. 

In  view,  therefore,  of  the  erroneous  principles  asserted 
by  Mr.  Seward,  and  the  consequences  they  involve,  her 
Majesty's  Government  think  it  necessary  to  declare  that 
they  would  not  acquiesce  in  the  capture  of  any  British 
merchant  ship  in  circumstances  similar  to  those  of  the 
Trent,  and  that  the  fact  of  its  being  brought  before  a 
prize  court,  though  it  would  alter  the  character,  would 
not  diminish  the  gravity  of  the  offence  against  the  law  ot 
nations  which  would  thereby  be  committed. 

Having  disposed  of  the  question,  whether  the  persons 
named  and  their  supposed  dispatches  were  contraband  of 
war,  I  am  relieved  from  the  necessity  of  discussing  the 
other  questions  raised  by  Mr.  Seward — namely,  whether 
Captain  Wilkes  had  lawfully  a  right  to  stop  and  search 
the  Trent  for  these  persons  and  their  supposed  dispatches  ; 
whether  that  right,  assuming  that  he  possessed  it,  was  ex 
ercised  by  him  in  a  lawful  and  proper  manner  ;  atid  whether 
he  had  a  right  to  capture  the  persons  found  on  board. 

The  fifth  question  put  by  Mr.  Seward — namely,  whether 
Captain  Wilkes  exercised  the  alleged  right  of  capture  in 
the  manner  allowed  and  recognized  by  the  law  of  nations, 
is  resolved  by  Mr.  Seward  himself  in  the  negative. 

I  cannot  conclude,  however,  without  noticing  one  very 
singular  passage  in  Mr.  Seward's  dispatch. 

Mr.  Seward  asserts  that  "if  the  safety  of  this  Union  ro 


DEPARTURE  OF  SLIDELL  AND  MASON. 


647 


have  blasted  forever  the  hopes  of  re-es 
tablishing  that  union  upon  which  the 
North  relies  for  its  future  national  great 
ness.  As  we  believe  that  the  position 
of  Slidell  and  Mason,  whether  in  prison 
at  Fort  Warren  or  in  the  saloons  of  Paris 
and  London,  was  of  little  import  to  the 
interests  of  the  rebellion,  we  do  not 
hesitate  in  avowing  the  opinion,  that  Mr. 
Seward  would  have  better  preserved  the 
dignity  of  the  nation  by  anticipating  the 
demand  of  Great  Britain  and  sending 

quired  the  detention  of  the  captured  persons,  it  would  be 
the  duty  of  this  Government  to  detain  them."  He  pro 
ceeds  to  say  that  the  waning  proportions  of  the  insurrec 
tion,  and  the  comparative  unimportance  of  the  captured 
persons  themselves,  forbid  him  from  resorting  to  that 
defence.  Mr.  Seward  does  not  here  assert  any  right 
founded  on  international  law,  however  inconvenient  or 
irritating  to  neutral  nations.  He  entirely  loses  sight  o 
the  vast  difference  which  exists  between  the  exercise  of 
an  extreme  right  and  the  commission  of  an  unquestion 
able  wrong.  His  frankness  compels  me  to  be  equally  open, 
and  to  inform  him  that  Great  Britain  could  not  have  sub 
mitted  to  the  perpetration  of  that  wrong,  however  nourish 
ing  might  have  been  the  insurrection  in  the  South,  and 
however  important  the  persons  captured  might  have  been. 

Happily,  all  danger  of  hostile  collision  on  this  subject 
has  been  avoided.  It  is  the  earnest  hope  of  her  Majesty's 
Government  that  similar  dangers,  if  they  should  arise, 
may  be  averted  by  peaceful  negotiations  conducted  in  the 
spirit  which  befits  t.ie  organs  of  two  great  nations. 

I  request  you  to  read  this  dispatch  to  Mr.  Seward,  and 
give  him  a  copy  of  it.  I  am,  etc.,  RUSSELL. 


back  the  captives  immediately  on  their 
arrival  in  the  United  States. 

The  British  gun-boat  Rinaldo  being 
ordered  by  Lord  Lyons  to  proceed  jan,  |, 
to  Provincetown,  Mass.,  awaited  ls<>2, 
there  the  transfer  of  the  two  Commis 
sioners  and  their  secretaries  from  Fort 
Warren  to  the  protection  of  the  British 
flag,  which  was  effected  on  the  first  day 
of  January.  The  tug-boat  Starlight 
received  them  at  the  fort  and  conveyed 
them  to  the  British  vessel,  which  sailed 
immediately  for  Halifax.  A  severe 
storm  blew  the  Rinaldo  off  the  coast  of 
America,  and  she  was  obliged  to  change 
her  course  for  Bermuda.  Thence  the 
Commissioners  were  taken  to  St.  Thomas, 
where  they  embarked  on  board  the 
English  steamer  La  Plata,  and  arrived 
at  Southampton,  in  England,  on  the 
29th  of  January.  A  large  crowd  of  the 
curious  gathered  on  the  dock  to  catch  a 
glimpse  of  these  troublesome  personages, 
but  "no  demonstration  was  made  on 
their  landing."  Mr.  Slidell,  having 
joined  his  family,  proceeded  to  Paris, 
and  Mr.  Mason  to  London,  their  respect 
ive  fields  of  future  intrigue. 


648 


THE  WAR   WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


CHAPTER    LXII. 

Extent  and  conformation  of  the  Southern  coast.— A  plan  for  the  obstruction  of  Harbors.— Stone  Fleet.— Sailing  of 
Stone  Fleet.— Composition.— Plan  of  operation.— Charleston  Harbor  obstructed. — Intentions  in  regard  to  Savannah. 
—Forestalled  by  the  Enemy.— Effect  in  Europe.— The  Stone  Fleet  pronounced  barbarous.— The  English  Press.— 
Protest  of  Lord  John  Russell.— His  Dispatch.— The  MonUeur  on  the  Stone  Fleet.— The  false  views  of  the  American 
Press.— Explanation  of  Secretary  Seward.— Stone  Fleets  justified  by  example  of  Great  Britain.— Cases  cited.— 
Alexandria  aud  Boulogne.— Extraordinary  Dispatch  of  Lord  Herbert.— Ingenuity  and  disingenuousness  of  the  Brit 
ish  Press.— A  distinction  without  a  difference.— Two  Naval  Expeditions.— Expedition  to  Ship  Island.— Arrival  of 
General  Phelps.— Description  of  Ship  Island.— Phelps'  first  enterprise.— An  impolitic  Proclamation.— Movements 
to  Biloxi. — Reinforcements. — Departure  of  General  Butler. — Capture  of  Cedar  Keys. — A  great  gain  by  a  small  Ex 
pedition. — Future  designs. 


THE  immense  extent  and  peculiar 
conformation  of  the  Southern  coast 
of  the  United  States  induced  the 
Government,  in  order  to  render  the  block 
ade  more  effective,  to  close  some  of  the 
numerous  channels — through  bayous, 
creeks,  and  small  streams — by  which  the 
enemy's  and  foreign  vessels  were  enabled 
to  elude  the  vigilance  of  the  Federal 
cruisers.  After  the  capture  of  Forts 
Hatteras  and  Clark,  by  the  combined 
naval  and  military  expedition  under 
Commodore  Stringham  and  General 
Butler,  several  old  vessels,  filled  with 
stone,  which  had  been  towed  there  for 
the  purpose,  were  sunk  in  Ocracoke 
Inlet,  to  interrupt  the  passage  through 
that  channel  to  and  from  Pamlico  Sound. 
This  was  the  beginning  of  a  more 
systematic  and  extensive  plan,  which 
reached  its  full  development  in  the 
"stone  fleet,"  a  part  of  which,  con 
sisting  of  twenty-five  vessels,  sailed 
Nov.  from  New  Bedford  on  the  20th  of 
20,  November.  These  were  mostly  old 


"whalers,"  no  longer  serviceable,  and 
which  having  been  purchased  at  prices 
varying  from  five  hundred  to  five  thou 
sand  dollars,  were  loaded  with  stone  and 
dispatched  to  Port  Royal.  A  number 
of  other  vessels  of  similar  character  were 
also  bought,  to  be  used  for  a  like  pur 
pose.  The  whole  number  purchased  by 
the  Government  was  about  sixty,  at  an 
aggregate  expense  of  a  hundred  and 
sixty  thousand  dollars.  Sixteen  of  the 
fleet  which  reached  Port  Royal  were 
dispatched  to  the  north  and  sunk  in  the 
main  channel  leading  to  Charleston  Har 
bor.  Through  the  bottom  of  each  of 
these  vessels  had  been  passed  a  pipe, 
which  was  temporarily  plugged.  On 
reaching  its  destination,  the  plug  was 
removed,  and  the  water  rushing  in  sunk 
the  stone-laden  hulks.* 

0  The  operation  in  the  channel  leading  to  Charleston 
Harbor  is  thus  described  by  one°  who  was  present  : 

"  In  the  course  of  the  afternoon  all  the  whalers  arrived 
and  were  towed  up  toward  the  bar  in  a  convenient  Dec* 
position  to  be  taken  over.  About  five  o'clock  the  "• 


*  Correspondent  of  the  N.  Y. 


STONE  FLEET. 


619 


It  was  intended  to  have  disposed  of 
the  rest  of  the  stone  fleet  at  Port  Royal, 

Ottawa  came  out,  and  towed  first  the  Tenedos  and  then  the 
Leonidas  to  their  positions  on  the  extreme  right  and  left 
of  the  line.  In  a  few  minutes  after  anchoring,  the  crew 
of  the  Tenedos  left  her  side  in  two  boats,  and  we  knew  the 
ship  was  sinking.  The  process  was  much  slower  than  had 
been  expected.  When  the  plug  was  removed,  the  water 
rushed  in  a  stream  from  one  side  of  the  vessel  to  the  other, 
but  there  was  only  a  single  hole,  and  when  that  was 
reached  inside,  it  entered  from  the  outside  with  greatly 
diminished  force. 

"  The  sinking  of  the  fleet  was  intrusted  to  Capt.  Charles 
H.  Davis,  formerly,  from  1842  to  1849,  chief  of  a  hydro- 
graphic  party  on  the  Coast  Survey,  and  ever  since  more  or 
less  intimately  connected  with  it.  It  is  remarkable  that 
when,  in  1851,  an  appropriation  was  made  by  the  Federal 
Government  for  the  improvement  of  Charleston  Harbor, 
and,  at  the  request  of  South  Carolina,  a  commission  of 
navy  and  army  officers  was  appointed  to  superintend  the 
work,  Captain  Davis  was  one  of  the  commission,  and  for 
three  or  four  years  was  engaged  in  these  operations.  The 
present  attempt  was  of  somewhat  different  character.  The 
plan  adopted  by  him  may  be  easily  understood  by  reference 
to  a  chart  of  the  harbor,  or  by  the  following  description  : 
The  entrance  by  the  main  ship  channel  runs  from  the  bar 
to  Fort  Sumter,  six  miles,  nearly  south  and  north.  The 
city  is  three  miles  beyond,  bearing  about  N.  W.  The  other 
channels  are  Sanford's,  Swash,  the  North,  and  Maffit's,  or 
.Sullivan's  Island,  which  need  not  be  particularly  described. 
Only  the  latter  is  practicable  for  vessels  of  any  draught, 
but  all  serve  more  or  less  to  empty  the  waters  discharged 
by  the  Ashley  and  Cooper  rivers.  Over  the  bar,  at  the 
entrance  of  the  main  ship  channel,  is  a  narrow  passage, 
through  which  vessels  may  carry  eleven  feet  at  low 
water  ;  about  seventeen  at  high  water.  The  plan  of 
Captain  Davis  for  closing  the  harbor  proceeded  on  the 
following  principles  : 

"  1st.  The  obstructions  are  to  be  placed  on  both  sides 
of  the  crest  of  the  bar,  so  that  the  game  forces  which  have 
created  the  bar  may  be  relied  on  to  keep  them  in  their 
places. 

"  2d.  The  bar  is  not  to  be  obstructed  entirely ;  for 
natural  forces  would  soon  open  a  new  passage,  since  the 
rivers  must  discharge  themselves  by  some  outlet ;  but  to 
be  only  partially  obstructed,  so  that,  while  this  channel  is 
ruined,  no  old  one,  like  Swash  or  Sanford,  shall  be  im 
proved,  or  a  new  one  formed. 

"  3d.  The  vessels  are  to  be  so  placed  that  on  the  chan 
nel  course  it  shall  be  difficult  to  draw  a  line  through  any 
part  of  it  that  will  not  be  intercepted  by  one  of  them.  A 
ship,  therefore,  endeavoring  to  make  her  way  out  or  in, 
cannot  do  it  by  taking  the  bearing  of  any  point  of  depart 
ure,  as  she  cannot  sail  on  any  straight  line. 

"  4tb.  The  vessels  are  to  be  placed  checkerwise,  and  at 
82 


by  sinking  them  in  the  mouth  of  the 
Savannah  River,  but  as  the  enemy,  fear 
some  distance  from  each  other,  so  as  to  create  an  artificial 
unevenness  of  the  bottom,  remotely  resembling  Hell  Gate 
and  Holmes'  Hole,  which  unevenness  will  rise  to  eddies, 
counter  currents  and  whirlpools,  adding  so  seriously  to 
the  difficulties  of  navigation  that  it  can  only  be  practicable 
by  steamers  or  with  a  very  commanding  breeze. 

"  With  reference  to  the  second,  it  may  be  added  that 
no  other  channel  now  existing  will  be  closed,  at  least  for 
the  present ;  for  if  such  a  plan  were  carried  too  far,  the 
formation  of  a  new  channel  would  be  inevitable.  More 
over,  for  the  purposes  of  the  blockade,  the  obstruction  of 
the  main  channel  is  entirely  sufficient. 

' '  The  execution  of  the  foregoing  plan  was  begun  by 
buoying  out  the  channel  and  circumscribing  within  four 
points  the  space  where  the  vessels  were  all  to  be  sunk. 

"  The  distance  between  the  points  from  S.W.  to  N.E. 
is  about  an  eighth  of  a  mile  ;  the  breadth  perhaps  half  as 
much.  It  will  be  understood  that  it  was  no  part  of  the 
plan  to  build  a  wall  of  ships  across,  but  to  drop  them  at  a 
little  distance  from  each  other,  on  the  principles  above 
stated,  closing  the  channel  to  navigation,  but  leaving  it 
open  to  the  water. 

"  Work  was  resumed  on  Friday  morning,  the  20th,  the 
Ottawa  and  Pocahontas  bringing  the  ships  to  their  stations. 
The  placing  them  was  an  operation  of  considerable  nicety, 
especially  as  some  of  the  vessels  were  so  deep  as  to  be 
with  difficulty  dragged  on  the  bar,  except  at  high  water. 
A  graver  hindrance  to  their  exact  location  was  found  in 
the  imperfection  of  the  arrangement  for  sinking,  several 
of  the  ships  remaining  afloat  so  long  after  the  plug  was 
knocked  out  that  they  swung  out  of  position.  They  were, 
nevertheless,  finally  placed  very  nearly  according  to  the 
plan.  By  half-past  ten  the  last  plug  was  drawn,  and 
every  ship  of  the  sixteen  was  either  sunk  or  sinking.  Our 
expectations  have  been  to  some  extent  disappointed  in  the 
character  of  the  expedition  while  it  was  in  progress. 
None  of  the  vessels  wholly  disappeared  from  sight,  and 
those  which  heeled  over  farthest  and  were  most  under 
water,  had  subsided  in  a  very  deliberate  manner.  An  im 
passable  line  of  wrecks  was  drawn  for  an  eighth  of  a  mile 
between  the  points  above  indicated.  All  but  two  or  three 
were  careened.  Some  were  on  their  beam  ends,  some 
down  by  the  head,  others  by  the  stern,  and  masts,  spars, 
and  rigging  of  the  thickly  crowded  ships  were  mingled 
and  tangled  in  the  greatest  confusion.  They  did  not  long 
remain  so.  The  boats  which  had  been  swarming  about 
the  wrecks,  picking  up  stores,  sails,  and  whatever  was  to 
be  got,  returning  heavily  laden,  were  ordered  back  to 
cut  down  the  masts.  As  they  fell  the  sound  of  heavy 
cannon  echoed  down  the  bay,  and  for  the  next  two  hours 
the  crash  of  falling  masts  was  accompanied  by  the  same 
salute.  The  guns  of  Sumter  were  the  requiem  of  the 
fleet.  Some  staunch  old  ships  died  very  hard,  settling 


650 


THE   WAR   WITH  THE   SOUTH. 


ing  an  attack,  had  already  obstructed 
this  entrance  from  the  sea,  the  operation 
became  unnecessary. 

In  Europe,  these  measures  were  de 
nounced  as  a  barbarous  mode  of  warfare, 
and  a  sin  against  nature.     The  English 
press  was  especially  virulent  in  its  cen 
sure,  and  characterized  the  obstruction 
of  Charleston  Harbor,  by  the  sinking  of 
the  "stone  fleet,"  as  an  atrocious  bar 
barity,  almost  unparalleled  in  the  history 
of  the  world.     The  British  Government, 
even,  was  induced  to  protest,  through  its 
representative    at  Washington,    against 
the  act.     Earl  Russell,  in  his  dispatch, 
had  declared    that  "  such  a  cruel  plan 
would    seem   to   imply  despair    of  the 
restoration  of  the  Union,  the  professed 
object  of  the  war  ;  for  it  could  never  be 
the  wish  of  the  United  States  Govern 
ment  to  destroy  cities  from  which  their 
own  country  was  to  derive  a  portion  of 
its  riches  and  prosperity.     Such  a  plan 
could  only  be  adopted  as  a  measure  of  re 
venge  and  of  irremediable  injury  against 
an  enemy."     His  lordship  moreover  de 
clared  that  "  even  as  a  scheme  of  em 
bittered    and    sanguinary    war,    such    a 
measure  would   not   be   justifiable.     It 
would  be  a  plot  against  the  commerce 
of  all  maritime  nations,  and  against  the 
free  intercourse  of  the  Southern  States 
of  America  with  the  civilized  world." 
The  official  organ  of  the  French  Gov- 


very  slowly,  and  still  upright  when  they  had  felt  the 
bottom.  One  ship  out  of  the  sixteen,  the  Robin  Hood, 
with  upright  masts,  stood  solitary  sentinel  over  the 
wrecks.  As  evening  came  on  she  was  set  on  fire,  and 
gave  us  as  the  crown  of  our  novel  experiment,  the  rare 
sight  of  a  ship  on  fire  at  sea.  The  light-house  on  Morris 
Island  was  blown  up  by  the  rebels  on  the  night  of  Decem 
ber  19,  while  the  fleet  was  lying  off  the  harbor." 


ernment,  the  Moniteur,  though  generally 
so  reticent,  did  not  hesitate  to  character 
ize  the  "  stone  fleet"  as  a  vindictive 
prosecution  of  the  war,  and  a  provoca 
tion  to  the  indignation  of  the  world. 

European  opinion  on  the  subject,  how 
ever,  had  been  formed  on  the  state 
ments  of  the  American  press,  which 
had  misrepresented  the  purpose  of  the 
Federal  Government,  declaring,  with 
unreflecting  exultation,  that  the  stone 
fleet  was  intended  to  destroy  for 
ever  the  harbors  in  which  it  was  to  be 
sunk. 

An  authoritative  correction  of  the 
misapprehension  of  the  objects  and 
effects  of  the  plan  of  obstruction  was 
made  by  Mr.  Seward  directly  to  Lord 
Lyons,  who  thus  stated  it  in  the  report 
of  his  conversation  on  the  subject  with 
the  Secretary  of  State  : 

"Mr.  Seward  observed  that  it  was 
altogether  a  mistake  to  suppose  that 
this  plan  had  been  devised  with  a  view 
to  injure  the  harbors  permanently.  It 
was,  he  said,  simply  a  temporary  mili 
tary  measure  adopted  to  aid  the  block 
ade.  The  Government  of  the  United 
States  had  last  spring,  with  a  navy  very 
little  prepared  for  so  extensive  an  ope 
ration,  undertaken  to  blockade  upward 
of  three  thousand  miles  of  coast.  The 
Secretary  of  the  Navy  had  reported  that 
he  could  stop  up  the  '  large  holes'  by 
means  of  his  ships,  but  that  he  could 
not  stop  up  the  '  small  ones.'  It  had 
been  found  necessary,  therefore,  to  close 
some  of  the  numerous  small  inlets  by 
sinking  vessels  in  the  channels.  It  would 
be  the  duty  of  the  Government  of  the 


ENGLAND   ON  STONE   FLEETS. 


651 


United  States  to  remove  all  these  ob 
structions  as  soon  as  the  Union  was 
restored.  It  was  well  understood  that 
this  was  an  obligation  incumbent  on  the 
Federal  Government.  At  the  end  of  the 
war  with  Great  Britain,  that  Government 
had  been  called  upon  to  remove  a  vessel 
which  had  been  sunk  in  the  harbor  of 
Savannah,  and  had  recognized  the  obli 
gation  and  removed  the  vessel  according 
ly.  Moreover,  the  United  States  were 
now  engaged  in  a  civil  war  with  the 
South.  He  was  not  prepared  to  say 
that,  as  an  operation  in  war,  it  was  un 
justifiable  to  destroy  permanently  the 
harbors  of  the  enemy  ;  but  nothing  of 
the  kind  had  been  done  on  the  present 
occasion.  Vessels  had  been  sunk  by  the 
rebels  to  prevent  the  access  to  their 
ports  of  the  cruisers  of  the  United 
States.  The  same  measure  had  been 
adopted  by  the  United  States  in  order 
to  make  the  blockade  complete.  When 
the  war  was  ended,  the  removal  of  all 
these  obstructions  would  be  a  mere  mat 
ter  of  expense  ;  there  would  be  no  great 
difficulty  in  removing  them  effectually. 
Besides,  as  had  already  been  done  in 
the  case  of  Port  Royal,  the  United 
States  would  open  better  harbors  than 
those  which  they  closed. 

"  I  asked  Mr.  Seward  whether  the 
principal  entrance  to  Charleston  Harbor 
had  not  been  recently  closed  altogether 
by  vessels  sunk  by  order  of  this  Govern 
ment  ;  and  I  observed  to  him  that  the 
opening  of  a  new  port  thirty  or  forty 
miles  off,  would  hardly  console  the 
people  of  the  large  town  of  Charleston 
for  the  destruction  of  their  own  harbor. 


"  Mr.  Seward  said  that  the  best  proof 
he  could  give  me  that  the  harbor  of 
Charleston  had  not  been  rendered  inac 
cessible  was,  that  in  spite  of  the  sunken 
vessels  and  of  the  blockading  squadron, 
a  British  steamer,  laden  with  contra 
band  of  war,  had  just  succeeded  in  get 
ting  in." 

There  were  those  who  were  prepared 
to  justify  the  design,  even  if  it  were  in 
tended  perpetually  to  block  up  the  har 
bors  of  the  Southern  coast,  by  the  naval 
career  of  Great  Britain,  so  abound 
ing  in  precedents  of  unscrupulous  war 
fare.  An  English  writer*  reminded  his 
indignant  countrymen  that,  "  on  the 
evacuation  of  the  city  and  port  of  Alex 
andria  and  embarkation  of  the  troops, 
in  1807,  five  vessels,  laden  with  stone, 
were  sunk  in  the  narrow  passage  by 
which  our  (British)  squadron,  under  the 
command  of  Admiral  Lewis,  had  entered 
and  then  sailed  ;  concluding  that  it  would 
be  the  last  exit  of  any  vessel  from  the 
port — erroneously,  however,  as  it  has 
subsequently  appeared." 

To  this  remarkable  precedent  was  ad 
ded  another, f  which  received  the  formal 
sanction  of  the  British  King  and  Gov 
ernment.  It  was  given  in  this  dispatch, 
marked  "  most  secret,"  addressed  by 
Lord  Hobart  to  Sir  N.  S.  Hammond, 
controller  of  the  navy  : 

*  Galignani's  Messenger,  Jan.  17. 

f  Sir  Walter  Scott,  in  his  "  Life  of  Napoleon,"  thus  al 
ludes  to  the  Boulogne  affair  : 

' '  England  .  .  unable  to  get  opportunities  of  assailing 
French  vessels,  was  induced  to  have  recourse  to  strange 
and,  as  it  proved,  ineffectual  means  of  carrying  on  hostil 
ities.  Such  was  the  attempt  at  destroying  the  harbor  of 
Boulogne,  by  sinking  in  the  roads  ships  loaded  with 
stones." 


652 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


"DOWNING  STREET,  Feb.  9,  1804. 

"  It  being  thought  advisable,  under 
the  present  circumstances  of  the  war, 
that  an  attempt  should  be  made  for 
carrying  into  execution  the  project  sug 
gested  in  the  inclosed  paper  for  choking 
up  the  entrance  into  the  harbor  of  Bou 
logne  ;  and  the  success  of  such  an  enter 
prise  depending  in  a  great  measure  upon 
the  secrecy  and  dispatch  with  which  the 
preparations  may  be  made,  I  have  the 
King's  command  to  signify  to  you  that 
you  take  these  preparations  under  your 
immediate  control,  and  that  you  com 
municate  confidentially  with  Mr.  -  — , 
supplying  him  with  such  funds  and  giving 
him  such  orders  for  the  purchase  of  vessels, 
and  providing  the  materials  which  you 
may  judge  necessary  for  accomplishing 
the  object  in  view.  As  soon  as  the 
vessels  shall  be  sufficiently  laden,  you 
will  give  instructions  that  they  should 
proceed  with  all  possible  expedition  to 
the  Downs,  where  further  orders  will 
proceed  from  Lord  Keith.  HOBART." 

To  these  precedents  might  be  added 
others,  some  of  which  occurred  upon 
the  very  coast  against  the  obstructions 
on  which  England  seemed,  with  a  not 
unnatural  regard  for  its  own  interests  in 
an  illegal  trade,  so  intensely  indignant. 
The  English  writers  who  had  denounced 
the  stone  fleet  as  indicating  principles  of 
barbarity  worthy  only  of  East  India  pi 
rates,  strove  to  parry  those  thrusts  which 
brought  home  to  themselves  similar  acts. 
Their  ingenuity  of  fence  is  manifest  in 
such  verbal  tours  de  maitre  as  the  follow 
ing  : 

11  "We  confess  we  are  infinitely  aston 


ished,"  said  the  London  Morning  Post,* 
"  to  find  a  contemporary  journal  indi 
rectly  palliating  the  destruction  of  the 
port  of  Charleston  by  the  precedent  of 
our  having  proposed  to  sink  ships,  in 
1804,  in  front  of  the  harbor  of  Boulogne. 
Can  it  be  necessary  to  draw  out  in  words 
the  obvious  distinction  between  military 
and  commercial  ports — between  a  harbor 
widened  and  defended  for  the  express 
purpose  of  the  conquest  and  subjugation 
of  England,  and  a  harbor  valuable  to  its 
own  country  merely  in  fostering  the  com 
merce  of  all  the  maritime  nations  of 
Europe  ?  To  block  up  permanently  the 
mouth  of  the  Garonne,  and  to  destroy 
thereby  the  port  of  Bordeaux,  would  have 
been  the  corresponding  barbarity,  though 
it  is  one  which  no  European  Government 
ever  imagined.  But  for  England  to  have 
destroyed  the  port  of  Boulogne  in  1804, 
even  if  she  had  done  so,  would  have  been 
simply  equivalent  to  the  blowing  up  of 
Sebastopol  by  Turkey  and  her  allies  in 
1856." 

This  distinction  between  military  and 
commercial  did  not  then,  if  ever  it  did, 
apply  to  the  port  of  Boulogne,  to  Alex 
andria,  in  Egypt,  or  to  those  harbors  of 
which  Savannah,  it  is  believed,  was  one 
that  the  English  attempted  to  "choke 
up"  during  their  war  with  America. 

The  control  of  the  Federal  Govern 
ment  over  the  coasts  of  the  enemy  was 
still  further  extended  by  the  success  of 
two  minor  naval  expeditions.  A  \ov. 
force  of  nineteen  hundred  men,  con-  26. 
sisting  of  the  Massachusetts  Twenty-sixth 

*  Supposed  to  be  a  semi-official  organ  of  Lord  Palmera- 
ton. 


OCCUPATION   OF  SHIP  ISLAND. 


653 


and  the  Connecticut  Ninth  Regiment, 
with  Captain  Manning's  battery  of  ar 
tillery,  rendezvoused  at  Fortress  Mon 
roe,  and  thence  sailed  in  the  steam- 
transport  Constitution  to  Ship  Island. 
This  expedition  was  under  the  tempo 
rary  command  of  Brigadier-General  W. 
Phelps,  during  the  absence  of  General 
Butler,  who  remained  at  the  North  to 
further  the  ultimate  purposes  of  the  en 
terprise.  General  Phelps  arrived  at  Ship 
Dec,  Island  on  the  evening  of  the  3d 
3«  of  December.  It  had  been  in  the 
occupation  of  the  Federal  Government 
since  September,  when  the  enemy  had 
abandoned  it  to  a  small  naval  force, 
which  took  possession  of  the  island  and 
a  half-finished  fort  upon  it.  On  his  ar 
rival,  General  Phelps  accordingly  found 
the  United  States  vessels  of  war,  the 
Massachusetts  and  R.  L.  Cuyler,  in  the 
harbor  with  several  prizes,  and  a  hun 
dred  and  seventy  sailors  under  a  naval 
lieutenant,  garrisoning  the  incomplete 
fortification  at  the  west  end  of  the 
island.  Phelps  landed  his  force,  not 
withstanding  the  marshy  ground  was 
little  favorable  for  occupation.  "  The 
land,7'  said  the  General  in  his  report, 
"  is  in  no  respect  suitable  for  a  camp, 
especially  in  view  of  such  instructions  as 
one  of  the  regiments  present  particularly 
needs.  Should  the  stay  here  be  of  long 
continuance,  huts  with  floors  will  be  ne 
cessary." 

Ship  Island  is  situated  in  longitude 
89°,  a  little  north  of  latitude  30°,  with 
in  the  domain  of  the  State  of  Missis 
sippi.  It  is  about  sixty  miles  from  New 
Orleans,  nearly  the  same  distance  from 


the  North-East  Pass,  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Mississippi  River,  forty  miles  from  Mo 
bile,  and  ninety  from  Fort  Pickeiis.  It 
lies  between  Horn  Island,  on  the  east, 
and  Cat  Island,  on  the  west,  and  is  dis 
tant  about  five  miles  from  each.  Some 
ten  or  twelve  miles  to  the  north,  on  the 
mainland  of  Mississippi,  are  the  towns 
of  Biloxi,  Pascagoula,  and  Mississippi 
City.  These  towns  are  favorite  summer 
resorts  for  the  wealthy  planters  and  mer 
chants  of  the  Gulf  States,  and  not  being 
easily  approached  in  consequence  of  a 
bar  off  their  shores,  were  places  of  refuge 
for  the  enemy's  small  vessels. 

Ship  Island  is  somewhat  undulating, 
and  extends  in  a  slight  curve  about  sev 
en  miles  east-north-east  and  west-south 
west.  At  West  Point  (the  western  end), 
where  the  fort  is  placed,  the  island  is 
little  more  than  an  eighth  of  a  mile  wide, 
and  is  a  mere  sand  spit,  utterly  barren 
of  grass  or  foliage  of  any  kind.  The 
eastern  end,  or  East  Point,  is  about 
three-quarters  of  a  mile  in  width,  and  is 
well  wooded  with  pine,  cedar,  and  live 
oak. 

The  whole  island  contains  somewhat 
less  than  two  square  miles  of  territory. 
Excellent  water  can  be  obtained  in  un 
limited  supply  by  sinking  a  barrel  any 
where  in  the  saturated  soil. 

There  is  a  natural  pasturage  upon 
which  a  few  cattle  can  thrive  tolerably, 
but  most  of  the  island  is  left  free  to  the 
alligators  and  such  reptiles  as  abound  in 
the  swamps  and  lagoons  of  that  region. 

A  brick  building,  a  few  scattered  huts, 
and  a  stone  light-house  are  the  only 
evidences  of  a  civilized  occupation. 


654 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


The  island  possesses  a  very  superior 
harbor,  into  which  vessels  drawing  nine 
teen  feet  can  be  carried  at  low  water.  It 
is  situated  north  of  the  west  end  of  the 
island.  The  anchorage  ground,  with  a 
depth  of  water  equal  to  that  on  the  bar, 
is  five  miles  long,  and  averages  three  and 
a  quarter  miles  in  width.  The  harbor  is 
safe  from  the  most  dangerous  storms  in 
the  Gulf — those  from  the  eastward  and 
southward — and  might  be  easily  entered 
during  these  storms  without  a  pilot,  if 
good  light-houses  were  placed  in  proper 
positions.  The  rise  and  fall  of  the  tide 
is-  only  from  twelve  to  fourteen  inches. 

General  Phelps'  first  step,  after  land 
ing  his  force,  was  to  issue  a  proclama 
tion,  which  was  singularly  ill-adapted 
to  the  presumed  purpose  of  conciliating 
the  insurgents  of  Mississippi  and  Louis 
iana.  His  next  was  to  proceed  to  Biloxi, 
Dec,  on  the  mainland,  where  he  landed 
3I(  a  considerable  force  and  took  pos 
session  of  a  small  fort  abandoned  by  the 
enemy  on  his  approach.  Biloxi,  how 
ever,  was  not  at  that  time  permanently 
held  by  the  Federal  troops. 

Large    reinforcements   were    subse- 
nuently  sent  to  Ship  Island,  and  finally 


General  Butler  himself  departed  Feb.  20 
to  assume  the  command  there.        1862, 

The  expedition  to  the  coast  of  Florida, 
though  less  imposing,  was  more  fruitful 
of  immediate  advantage.     This  was  ac 
complished  by  a  single  vessel :  the  United 
States   steamer    Hatteras,    Commander 
George  F.  Emmons.     This  active  officer 
succeeded  in  destroying  a   number  of 
the  enemy's  small  vessels,  seizing  a  fort, 
and  obtaining  possession  of  Ce-  jan,  ^ 
dar  Keys,  without  meeting  with    1862, 
the  least  resistance.     This  is  the  name 
given  to  a  group  of  islands  situated  on 
the  west   coast    of  Florida,  within  the 
Gulf  of  Mexico.     By  the  occupation  of 
Cedar  Keys,  the  western  terminus  of 
the  Florida  Railroad,  which  crosses  the 
State  from  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  to  the 
Atlantic  Ocean,  the  enemy  were  forced 
to  make  the  long  circuit  of  the  whole 
peninsula  to  keep  up  their  communica 
tions  between  the  opposite  coasts.     The 
forts  having  been  dismantled,  one  or  two 
active  cruisers  were  thought  sufficient  to 
retain  the  command  of  this  important 
point  until,  in  the  course  of  future  opera 
tions,  it  might  be  utilized  for  a  greater 
enterprise. 


HUNTER  SUCCEEDS  FREMONT. 


655 


CHAPTER    LXIII. 

Successor  of  General  Fremont  in  Missouri. — General  Hunter. — His  opinions  of  Fremont. — New  masters,  new  laws. — A 
Veteran. — Reluctant  obedience. — Change  of  plans. — Life  of  Hunter.— Military  experience. — Attached  to  Lincoln. 
— Misfortunes  »f  a  Presidential  Tour. — Rewards  for  personal  service  — The  Army  in  Missouri  ordered  to  retreat. — 
Direction  of  tbo  Retreat. — Return  of  the  Enemy  under  Price  and  McCulloch. — Checked  by  the  Unionists. — 
Lexington  and  Springfield  re-occupied  by  the  Enemy. — General  Hunter  makes  way  for  a  Successor. — Major-General 
Halleck  succeeds  Hunter. — Hunter  sent  to  Kansas. — Life  of  Halleck. — Military  education. — A  Lieutenant  of  En 
gineers. — Scientific  studies. — A  writer  and  lecturer. — Promotion. — Secretary  of  State  of  California. — Member  of 
the  Convention. — Assists  in  drafting  the  Constitution. — Resignation  in  the  Army.— Settles  in  California. — A  Lawyer 
in  San  Francisco. — Made  a  Major-General. — Appointed  to  the  command  of  the  West. — Character. — Great  Expecta 
tions. — Halleck's  first  occupation. — Thwarting  the  machinations  of  the  Rebellious. — Organizing  and  Disciplining. 
— Halleck's  famous  order,  excluding  Fugitive  Slaves  from  the  Camps. — Denounced  by  the  Anti-Slavery  Party. — The 
order  explained  by  Halleck. — Stringent  measures  at  St.  Louis. — Expedition  of  General  Pope. — Pope's  success. — 
Its  wondrous  effects. — Halleck  on  bridge-burning. — Guerrilla  warfare  in  Missouri. — A  grand  effort  to  clear  Mis 
souri  of  the  Enemy. — Movements  against  Price. — Skirmishing  before  Springfield. — A  Battle  expected. — Disappoint 
ment. — Price  retreats  from  Springfield. — Pursuit  of  Price. — The  Enemy  followed  into  Arkansas. — Hoisting  the  Amer 
ican  Flag  on  the  soil  of  Arkansas. — The  Enemy  make  a  stand  at  Sugar  Creek. — Enemy  defeated. 


1861, 


WHEN  Fremont  was  suddenly  arrested 
in  his  hopeful  career  of  conquest 
in  Missouri,  General  Hunter,  as  the 
next  in  rank,  succeeded  to  the  chief  com- 
Nov,  mand.  The  old  proverb,  "  New  mas- 
5»  ters,  new  laws,"  found  another  illus 
tration  in  the  complete  change,  by  Gen 
eral  Hunter,  of  the  plan  of  campaign. 
The  new  leader  had  not  concealed,  even 
while  serving  under  Fremont,  his  disa 
greement  with  his  superior,  whom  he  did 
not  hesitate  to  denounce  as  incapable. 

Hunter,  a  man  of  three-score  years  of 
age,  a  veteran  officer  and  a  rigid  stickler 
for  the  formalities  of  the  military  art, 
forced  to  yield  a  reluctant  obedience  to  a 
comparatively  young  and  inexperienced 
chief,  had  been  not  unnaturally  disposed 
to  question  the  irregular  vigor  of  the 
impulsive  Fremont,  while  under  his  com 
mand.  That  the  veteran  Hunter,  now 
being  free  to  act  on  his  own  responsibil 


ity,  should  at  once  revise  the  plans  of 
Fremont,  was  consistent  with  his  want 
of  reverence  for  a  commander  in  whose 
reputed  genius  he  could  find  no  compen 
sation  for  his  comparative  youth  and  ig 
norance  of  the  military  art. 

Hunter  himself  had  been  schooled  in 
the  rigid  discipline  of  the  regular  officer. 
Educated  at  West  Point,  he  graduated  in 
1822,  the  twenty-fifth  in  a  class  of  forty. 
He  was  immediately  commissioned  a 
second  lieutenant  of  infantry,  and  rose 
to  the  rank  of  first  lieutenant  and  cap 
tain  of  cavalry,  when  he  resigned.  In 
1842  he  re-entered  the  army  as  a  pay 
master,  and  was  in  this  position  witli  the 
rank  of  major  when  the  recent  civil  war 
began.  Attaching  himself  to  Mr.  Lin 
coln,  he  accompanied  him  on  his  way  to 
Washington,  but  having  met  with  »n 
accident  at  Buffalo,  where  he  was  so 
hustled  by  the  crowd  that  his  collar-bone 


656 


THE  WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


became  dislocated,  he  was  unable  to  com 
plete  that  eventful  journey.  On  the  ac 
cession  of  President  Lincoln,  Hunter  was 
rewarded  with  a  colonelcy  of  cavalry, 
and  subsequently  with  a  brigadier-gen 
eralship,  in  which  rank  he  commanded  a 
division  of  the  advance  at  Bull  Run, 
where  he  was  wounded  at  the  beginning 
of  the  battle. 

As  soon  as  Hunter  assumed  the  com 
mand  of  the  army  in  Missouri,  he  ordered 
it  to  fall  back  from  the  advanced  position 
to  which  it  had  been  led  by  the  hopeful 
Fremont.  Hunter's  own  division  and 
the  divisions  of  Generals  Pope  and  Stur- 
gis,  retired  by  the  way  of  Warsaw,  while 
those  of  Generals  Sigel  and  Asboth, 
in  advance,  after  moving  a  short  distance 
to  the  south,  for  the  purpose  of  covering 
the  retirement  of  the  main  body  from 
Springfield,  returned  to  that  place  and 
thence  fell  back  to  Holla. 

The  enemy,  under  Price  and  McCul- 
loch,  who  had  discreetly  fled  before 
Fremont  toward  the  borders  of  Arkan 
sas,  now  emboldened  by  the  retreat 
of  General  Hunter,  retraced  their  steps, 
and  again  occupying  Lexington  and 
Springfield,  penetrated  into  the  centre 
of  Missouri  and  resumed  their  ravages 
in  that  afflicted  State.  They  were, 
however,  checked  by  occasional  spirited 
attacks  of  the  Federal  forces.  Colonel 
Greensle  drove  the  enemy  out  of  Hinton, 
Texas  County,  and  planted  the  national 
flag  on  the  court-house.  A  detachment 
of  a  hundred  and  ten  of  the  First  Kan 
sas  cavalry,  under  Colonel  Anthony, 
flov,  charged  an  encampment  at  Little 
10»  Blue,  in  Western  Missouri,  and  dis 


persed  it.  A  party  of  the  enemy,  under 
Colonel  Gordon,  attacked  the  train  ^ov% 
on  the  Platte  County  Railroad,  30. 
when  an  escort  of  Missouri  cavalry, 
under  Major  Hugh,  came  to  the  rescue. 
The  enemy  were  routed,  leaving  behind 
them  seventeen  killed  and  wounded  and 
five  prisoners.  Five  only  of  the  Unionists 
were  slightly  wounded.  The  Federal 
troops,  under  Colonel  Bowman,  again  put 
the  enemy  to  flight  at  Salem.  Fifteen 
were  killed  and  wounded  on  our  side,  but 
the  enemy  lost  thirty-nine  in  all.  Other 
spirited  skirmishes  occurred,  which  ren 
dered  the  enemy  more  cautious  in  their 
advance.  No  effectual  attempt,  however, 
was  immediately  made  to  prevent  them 
resuming  their  former  positions  in  the 
south-western  part  of  the  State. 

General    Hunter,    after    holding    the 
chief  command    but    a   few    days,    was 
obliged    to  make  way  for  a   successor. 
This  was   Major-General  Halleck,  who 
had  been  appointed  by  the  Presi-  flov> 
dent  to  the  command  of  the  Western   *°« 
Department,   while   to  his  predecessor, 
Hunter,  was  given  the  command  of  Kan 
sas.     General  Halleck  reached  St.  Louis 
on  the  18th  of  November,  and  at  J\TOV. 
once  began  with    great  energy  to    *^» 
organize    the  army,   and    rigorously    to 
prosecute  the  military  administration  of 
his  department. 

Henry  Wager  Halleck  was  born  in  the 
State  of  New  York  in  the  year  1818. 
He  entered  the  Military  Academy  at 
West  Point  in  the  year  1835,  and  grad 
uated  in  1839,  ranking  the  second  of 
his  class.  Brigadier-General  Stevens, 
of  Oregon,  was  the  competitor  who 


POPE  IN  WESTERN   MISSOURI. 


659 


given  out  that  the  movement  was  upon 
Warsaw,  and  the  troops  pursued  the 
road  to  that  place  several  miles  beyond 
Sedalia.  I  threw  forward  on  Clinton 
four  companies  of  the  First  Missouri 
cavalry,  under  Major  Hubbard,  with 
orders  to  watch  any  movement  from 
Osceola,  to  prevent  any  reconnoissance 
of  our  main  column,  and  to  intercept 
any  messengers  to  the  enemy  at  Osceola. 
On  the  1 6th  I  pushed  forward  by  forced 
march  twenty-seven  miles,  and  with  my 
whole  force  occupied,  at  sunset,  a  posi 
tion  between  the  direct  road  from  War- 
rensburg  to  Clinton,  and  the  road  by 
Chilhowee,  which  latter  is  the  road  here 
tofore  pursued  by  returning  soldiers  and 
by  recruits.  Shortly  after  sunset,  the 
advance,  consisting  of  four  companies  of 
Iowa  cavalry,  under  Major  Torrence. 
captured  the  enemy's  pickets  at  Chilho 
wee,  and  learned  that  he  was  encamped 
in  force  (about  2,200)  six  miles  north 
of  that  town. 

"  After  resting  the  horses  and  men  for 
a  couple  of  hours,  I  threw  forward  ten 
companies  of  cavalry  and  a  section  of  ar 
tillery,  under  Lieutenant-Colonel  Brown, 
Seventh  Missouri  Regiment,  in  pursuit, 
and  followed  with  my  whole  force,  post 
ing  the  main  body  between  Warrensburg 
and  Rose  Hill,  to  support  the  pursuing 
column.  I,  at  the  same  time,  reinforced 
Major  Hubbard  with  two  companies  of 
Merrill's  horse,  and  directed  him,  in  or 
der  to  secure  our  flank  in  the  pursuit,  to 
push  forward  as  far  as  possible  toward 
Osceola.  This  officer  executed  his  duty 
with  distinguished  ability  and  vigor, 
driving  back  and  capturing  the  pickets 


and  one  entire  company  of  the  enemy's 
cavalry,  with  tents,  baggage,  and  wagons. 
One  of  the  pickets  and  two  wagons  were 
captured  within  the  lines  of  Rains;  divi 
sion,  encamped  north  of  the  Osage  River. 

"  The  column  under  Lieutenant- Col<  >i  10] 
Brown  continued  the  pursuit  vigorously 
all  night  of  the  16th,  all  day  of  the  17th, 
and  part  of  the  night  of  the  same  day, 
his  advance  guard  consisting  of  Foster's 
company  of  Ohio  cavalry  and  a  detach 
ment  of  thirty  men  of  the  Fourth  regular 
cavalry,  occupying  Johnstown  in  the 
course  of  the  night.  The  enemy  began 
to  scatter  as  soon  as  the  pursuit  grew 
close,  disappearing  in  every  direction  in 
the  bushes  and  by  every  bye-path,  driv 
ing  their  wagons  into  farm-yards  remote 
from  the  road,  and  throwing  out  their 
loads.  As  these  wagons  were  all  two- 
horse  wagons  of  the  country,  and  had 
been,  in  fact,  taken  by  force  from  the 
farm-houses,  it  was  impossible  to  identify 
them.  When  our  pursuit  reached  Johns 
town,  about  midnight  on  the  17th,  the 
enemy,  reduced  to  about  500,  scattered 
completely,  one  portion  fleeing  precipi 
tately  toward  Butler,  and  the  other 
toward  Papinsville. 

"  The  main  body  of  my  command 
moved  slowly  toward  Warrensburg, 
awaiting  the  return  of  the  force  under 
Lieutenant-Colonel  Brown,  which  pro 
ceeded  from  Johnstown  to  scour  the 
country  south  of  Grand  River  to  the 
neighborhood  of  Clinton,  In  these  ope 
rations,  sixteen  wagons,  loaded  with 
tents  and  supplies,  and  one  hundred  and 
fifty  prisoners  were  captured.  The 
enemy's  force  was  thoroughly  dispersed. 


660 


THE   WAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


"  On  the  morning  of  the  18th,  Lieu 
tenant-Colonel  Brown's  forces  rejoined 
the  command.  Knowing  that  there  must 
still  be  a  large  force  of  the  enemy  north 
of  us,  I  moved  forward  slowly,  on  the 
18th,  toward  Warrensburg.  and,  when 
near  that  town,  the  spies  and  scouts  I 
had  sent  out  before  marching  from  Seda- 
lia,  in  the  direction  of  Lexington,  Waver- 
ly,  and  Arrow  Rock,  reported  to  me  that 
a  large  force  was  moving  from  the  two 
latter  places  and  would  encamp  that  night 
at  the  mouth  of  Clear  Creek,  just  south 
of  Milford. 

"  I  posted  the  main  body  of  my  com 
mand  between  Warrensburg  and  Knob 
Noster,  to  close  all  outlet  to  the  south 
between  those  two  points,  and  dispatched 
seven  companies  of  cavalry  (five  of  the 
the  Ohio  First  and  two  of  the  Fourth 
regular  cavalry),  afterward  reinforced 
by  another  company  of  regular  cavalry 
and  a  section  of  artillery,  all  under  com 
mand  of  Colonel  J.  C.  Davis,  Indiana 
Volunteers,  to  march  on  the  town  of 
Milford,  so  as  to  turn  the  enemy's  left 
and  rear  and  intercept  his  retreat  to  the 
northeast,  at  the  same  time  directing 
Major  Marshall,  with  Merrill's  regiment 
of  horse,  to  march  from  Warrensburg  on 
the  same  point,  turning  the  enemy's 
right  and  rear,  and  forming  junction 
with  Colonel  Davis. 

"  The  main  body  of  my  command 
occupied  a  point  four  miles  south,  and 
ready  to  advance  at  a  moment's  notice, 
or  to  intercept  the  enemy's  retreat  south. 
Colonel  Davis  marched  promptly  and 
vigorously  with  the  forces  under  his 
command,  and  at  a  late  hour  in  the 


afternoon  came  upon  the  enemy  en 
camped  in  the  wooded  bottom  land  on 
the  west  side  of  Blackwater,  opposite 
the  mouth  of  Clear  Creek.  His  pickets 
were  immediately  driven  in  across  the 
stream,  which  was  deep,  miry,  and  im 
passable,  except  by  a  long,  narrow 
bridge,  which  the  enemy  occupied  in 
force,  as  is  believed,  under  Colonel 
Magoffm. 

"Colonel  Davis  brought  forward  his 
force,  and  directed  that  the  bridge  be 
carried  by  assault.  The  two  companies 
of  the  Fourth  regular  cavalry  being  in 
advance,  under  the  command  respective 
ly  of  Lieutenant  Gordon  and  Lieutenant 
Amory,  were  designated  for  that  service, 
and  were  supported  by  the  five  com 
panies  of  the  First  Iowa  Cavalry.  Lieu 
tenant  Gordon,  of  the  Fourth  Cavalry, 
led  the  charge  in  person,  with  the  utmost 
gallantry  and  vigor,  carried  the  bridge 
in  fine  style,  and  immediately  formed 
his  company  on  the  opposite  side.  He 
was  promptly  followed  by  the  other 
companies.  The  force  of  the  enemy 
posted  at  the  bridge  retreated  precipi- 
tateiv  over  a  narrow  open  space  into  the 
woods,  where  his  whole  force  was  posted. 
The  two  companies  of  the  Fourth  Cav 
alry  formed  in  line  at  once,  advanced 
upon  the  enemy,  and  were  received  with 
a  volley  of  small-arms,  muskets,  rifles, 
and  shot  guns.  One  man  was  killed  and 
eight  wounded  by  this  discharge.  With 
one  exception,  all  belonged  to  Company 
D,  Fourth  Cavalry,  Lieutenant  Gordon. 

"  Lieutenant  Gordon  himself  received 
several  balls  through  the  cap.  Our  forces 
still  continuing  to  press  forward,  and  the 


GALLANTRY  OF  POPE'S  TROOPS. 


661 


enemy  finding  his  retreat  south  and  west 
cut  off,  and  that  he  was  in  presence  of  a 
large  force,  and  at  best  could  only  pro 
long  the  contest  a  short  time,  surrendered 
at  discretion.  His  force,  reported  by 
colonel  commanding,  consisted  of  parts 
of  two  regiments  of  infantry  and  three 
companies  of  cavalry,  numbering  in  all 
1,300  men,  among  whom  there  were 
three  colonels  (Robinson,  Alexander,  and 
Magoffin),  one  lieutenant-colonel  (Rob 
inson),  one  major  (Harris),  and  fifty-one 
commissioned  company  officers.  About 
five  hundred  horses  and  mules,  seventy- 
three  wagons  heavily  loaded  with  pow 
der,  lead,  tents,  subsistence  stores  and 
supplies  of  various  kinds,  fell  into  our 
hands,  as  also  a  thousand  stand  of 
arms. 

"  The  whole  force  captured,  with  their 
train,  were  marched  into  the  camp  of 
the  main  body,  reaching  there  about 
midnight.  Many  arms  were  thrown 
away  by  the  enemy,  in  the  bushes  and 
creek,  when  he  surrendered,  and  have 
not  yet  been  found. 

"  It  was  impossible  to  furnish  any  ac 
curate  account  of  the  number  of  prison 
ers,  arms,  or  horses  when  I  telegraphed, 
as  they  surrendered  just  at  dark,  and 
were  brought  into  camp  at  a  late  hour 
of  the  night.  The  weather  was  bitterly 
cold,  and  the  troops  marched  as  early  as 
possible  the  next  morning  for  Sedalia 
and  Otterville.  As  the  prisoners  and 
arms  were  at  once  sent  down  to  St.  Louis, 
I  have  not  yet  had  the  opportunity  of 
making  an  accurate  count  of  them.  The 

O 

numbers,  as  stated,  were  reported  to  me 
by  Colonel  Robinson,  their  commander, 


by  Colonel  J.  C.  Davis,  and  by  Major 
Torrence,  Iowa  Cavalry. 

"The  forces  under  Colonel  Davis  be 
haved  with  great  gallantry,  and  the  con 
duct  of  Colonel  Davis  himself  was  dis 
tinguished. 

"I  desire  to  present  to  your  special 
notice  Colonel  J.  C.  Davis,  Indiana  Vol 
unteers  ;  Major  Hubbard,  First  Missouri 
Cavalry,  and  Lieutenant  Gordon,  Fourth 
regular  cavalry.  Both  officers  and  men 
behaved  well  throughout. 

"  \Vithin  five  days,  the  infantry  com 
posing  this  expedition  have  marched  one 
hundred  miles,  the  cavalry  more  than 
double  that  distance — have  swept  the 
whole  country  of  the  enemy  west  of  Se  • 
dalia  as  far  as  Rose  Hill,  to  a  line  within 
fifteen  miles  of  the  Osage — have  captured 
nearly  fifteen  hundred  (1,500)  prisoners, 
twelve  hundred  (1,200)  stand  of  arms, 
nearly  one  hundred  (100)  wagons,  and 
a  large  quantity  of  supplies. 

"  The  march  alone  would  do  credit  to 
old  soldiers,  as  it  gives  me  pleasure  to 
state  that  it  has  been  performed  with 
cheerfulness  and  alacrity.  The  troops 
re-occupied  their  camps  at  Sedalia  and 
Otterville  just  one  week  after  they 
marched  out  of  them. 
"  I  am,  Captain, 

"  Your  obedient  servant, 
"JOHN  POPE, 

"  Brigadier-General  Commanding. 

"  To  Captain  J.  C.  KELTON,  A.  A.  G.,  Depart- 
ment  of  Missouri." 

The  effect  upon  the  enemy  of  the  suc 
cess  of  General  Pope's  expedition  was 
momentarily  very  great.  General  Price's 
camp  at  Springfield  was  seized  with  a 


662 


THE  'VAR  WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


sudden  panic,  and  a  large  portion  of  his 
disorganized  army  fled  in  disma}^,  de 
stroying  the  bridges  behind  them.  This 
destruction  of  bridges  by  the  disorderly 
bands  of  secessionists  throughout  the 
State  was  promptly  met  by  a  determina 
tion,  on  the  part  of  General  Halleck,  to 
execute  all  those  caught  and  found  guilty 
of  the  barbarous  act.  Some  of  the  per 
petrators  having  been  seized,  General 
Halleck  resolved  upon  their  execution. 
This  led  to  a  protest  on  the  part  of 
General  Price,  who  claimed  for  them  the 
rights  of  military  prisoners.  General 
Halleck,  however,  answered  firmly  with 
the  declaration,  that  bridge-burners, 
while  not  acting  ^inmediately  under  a 
duly  organized  military  command,  in  the 
course  of  regular  warfare,  were  not  en 
titled  to  be  treated  as  soldiers,  and  that 
they  would  be  held  as  criminals. 

General  Pope's  successful  expedition 
was  soon  followed  by  other  spirited  at 
tacks  upon  the  enemy.  Colonel  Birge, 
Dec,  with  a  battalion  of  sharp-shooters 
28«  and  two  hundred  cavalry  under  Col. 
Glover,  attacked  the  enemy  encamped 
near  Mount  Zion  Church,  Broome  Coun 
ty,  and  completely  routed  them. 

'  The  rebels  lost  in  killed,  wounded, 
and  missing  not  less  than  one  hundred 
and  fifty.  Ninety  horses  were  taken, 
and  a  load  of  arms,  saddles,  and  all  their 
camp  equipage.  Our  loss,  eight  or  nine 
killed  and  about  twenty-five  wounded.'1* 

Again,  two  hundred  of  the  First  Iowa 
Cavalry,  a  hundred  and  fifty  of  the 
First  Wisconsin  Cavalry,  under  Ma-  1862t 
jor  Hubbard,  and  some  Ohio  Cavalry, 

0  St.  LntriK  Dfmnc.rnl.. 


numbering  in  all  four  hundred  and  jan§ 
fifty  troopers,  attacked  the  enemy's  8. 
camp  of  a  thousand  men,  posted  on  Sil 
ver  Creek.  After  a  struggle  of  an  hour 
the  enemy  fled,  leaving  seven  dead  on 
the  field,  forty  prisoners,  and  all  their 
camp  equipage  and  stores.  The  whole 
Federal  loss  amounted  only  to  four  killed 
and  three  wounded. * 

General  Halleck,  having  finally  suc 
ceeded  in  establishing  order  in  a  depart 
ment  which  he  had  found  in  a  state  of 
confusion  from  the  loose  administration 
of  his  predecessor,  in  checking  manifes 
tations  of  disloyalty  within  the  scope  of 
his  military  rule,  and  in  organizing  and 
disciplining  his  army,  was  prepared  to 
make  a  grand  effort  to  clear  Missouri  of 
the  enemy,  and  to  restore  the  State  to 
the  Federal  authority. 

General  Price,  presuming  on  the  long 
delayed  advance  of  the  Union  troops, 
had  concentrated  at  Springfield  a  force 
estimated  at  12,000  men,  and  pushed  his 
picket  guards  fifteen  miles  beyond  to  the 
north  and  east.  He  was,  moreover,  in 
expectation,  as  it  was  rumored,  of  being 
strengthened  by  large  reinforcements  un 
der  General  Mclntosh,  from  Arkansas. 

There  was  a  combined  movement  of 
the  Federal  troops  with  the  view  of  con 
centrating  at  Lebanon.  The  divisions  of 
Colonel  Asboth  and  General  Sigel  moved 
at  the  beginning  of  February  from  Holla, 
in  that  direction.  Generals  Davis,  Cur 
tis,  and  Prentiss  had,  with  their  respect 
ive  forces,  marched  for  the  same  point. 


0  The  guerrilla  character  which  the  war  in  Missouri  as 
sumed  at  this  time,  makes  it  impracticable  to  trace  all  its 
operations  in  detail. 


PRICE'S   RETREAT. 


663 


General  Price,  in  command  of  the 
enemy  at  Springfield,  seemed  greatly 
alarmed  at  this  combined  movement, 
and  is  said  to  have  harangued  his  troops, 
declaring  that  they  were  surrounded,  and 
must  decide  either  to  surrender  or  fight. 
r*  They  resolved  to  fight. 

The  weather  was  exceedingly  unfavor- 

BP       ' 

able  for  a  rapid  march,  but  the  various 
divisions  of  the  Federal  army,  though 
delayed  by  the  swollen  streams  and  the 
miry  roads,  continued  steadily  to  advance, 
and  reaching  Lebanon  formed  together 
and  prepared  to  move  forward  to  Spring 
field. 

General  Curtis,  who  commanded  in 
chief,  formed  his  army  in  three  divisions, 
placing  the  right  under  Colonel  Jeffer 
son  C.  Davis,  the  centre  under  General 
v'igcl,  and  the  left  under  General  Carr. 
peb,  Thus  formed,  the  army  marched 

H»  forward  toward  Springfield.  On 
the  day  after  setting  out,  the  advance 
guard  came  into  collision  with  the 
enemy.  During  the  first  skirmish,  nine 
of  the  secessionists  were  killed,  while  the 
Unionists  had  but  one  man  slightly 
Feb.  wounded.  The  second  affair,  which 

12.  occurred  in  the  evening,  was  some 
what  more  severe  :  300  of  the  enemy 
attacked  the  Federal  picket  guards,  but 
were  driven  back  with  a  loss  of  thirty. 
This  was  supposed  to  be  an  offer  of  battle, 
and  accordingly  General  Curtis  advanced 
a  force  of  cavalry  and  infantry,  with  a 
battery  which  was  mounted  upon  a  hill, 
to  command  the  road  by  which  it  was 
supposed  the  enemy  were  about  to  ad 
vance  from  Springfield.  The  guns  hav 
ing  opened  fire,  and  no  response  being 


made,  the  troops  which  had  been  thrown 
forward  were  withdrawn,  leaving,  how 
ever,  a  strong  guard.  During  the  night 
nothing  occurred  while  the  Federal  army 
was  resting  on  its  arms,  expectant  of  an 
attack,  but  a  skirmishing  fire  between 
the  pickets.  At  three  o'clock  in  the 
morning  the  Unionists  moved  for-  pej,t 
ward  in  line  of  battle,  and  at  the  13. 
break  of  day  the  third  division  with  the 
Fourth  Iowa  Regiment  in  advance,  en 
tered  Springfield  and  took  possession  of 
the  town  without  resistance.  General 
Price  had  retreated  with  his  army  but  a 
few  hours  before,  leaving  only  his  sick, 
some  six  hundred  or  more,  behind.* 


°  The  appearance  of  their  quarters,  which  the  enemy 
had  evidently  hoped  to  occupy  for  the  winter,  is  thus  de 
scribed  by  a  correspondent  of  the  New  York  Herald  : 

"The  winter  quarters  erected  in  Springfield  by  Price's 
army,  and  which  they  abandoned  in  complete  order,  will 
accommodate  10,000  men  without  being  over-crowded. 
They  consist  of  log  and  board  structures,  the  former  well 
chinked  with  mud  and  clay,  and  the  latter  built  generally 
tight  and  comfortable.  Most  of  them  have  a  flooring  of 
boards,  and  are  all  furnished  with  substantial  brick  fire 
places  and  chimneys,  some  of  the  largest  buildings  having 
two  or  three.  Berths  are  arranged  in  tiers,  like  those  ou 
steamboats  and  sleeping  cars,  and  every  portion  of  sp:ice 
is  carefully  economized.  Some  of  these  habitations  are 
roofed  with  raw  hides,  and  there  are  numerous  chairs 
seated  with  the  same  material.  In  some  of  the  camps 
these  buildings  are  promiscuously  dropped  down,  while  in 
others  they  are  arranged  in  streets  and  lanes,  according  to 
the  highest  style  of  urban  regularity.  The  appearance  of 
the  cantonment  attests  the  haste  of  departure.  There  are 
cooking  utensils  containing  the  remains  of  the  last  meal, 
porkers  lying  dead  on  the  ground  with  the  fatal  gash  in 
their  throats  and  the  knife  lying  beside  them,  sheep 
partially  flayed  and  disembowelled,  dough  mixed  in  the 
pans  or  poured  on  the  ground,  with  the  "  ripple  marks" 
still  freshly  distinct,  and  whisky  bottles  whence  the  last 
drink  has  been  drained,  but  in  which  the  scent  of  tho 
Bourbon  is  lingering  still.  The  people  of  Springfield  and 
the  rebel  sick  left  behind  say  that  they  were  deficient  in 
tents,  blankets,  and  clothing,  and  that  they  will  suffer 
sadly  from  thus  being  driven  from  their  comfortable 
quarters  to  bivouac  in  the  open  air.  They  fully  expected 
to  remain  here  the  entire  winter." 


664 


THE  WAR   WITH  THE  SOUTH. 


General  Curtis,  without  delay,  fol 
lowed  in  pursuit  of  the  retreating  enemy 
and  sent  out  at  the  same  time  scouting 
parties  of  cavalry  to  capture  any  bands 
of  the  secessionists  that  might  be  strag 
gling  from  their  main  body.  It  was  thus 
that  Brigadier-General  Price,  the  son  of 
General  Sterling  Price,  was  captured  at 
Warsaw,  together  with  several  other 
officers  belonging  to  the  staff  of  the 
rebel  chief,  and  500  recruits  under  their 
charge. 

General  Curtis  moved  on  with  great 
speed  toward  the  Arkansas  border, 
whither  the  enemy  were  hastening. 
Coming  up  with  the  rear  guard  of  Price, 
several  skirmishes  ensued,  in  the  course 
of  which  a  few  on  both  sides  were  killed 
and  a  large  number  of  the  enemy's  strag 
glers  taken  prisoners.  Curtis  continued 
his  pursuit,  following  the  enemy  into 


Arkansas.  Here,  however,  General 
Price,  having  been  reinforced  by  18, 
General  Ben  McCulloch,  made  a  stand 
at  Sugar  Creek,  and  "was  defeated," 
said  General  Halleck,  in  his  brief  tele 
graphic  dispatch,  after  a  short  en-  p^ 
gagemerit,  and  again  fled.  Many  20. 
rebel  prisoners  were  taken,  and  the 
arms  which  Price's  men  threw  away  in 
their  flight ;  but  the  enemy  claimed  to 
have  won  the  advantage,  stating  that 
their  loss  was  but  100,  while  that  of  the 
Union  army  was  treble  the  number. 

Thus  Missouri  was  effectually  cleared 
of  the  main  force  of  the  enemy,  and 
apparently  forever  secured  to  the  Union, 
while  to  the  success  of  the  Federal 
arms  in  that  State  was  added  the  tri 
umph  of  having  once  more  hoisted  the 
United  States  flag  upon  the  soil  of  Ar 
kansas. 


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